Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Saucy Mount Dora

Surprise, a second post on the same day. I am late with this post, as it covers our trip to Mount Dora last weekend. (Delayed due to router issues covered in the prior post). We helped our good friend Carol celebrate her xx birthday. Carol and John treated us to a nice weekend getaway and as always we enjoyed good food and good wine. Dinner was at a just-opened restaurant called Saucy Bistro. By just opened, I mean Saturday was their first day in business. That can be problematic for the dining public, and it was to a certain extent for us, as we could not get seated for 1 hour plus after our reservation. We waited two doors down in a microbrew pub which also recently opened. When we were finally escorted to the restaurant, we found out that a major reason for the delay was the party occupying our to-be table, had lingered far too long. 
Once we were seated, everything moved right along. An arrangement of cheeses was in the middle of the restaurant for all to consume, a glass of champaign was provided, and orders were taken. The menu was limited, but covered the bases, from vegetarian to chicken to beef, to fish. I opted for the Veal Osso Bucco served over polenta. The veal was excellent, very tender and rich. The polenta was nice, although cooled off quickly. Our table of ten diners covered all of the entrees; and all were greeted with rave reviews. The staff was efficient and friendly, and even at the end of the day, when we were finishing our meal, they were still smiling. Not an easy task on opening day. 
The owner, Beth Lee, has been operating a well regarded catering business - The Saucy Spoon. I think it is always difficult to open a successful restaurant, but  Beth may pull it off. In a small space with limited seating, she needs to work out the table turnover issue. From a food standpoint, she has it nailed.

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