New News Now…Key West, Atlanta and Panama City Beach
By Margit Bisztray, Food Critic

I hate to admit it, but if you’re traveling to our Tourist Network spots in the coming month, you may get to a few new places even quicker than I can, no fair! But tis’ the season for restaurant openings, which go firecrackers between October and December (even with all the typical delays!) A few to look out for are as follows:

Florida’s most famous chef Norman Van Aken has returned to Key West (he helped open Louie’s Backyard there, right around when he was putting the state’s unique cuisine on the map) to oversee the entire food and beverage program for Robert Spottswood’s ultra luxury property Beachside Resort & Conference Center. There will actually be two restaurants, Tavern and Town, as well as a poolside bar, Blue Bar. Tavern is the more low key joint, where dishes prepared by master chef Saturo Honda are delivered to table as they’re prepared, a fun and unstructured dining style. Look for small plates like yucca stuffed crispy shrimp, picadillo empanadas with cumin-lime crema and a variety of fish- and steak house choices. Town brings the full on Norman Van Aken chef performance fine dining, with signature dishes like paella with black truffles, pork belly "BLT", black grouper in kombu broth and duck served steak au poivre style. Even the Blue Bar goes beyond, with bacalao fritters next to the conch, fish tacos and bratwurst with caramelized Vidalia onions. "Beyond" goes for the view as well: wide open Gulf of Mexico.

Opening soon... I hope... will be the new Martin’s on Duval Street, next to nine one five. His old place on Appelrouth Lane will be a wine and cheese and chocolate bar (how can you go wrong with that?) but the new Martin’s will put his tasty, European specialties... love that grouper Dijon with Champagne kraut... on the center, Duval Street stage where they belong. In case you don’t know it, Martin serves one of the very best eggs Benedict’s in Key West for his famous Sunday Brunch. The only two that can compete are Blue Heaven’s and Camille’s’.
In Atlanta, chef Joel Antunes (who trains for triathalons and can never sit still too long!) revamped his entire concept, and had Bill Johnson design a complete redecoration, all in under a month. I have yet to see it, but the atmosphere’s much more bistro style rather than fine dining, and the food is said to be even more superb than ever.
Having peeked at the new menu, I would definitely love tasters like eggplant with curry dressing, homemade Compte cheese puffs, bluefin tuna tartar with avocado sorbet and pineapple lime dressing, or a main course of Hawaiian shrimp and ****ake ravioli with ginger sauce, or sautéed duck breast with orange coriander sauce. And luckily, the tropical pavlova (one of my favorite desserts on earth, hands down) did not leave the menu.

New for ME on my last trip to Panama City was Firefly in the Shops at the Edgewater. It’s a new look for Panama City, more along the lines of an urban place, with the deep red walls, the "library room" bar and a somewhat Southwestern style about the large, main dining room. Oh, and there’s a huge tree in the middle of the dining room as well, that looks real but isn’t. My favorite dishes there were the chicken tortilla soup, the tuna tataki and the scallops with crawfish fumet on the appetizer sampler plate. I also nabbed a bite of the center cut filet with lobster mashed potatoes from one of the friends I was dining with (hey, it’s my job to taste everything so anyone who dines with me gets food nabbed), and it was absolutely perfect.
New to me, maybe new to you... and that’s the news this time!

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.

Alliteration is fun!