Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I'll Show You Mine

Bluffton Today column, February 16, 2007

Since moving here we had been searching for a restaurant to replace our beloved “Metro Café” in Freehold, NJ. The first time Joe and I went to “Metro Café” we ordered a sweet and spicy calamari and shrimp appetizer. The dish arrived with chopsticks on the plate. In an effort to show off (I think) Joe picked up the chopsticks to demonstrate his skill. As he closed in around the first piece of shrimp … snap! The chopsticks broke in half, because after all they were breadsticks not chopsticks. We had a good laugh over that, and returned to Metro Café many times. It became “our place.”

So, for two years we have been on the prowl for a new “our place” Lowcountry style. It took awhile, but we finally found it. And, that got me thinking …

How many of you have “that place” where you go to celebrate the special occasions, or for a pick me up when you are feeling blue?

I’ve had a few in my day.

My high school/college boyfriend, Brian, and I made The Crab’s Claw in Lavallette our place, when he invited me there for Easter Dinner my senior year of high school. I had never celebrated a holiday without my parents until that point and it was that Easter dinner that made me realize, wow I am a grownup now. We dined there the night before I left for college and then again the night after I came back home six months later (homesick for him and with a 2.0 GPA from West Virginia University, ranked the number 1 party school in 1991, you do the math).

My best friend from graduate school, Patrick, and I would always meet before class at the T.G.I. Fridays in Eatontown. It was nothing special, but it was our place. And despite a close knit group of fellow graduate students, we never let them be a part of our ritual. We ordered the same appetizers each week, practiced our presentations for our class that evening, and every once in awhile we would add a drink to our repertoire – it seemed that a drink would calm our nerves a bit before we had to stare into 25 sets of eyes and practice our public speaking skills. Those were the days.

Now, I know the suspense is killing you … and I am willing to share (courtesy of my new Southern hospitality attitude) the new place that Joe and I discovered. It is “211 Park” on the Island. The décor and menu remind us so much of our beloved Metro Café, we just felt at home there the second we stepped through the door.

Add to that, the food is phenomenal – “an eclectic menu with fusion cuisine”. Try the goat cheese casserole served with crusty bread – it is to die for. The tuna, tuna, tuna appetizer is phenomenal – sushi grade tuna bites, encrusted in spices and served with shaved ginger, wasabi and teriyaki. Yum. The cedar planked salmon melts in your mouth, as do the mashed potatoes. The wine list is impressive and they serve Guinness, which makes Joe a happy customer. Perhaps my favorite part is Kathy P., the waitress who has served us the last two times we have gone. She has a remarkable Midwestern accent with a little Southern twang and tons of energy. She makes dining there fun.

Now, I’ve showed you mine, will you show me yours?

Courtney Naughton is a Jersey Shore native who moved to Bluffton. She shares well with others. Thank her mom for that. Email Courtney at courtneynaughton@hargray.com.

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