We had a reservation on this evening at 7:00. We arrived about 15 minutes early and we were seated immediately.
The restaurant was rather empty, and we enjoyed looking around. This place is beautiful on the inside, with a side of funk.
The hostess showed us to our table near the windows overlooking parts of the Boardwalk.
Our menus had "Congrats" written across the top...
I do love the Woolf quote across the bottom of the menu:
"One cannot think well, love well, and sleep well if one has not dined well."
I wonder if there's a study which examines the relationships of foodies like us?
The cheese board menu:
Our server was Theresa. She was fabulous the entire evening. Her knowledge about Flying Fish was immense. She informed us that she had, personally, tasted every menu item at the Flying Fish, and she offered to give us recommendations should we need them.
She brought out a complimentary toast of champagne from the restaurant as a form of congratulations to us on our marriage.
She posed as well!
UncleR knew exactly what she wanted for her appetizer. But, I was on the fence. I was between the mussels in the pesto broth and the floribbean gulf shrimp cocktail. Upon Theresa's recommendation (insistance???) and after her promise that I would want to swim in the tasty broth, I settled on the mussels.
But, before our appetizers were brought to us, the Flying Fish sent us a little surprise!
The chef sent over what Theresa referred to as the "Chef's Muse", which is a wee little taste of something that he has created off menu. The chef also sent along his congratulations on our marriage.
Our "muse" was an organically grown, cucumber and avocado chilled soup, topped with Jonah crab meat and mint.
I took a taste and my tastebuds began to explode. Oh. mah. gawd. this was good. In fact, "good" doesn't do it justice. It was exceptional. Fresh and chilled, but not cold. Full of flavor, but somehow very light.
As I scooped the last bite out of my cup, I looked at UncleR and said, "Ummm, do you think it would be impolite to lick the bottom?"
Before we could even rest our spoons, someone was there to whisk away our "muse" and replace it with our appetizers.
Again, I had settled on the mussels, which are served in a fennel, chile, pesto cream sauce, with sourdough crostini on the side.
I'm trying to imagine how I can possibly describe the goodness in the written word that is contained within this bowl. If I thought the chef's muse was good, it in no way prepared me for these mussels.
The mussels themselves were the most tender, melt-in-your mouth mussels I have had the pleasure of sucking down my throat. And the broth. Ohhhhh, the broth. It is a perfect mixture of pesto and spice from the chiles, and the cream makes it rich, but not overly so. The bread is a perfect accompaniment for the broth and I went through at least a couple of pieces of bread trying to sop up all of the goodness on the bottom of the bowl. UncleR tasted my mussels as well and agreed that Theresa had given us the right recommendation.
For her appetizer, UncleR ordered the cheese board. This was absolutely wonderful as well, and had it not been for the mussels, we both would have thought this the best thing on the menu.
From left to right on the plate we have:
- Roque Creamery Smokey Oregon Blue
- Murcia al Vino, a semi-firm white, goat's cheese
- Flore Sardo, a semi-hard sheep's milk cheese
- Flagship Reserve Truckle, a long-cured American cheddar
- Brillat Savarin, a soft-crusted cow's milk cheese
As an accompaniment, the plate also includes:
- Fig and Almond Torta
- Savannah Bee Company Honeycomb
- Raisins on the Vine
- Black Mission Fig, Bing Cherry, and Sweet Bermuda Onion Compote
I tasted the compote and the honeycomb, which were both ahhhhhmazing. My favorite cheese was the Brillat Savarin. UncleR enjoyed this very much, and raved about all of the cheeses. Paring each cheese with the different accompaniments brought different flavors and textures to an already flavorful platter.
While we were eating our appetizers, our sourdough bread basket with salted butter was brought to our table.
We never touched the butter, but each of us used a piece of bread to sop up some of the broth from the mussels. Ohhhhh, that broth!
I should add, neither of us finished our appetizers. Otherwise we wouldn't have had room to spare on our entrees. As much as it pained me to watch that bowl of broth leave the table, I had to do it.
We hadn't even put down our utensils indicating that we were finished with our appetizers when someone whisked by and cleaned our table again. The service here was impeccable!!!
Up next: Everything we were hoping for and more...
***P.S.-We tried to "re-create" the mussel recipe a few weeks ago using the restaurant's recipe, only we served it with shrimp, as mussels are difficult to come by around these here parts o' the country. It didn't work. It was just "meh". We've decided we need to return to Flying Fish for more research.
We didn't get down to Boardwalk Bakery for anything to eat! But UncleR was looking at the pictures with me just a bit ago, and she wishes we had one of those nut clusters right now! 
! That bowl was dry as a bone when we sent it back, not one drop of broth remained. Glad you loved them too!
