Frescos, St. Petersburgh

This week our good friends invited us on a boating excursion of Tampa Bay. What a treat! The day was picture perfect, the Bay was relatively calm, and we were wise enough to go midweek and avoid the crowds. We ended up in St. Pete at Frescos and if you've never docked at a marina and hopped out of the boat onto the pier you are definitely missing something. I felt positively jaunty. There's even a special boat parking meter - who knew?

We found a table on the patio and enjoyed the balmy breeze and the view of a variety of very cool looking yachts and boats. It really is a whole way of life, this boating thing.

Hollie and I both ordered the Portabella Salad: a beautiful presentation of Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Roasted Red Peppers and Feta with a Balsamic glaze. It was almost too pretty to eat but I tucked in and finished half of the very large portion with an eye toward bringing the other half home for later. Too bad for me that while we were talking and looking around hubby stole my reserved Portabella Mushroom and gobbled it up. Harumph....oh well.

Hubby had the Steak Portabella Wrap: Sliced sirloin, portabella mushrooms, spinach, sautéed onions, roasted red pepper, provolone and horseradish sauce with a side of Bowtie Pasta. He reports that the steak was very tender and he enjoyed it immensely (and then stole my Portabella Mushroom....no I'm not letting it go). Service was quick and efficient and we thought at first that our young waitress was taking a personal phone call while servicing her tables only to learn that her phone was a mini POS system. Marvelous. Some time back I wrote a review of a restaurant where instead of menus we were given a bunch of iPads on which to place our orders directly with the kitchen. I didn't like it at all, but I do applaud the use of iPhones as POS systems.

Mike opted for the Steak Sandwich topped with mushrooms & caramelized onions served on a hoagie with French Fries. Yum.

This part of St. Pete is so charming with museums and restaurants and shops and parks. Whether by boat or by car I've put this lovely part of town on my List of Places to Go as there's lots to explore.

http://www.frescoswaterfront.com

Located in Downtown St. Petersburg at the foot of the Pier