Love at First Bite

Every now and then, you walk into a restaurant and know you’re in for an incredible experience. It could be the drop-dead view, or the spot-on elegance in every detail. Or perhaps it’s the cozy bar where a crowd of regulars swaps stories as a guitar player strums away. Sometimes you’re not sure what it is—that indefinable but unmistakable je ne sais quoi that has seduced lovers since time began.

Sarasota has more than its share of restaurants that can spark a lifetime love affair. From an Old Florida fish house to a bayfront landmark, here are seven of our most beloved.

A true temple of gastronomy, Longboat Key’s Maison Blanche embodies the vision of perfectionist chef Jose Martinez, a veteran of restaurants in Paris and the South of France. His experience shows in his flawless classic technique, often used in the service of ingredients that take full advantage of North American fields and fisheries. You can wallow in the luxury of five ounces of Osetra caviar or ravioli stuffed with wild mushrooms in foie gras sauce, but you also can dine more simply but no less divinely on swordfish crusted in black pepper and sesame seeds with soy sauce. One of the most astonishing dishes we’ve ever tasted anywhere was the chef’s roast suckling pig, a delicate slab of incredibly tender pork under a melt-in-your-mouth crust of crisp skin, served over Brussels sprouts that even I, a confirmed sprout hater, found delicious. Where did he find those sprouts and exactly what magic did he work on them?

The setting for enjoying Martinez’s artful bounty is an ethereal white-on-white dining room that is as serene as a world-class spa. The wine list is lovely, the service polished and professional, and the mood as far from everyday cares as anyone could hope.

Maison Blanche

2605 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key

Reservations recommended: (941) 383-8088

Hours: dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday

Entrées: $20 to $45

On Siesta, the next key south, perennial favorite Ophelia’s commands a view of unspoiled Little Sarasota Bay that rivals Martinez’s understated design fantasy for serenity and charm. Dine early, on the waterside deck or from a dining room with big windows, to watch dolphins drive mullet out of the mangrove shallows for their own suppers and to see the eastern sky morph through a palette of tropical ice cream colors at sunset.

The creative menu at Ophelia’s is constantly in flux, catering not only to the seasons and whatever is fresh from local waters but also to chef Daniel Olson’s whim. Gulf of Mexico hog snapper with cracked pepper and Florida honey, fresh rock shrimp in garlic sauce, ahi tuna ceviche with watermelon and Key lime, braised osso bucco with Portobello mushrooms and foie gras risotto, and Bandera quail stuffed with oysters and herbs comprise but a sampling of what might await on any given evening.

Among specials that come and go is the chef’s Savor Siesta Key Menu, a three-course prix fixe sampler that’s a bargain at $25. You might start with fresh and tender escargots with garlic and sweet basil set off by a white truffle herb crumb (or five other options) and move on to jerked pork tenderloin with fried plantains and creamy curried apples (or four other choices) and finish up with ice cream. Nice.

Ophelia’s On The Bay

9105 Midnight Pass Road., Siesta Key

Reservations recommended: (941) 349-2212

Hours: dinner 5 to 10 p.m. daily, brunch 11a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Entrées: $25 to $35

The only thing Mar Vista on Longboat shares with Ophelia’s is a great view, from waterside tables under shade trees or from a covered deck, of one of the prettiest little coves on Sarasota Bay. My favorite meal here is a long and laid-back lunch after a morning out on the salt. Tie up at this casual restaurant’s dock at Intracoastal Mile Marker 39 and kick off your boat shoes under your alfresco table. A rum and tonic goes down easy as you choose between the big burger or the grouper and try to decide whether Buffalo wings or a dozen (or two) of chilled peel-and-eat shrimp for the table is in order.

Inside the main building, which survived the hurricane of 1921, locals gather at the bar and diners from all over shelter from infrequent squally weather. And you’re invited to staple an autographed dollar bill to the wall or ceiling, where it will join hundreds of others that have accrued over the years.

Mar Vista Restaurant & Pub

760 Broadway St., Longboat Key

Information: (941) 383-2391