Summertime
By Margit Bisztray, Food Critic

With Memorial Day weekend behind us, we can all say it's officially summer. Yeah!

Here in Key West, this is the time when things slow down. Although this year, with the sinking of the Vandenberg ship, we'll probably be inundated with divers looking to take advantage of the clear, calm waters and a new underwater sightseeing destination. Another reason people should flock here is, it's going to be a BANNER mango season. The trees are literally dripping with ready-to-eat mangos, and I ate my first one two weeks ago and it was as sweet as they usually are late summer. In the height of season, I dehydrate mango strips, make mango jam (I always seem to end up in my friend Roz's un-air conditioned kitchen using her pressure cooker, swearing never to do it again), and freeze chunks of mangos for smoothies. The jam and dried mango make great Christmas gifts. They're very exotic, and basically free–––which almost makes melting in Roz's kitchen worth it.

On the Emerald Coast and in Myrtle Beach, it's about to kick into high gear. Now I have to say, I love high season at beach destinations. There's just nothing like the collective relief of people arriving on the coast, looking forward to time in the sand, to fresh seafood at their favorite fish shacks, and to long evenings of not looking at the clock, and letting the kids stay up too late. Yes, it's crowded. Yes, you have to wait for tables. But when you go to the restaurants on these coasts in off-season, they always feel lonely. They're MADE to be packed! They THRIVE on being jammed, with long waits. It's like a big party when you wait at a popular restaurant.

And then there's the seasonal food. Mangoes, of course, in Key West. Those scrumptious Ponchatoula strawberries in New Orleans, soft-shell crabs and she-crab soup in South Carolina, peas and peaches and asparagus on the Emerald Coast and around Atlanta. If I could look at a few seasonal menus right now to really get an idea of what's growing where, I'd look at MiLa and Iris in New Orleans, Fish out of Water on 30A between Destin and Panama City, Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys, Repast or Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, and Louis's Pawley Island, SC. I'd love to wander the farmer's markets in New Orleans and Atlanta, because there is nothing better than produce in season, picked in its prime.

I encourage all of you, wherever you are, to indulge in seasonal menus. Look for the restaurants that change their menus daily or weekly–––they're the ones who are getting the freshest ingredients in their prime. Then again, nothing's more seasonal than wearing flip-flops by the water, or on a restaurant patio, or in a courtyard, or with a pitcher of lemonade, sweet tea, a mint julep, sangria, chilled white wine, a cold draft, and eating whatever it is that speaks of summer, and summer meals to you–––be in barbecue, a fried oyster Caesar, a bowl of gazpacho, or a bucket of steamed shrimp. It's summer, so eat that way!

NOTE: Margit Bisztray has been reviewing restaurants and writing about food for ten years. She has published three editions of The Complete Key West Dining Guide, and her work has appeared in such publications as Vogue, Gourmet, Islands and Metropolitan Home. To read more restaurant reviews, log your own personal opinions, rate your favorite restaurants and watch streaming video archives of these shows and other reviews, visit Margit's Top 5.