By Nanette Wiser
Dishing Up Holiday Fare
In addition to January’s sweets compendium for your Valentine, we suggest making reservations now for your favorite restaurant, many that offer Valentine special menus leading up to Feb. 14. Our top 10 most romantic after sunset? Dunedin’s Black Pearl, Bellair’s E & E Steakhouse, Clearwater’s Caretta On The Gulf, DaSesto Italiano Ristorante, St. Pete Beach’s 1200 Chop House and Sola Bistro & Wine Bar, Madeira Beach’s Gulf Bistro and downtown, Il Ritorno, Beau N Mo, and Ceviche.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY You don’t have to wait until Erin go Bragh to sample Irish beers, spirits, and dishes at some of Pinellas County’s best Irish restaurants/bars. Also, check out Paddy Wagon, Nolan’s Pub and O’Malley’s Bar & Grille.
Courigan’s Irish Pub: Rugby and soccer rule at this sports bar, as do the corned beef poppers dipped in Smithwick’s beer batter, fries smothered with Guinness gravy and baked with mozzarella, shepherd’s pie and traditional corned beef and cabbage. Live music and oodles of Irish beers and spirits. DTSP
Finley’s Irish Pub & Eatery: 18 big screen TVs, full liquor bar, 22 beers on draft, live music Thurs.-Sat. and some of the best Irish and American comfort food in town (meatloaf, liver, and onions) including corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, beer-battered fish, bangers, and mash. Largo
Flanagan’s Irish Pub: Worth the drive for the beers, Irish spirits, live music, and dishes such as The Flanagan corned beef sandwich with melted cheese, bacon and horseradish slaw, Irish tacos, Irish smoked haddock fish spread and a Guinness flourless chocolate cake. Dunedin
Irish 31 Pub House & Eatery: Lots of TVs for following your favorite team, full liquor, and Irish red on tap that pairs well with the Reuben, fish and chips, bangers and mash or shephard’s pie. We especially like the boxtys served with horseradish sauce, pub cheese and spicy car bomb sauce. Seminole, Clearwater Beach
MacDinton’s St. Pete: A favorite soccer and St. Paddy’s central, we like the Boxty Balls (deep fried and stuffed garlic mashed potato balls filled with Irish shepherd’s pie or whiskey-braised corned beef and crowd scene). DTSP
McArthur’s Irish Pub: This Fourth Street traditional Irish pub features traditional fare, live music weekends, great whiskey, and Irish beer selection. St. Petersburg
O’Keefe’s Tavern: A three-day St. Paddy’s Day celebration indoor and under the tent with live music, dancing, vendors and more, a 2-for-1 happy hour, corned beef Irish puffs, Shamrock pretzel with Guinness mustard dip, shepherd’s pie, corned beef, and cabbage are on tap all year round. Clearwater
MARDI GRAS
Laissez le bon temps roulez with a Hurricane (see our Spirits column), Mardi Gras beads and Cajun cuisine at places such as Bayou Market and Café, Cajun Café on the Bayou and Bayou Catering.
Lots of rave reviews for our favorite, Bayou Market and Café, where guests praise the chicken and sausage jambalaya, bourbon chicken, voodoo pasta with beef brisket, fried shrimp, or catfish with crawfish etouffee and shrimp/crawfish au gratin. Located on Central Avenue, there are daily specials to choose from, ordered alone or with two sides such as gouda mac n cheese, dirty rice, and spinach madeleine. Start with the seafood gumbo, jerk chicken stuffed mushrooms or conch chowder and save room for the bread pudding.
Owner David Bilyeu, a Baton Rouge native with a passion for cooking (and eating), traded his corporate job to pursue his culinary dreams and opened Bayou Catering, a full-service catering company that marries outstanding Cajun, Caribbean, and Coastal food with personable service for grab and go take-out or dishes for your next party.