Best-reviewed Brevard restaurants of 2017: What makes a restaurant great? The details

On a chilly Monday evening in January, Alex Litras watched food and beverages move from his kitchen and bar to the dining room.

“No,” he said quietly, locked one of his two front doors and advised servers not to use that entrance. The air coming through the open door might make people in the bar, and ostensibly in the dining area (with arriving food), cold, he said. 

Then Litras glanced at a beautifully garnished mixed drink prepared by his bartender, Dragan Zivotic, said “very good” and murmured “details,” with a smile.

At Café Margaux, owner Litras sees all, having planned, organized and approved all, from his place’s new bar and dining areas to its list of wine, beers and spirits, and chef Erol Tugrul’s menus. Nothing is ignored or omitted. Servers are fully trained and guest-oriented; they know how to recommend beverages. Food is freshly made, from first-rate provisions.

No easy ways are taken. No detail is overlooked.

This — classic American and continental-style cuisine with creative touches, marvelously prepared and flawlessly served on each visit — is why, for the first time in many years, a restaurant earned five stars in FLORIDA TODAY’s weekly dining reviews. 

At least five visits were made to the venue, with people of varied ages and backgrounds in food, before the decision was made to award a perfect ranking.

Photos: Cafe Margaux in Cocoa Village

 “What makes a restaurant special, perfect? Quality food, fair prices that you never discount because that leads to using inferior product, and original ideas mixed with traditional favorites,” said chef Toni Elkhouri of Cedar’s Café in Melbourne.

Cedar’s was not reviewed in 2017 but received four and a half stars two years ago; last year for the second straight time, Elkhouri had a creation that made the Top 5 in the James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project. 

“(A perfect restaurant is) something that makes people want to come back to your place instead of others because they can only get it there,” she said.

Crush Eleven to move from Cocoa Village to Melbourne

Restaurateur Mona Foy recently moved Crush XI from Cocoa Village to downtown Melbourne and is in the process of renovating the site of the former Mango Tree into the new home of the Fat Snook, also in Cocoa Beach. She takes her restaurants quite seriously indeed, and is particular about everything in and around them.

“It has gotten to the point where I tend to think of them as human entities,” she said. 

“Exceeding the guest's expectations on each visit should be the aspiration," said Litras, who with his wife, server-manager Megan, rarely is not at the restaurant.  "The challenge is having a management style that thrives on excellence and consistency, which requires a lot of structure on your service and culinary team, while being ultra-accommodating to the guests."

While Café Margaux was the sole restaurant to achieve what it did, three others — The Chef’s Table at Amici’s in Suntree, the Fat Snook in Cocoa Beach and Scott’s on Fifth in Indialantic — came close, with 4.5 stars each. 

For our purposes here, think of Brevard’s restaurants as being in any of three categories: 

• Classic, the food you’ve always enjoyed in traditional American and continental restaurants.
• Innovative, with ambience and dishes designed to please diners who favor the latest trends, or chefs who create them.
• Specialty, in which we place restaurants that serve national, regional or time-specific (i.e., breakfast/lunch/brunch/all-day) dishes.

Classic-style eateries reviewed last year included Chef’s Table, the closest thing Brevard has to a high-end steak house, with its show kitchen, Mediterranean styling, low lighting and superb service, as well as first-class meat, fine side dishes and outstanding selections of wines and spirits.

Party Recipe: Bearnaise Butter

Then there’s colorful, cheerful Scott’s, where owner-chef Scott Earick is hanging out in his intimate dining room when he's not in the kitchen. Earick, a former TV chef, is a firm believer that a good cook must master and practice the basics before he or she can even imagine personal touches, and his menu is joyously limited to what can be done well in his kitchen. Last year, as always, the results were feasts for the eyes as well as the palate.

The Fat Snook also is gloriously, proudly American, but remains a trend-setter, and like Café Margaux, it has been honored by state and national publications. Also like Margaux, everything that comes from its kitchen is fresh. 

Where the classics tend to be traditionally dressy, shorts are pretty much the norm at the Snook, though that should not be taken as a sign of anything but theme. Its dishes are created, overseen and served with precision and artistry, and inventiveness is a byword in its dining room. That shouldn't change after the restaurant moves north to Cocoa Beach's Cottage Row in coming months.

Fourteen restaurants achieved four stars last year and one, lovely, friendly Cibo, has closed, much to the rue of Rockledge residents. 

Suzy Cooks: Rogue River Taproom

Of the others, Rogue River Taproom in Indialantic stands out as an innovator, with its intentionally, artistically stark dining room, cool jazz and blues music and wisely limited menu with much emphasis on trends. Sous-vide cooking is practiced here, and well, with tender, though not traditional-looking or -textured meats and whatever sides the chefs hanker to prepare. Dishes are lways fresh, sometimes deconstructed, reconstructed or developed on-site. 

Nine of the remaining four-star holders may be classified as “Specialty,” including Crydermans Barbecue in Cocoa Village, an exceptionally well-conceived barbecue joint with unmatched smoked meats. It took top honors at the 2018 Downtown Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and recently won plaudits from Orlando-centric writers. More are on the way, we understand.

Le Crave in the Suntree area, with its colorful, French-Vietnamese crepes and beverages, opened late last year and already is a favorite.

La Crêpe de France, is like a trip from downtown Melbourne to Brittany.

Estampa Gaucha, now established in Melbourne Square, may be the best churrascaria in the region, never mind Brevard. 

Tuscany Grill, formerly Italian-ish in nature, really can be called eclectic now, having been successful with unexcelled sauerbraten during FLORIDA TODAY’s Flavor! month, and having an increased emphasis on fresh fish.

The Dove III, on the other hand, sticks to classic Italian pastas, fish and meat dishes, complete with white tablecloths and fine service.

Zarrella’s in Cape Canaveral is a pizzeria with a very great desire to be seen as a ristorante, with clever twists on traditional offerings.

The Bean Sprout at the Avenue Viera rated very well for its Thai-Japanese fare and excellent service, as did the surprisingly satisfying brunch at the Mansion in downtown Melbourne.

Humble Merritt Island Pancake House quietly comes up with colorful creativity for breakfast and lunch, only on weekends.

That leaves the two remaining Classics, the Tulip/Black Tulip in Cocoa Village and Djon’s Steak and Lobster House in Melbourne Beach. They are stalwarts on Brevard’s dining scene, places where decent steaks, especially in Djon’s case, take their places alongside lamb, pork, fish and fowl, elegantly presented and well-served.

Remember, this has not been a going-over of the best restaurants in Brevard County, but of the best ones we covered last year, so some of our finest, most thoughtful places (Cedar’s, Crush XI, Heidelburg, Jacqueline’s Bakery and Café, Tely’s, Trend Kitchen, Umami, Yellow Dog Café, et al) are not mentioned. 

It also shouldn’t be taken to mean that if a certain star rating, or a good or bad reaction, is regarded as permanent. At least one place reviewed in 2017 was on the verge of perfect when last we dined there, and a few not covered last year could be elevated. Plus, you never know what good things will come down the gustatory road.

On the other side of the culinary tracks, certain venues, some mentioned in this story, also seem determined to forego their exalted status and they will be called out for it, though only after multiple visits, which they required for their critiques to begin with. If you want five stars, O restaurateurs, expect at least three visits. If you want to keep your rating, O slackers, don’t doubt that we’ll be back.

“Details,” Litras said that January night. “It’s in the details.”

Dowling is a freelance writer who has reviewed restaurants for FLORIDA TODAY for more than 10 years.