Fun Playing With Destin-Area Breakfast

What better way to start the day than with breakfast? We found a number of tasty options nearby and barely scratched the surface of the local offerings.

In all our prior years visiting Destin, we'd never succeeding in playing with food at the Destin Diner - it was a cool looking old railcar style place, but always seemed to be between owners during our February visits. The current operators of the space (now called Mary's Kitchen) have remedied this. They also operate a second Mary's Kitchen at Uptown in Fort Walton Beach, which is open until 8pm for dinner. The Destin version is open from 7:30am until 2:30pm, and offers daily "Blue Plate" specials beginning at 11:30am for lunch in addition to the generous breakfast and lunch menus. Due to the number of meals we ate there, Mary's will get it's own post. However, our first breakfast at Mary's, on our first morning in Destin, warrants a preview here.

Bob's Pancakes

Half Order of Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

My side of cheese grits

Bob's pancakes were light and dreamy. I honestly didn't love the sausage tossed into the gravy, but the white gravy itself was delicious and the biscuits were light and airy. They told me their biscuit maker makes them from scratch daily and they certainly tasted like it! People tend to love grits or hate them; I am in the former category and found these creamy, cheesy and serviceable. A lovely start!

Our next breakfast adventure took us back to a place that didn't really impress in years past, but has upped their game quite nicely. The Donut Hole now has three locations; on this trip, we dined at two of them. The original, in Destin, impressed us both times we visited.

Bob's: The Everything. 2 eggs, sausage, cheese grits (subbed in for homefries), 2 pancakes.

Mine: Texas Sweet Potato Pancakes with Praline Sauce

The quantity of food provided two full meals for each of us, and then some. But more important was the quality, which was very good and delivered at very reasonable price points. More of Donut Hole will appear in a later post.

We enjoyed two breakfasts at The Pancakery, just up the street from us. While they do use liquid egg product for their omelets, the fillings I sampled tasted of freshness and quality.

Mine: Crabcake Omelet 

They get the crab cakes already made from their vendor, which they said was a local product. They also source local shrimp for omelet making, but we didn't sample it. This mammoth plate gave me two meals, with some to spare! The quality of the filling and presentation of this dish almost made up for the use of liquid egg product. And to accompany this savoriness:

Sand Dollar Pancakes

What a treat! Why get a side of food service bread toast when there are freshly made pancakes in the house? 

Bob's: Strawberry Fields, pancakes filled with strawberries and topped with strawberry compote. 

This was a little too sweet for my palate, but Bob loved it.

Gone Bananas: Filled with fresh bananas and served with bananas foster sauce.

We both ordered this on our second visit, and didn't love it as much as our first visit. The Bananas Foster Sauce had a strong margarine/butter substitute flavor that wrecked the dish for us. So the trick to enjoying the Pancakery is to order carefully - they do a fabulous job with the pancakes themselves and some of the toppings are worthy. We will definitely return.

Crackings was recommended by our realtor, who is a food guy and is married to another food lover. Originally part of the still-existing “Another Broken Egg” chain, but recently taken independent by its owners, Crackings still felt (and tasted) way too chain like. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t especially good either, and more costly than other local options. The menu bragged about serving Hormel meats – that sort of sums it up. There are better choices. And to be fair, my realtor and his wife had lunch items not breakfast; perhaps they do better with that. 

Mine: Praline Pecan Pancakes - two sweet cream pancakes, filled with sweet crunchy praline pecans, drizzled with scratch made cinnamon cream cheese icing

This looks like a bit of a mess and that was how it ate. Way too sweet, and the parts that weren't covered with icing were quite dry.

Bob's: Banana Foster's it Up - a scratch made brown sugar, banana liquor, and butter cream sauce with fresh bananas with pancakes

Crackings actually did a better job with this dish than the Pancakery had, probably because they used real butter rather than substitutes. Bob clearly chose better than I! Having lots of sauce to drizzle where needed helped.

The final two places are almost polar opposites, but each delivered deliciousness!

Mama Clemenza's is owned by the couple that are part owners in Fat Clemenzas in Miramar Beach and Clemenzas at Uptown Station, Fort Walton Beach. The Miramar Beach location, 12273 Emerald Coast Parkway, Miramar Beach, Phone: 850-424-3157 is open Wednesday – Sunday 8am – 1pm. The Fort Walton Beach location is open 8am- 1pm Sunday in the premises of Clemenzas at Uptown Station, 75 Eglin Parkway | Suite 126 | Fort Walton Beach, FL 32591. Both locations offer an upscale, hand crafted breakfast and lunch experience. Though our second experience was marred by some technical difficulties, the house responded well and we'll certainly be back.

Sliced Oranges in olive oil with black pepper

So tasty that I tried to recreate it for our Snowbird group's Happy Hour. How'd I do?

Plant City Truck Farmer Honeybells with EVOO & Black Pepper

Back to Mama Clemenza's.

Bob's: Italian Breakfast Panini "Special" House-made Italian Sausage, sunnyside eggs and Gruyere cheese, served with side of Hollandaise and "side of the day" which was Raspberry Steel Cut Oats 

Mine: "Special" Seafood Quiche topped with Hollandaise, served with Croissant and "side of the day", Raspberry Steel Cut Oats (it ate like pudding!).

Bob's Banana's Foster French Toast: maple glazed sliced bananas and warm caramel sauce.

Mine: Croque Madame. An open faced egg sandwich with Prosciutto, and Gruyere cheese. Served with Side of the Day (Blackberry Steel Cut Oats) and an addition of Hollandaise sauce on the side.

The menu changes frequently and every day brings one off specials. Mama Clemenza's is not a cheap date, but the quality of the food is a notch above most local offerings and well worth it. Despite the hiccups on our last visit, we'll be back! 

Blue Collar Cafe in Fort Walton Beach is the only place in the area making real NY style bagels from scratch. And doing it quite well. But go early if you want a bagel, because they will sell out (by 10:30ish)!  We didn't get there in time the first time we visited. But the made-in-house biscuits almost made up for it! And that Maple Bacon - divine! The grits - nothing special. But there remains plenty of special to go around at Blue Collar Cafe! And at very friendly prices.

Mine: 2 Eggs Over Easy, Biscuit, Cheese Grits, Maple Bacon

Bob's: 2 eggs over easy, toast, sausage patty.

The bagels were worth the price of admission and a second trip. New Yorker approved. And though that cream cheese probably started life in a food service loaf, it had been whipped with a perfect touch of white pepper by the time it hit my bagel. Outstanding! As was the service, a real treat.

Mine: Plain bagel, not toasted, cream cheese, fruit.

No New Yorker would ever toast a fresh bagel.

Bob's: Poppyseed Bagel Toasted, Cream Cheese, Fruit

Another lovely touch - that fruit garnish isn't just a garnish - it's fresh, substantive fruit, which cut nicely through the richness of the bagel and cream cheese. And the sausage and bacon at our first visit.

Finally, a rare made from scratch breakfast in the condo, featuring Black Bear Bread Company Bread made into French Toast with Blue Eggs we got at the Sandestin/Grand Boulevard Farmers' Market, topped with Strawberry Syrup I made with Plant City Farmers' Fresh Strawberries.

And so we have breakfast in Destin and environs. Some lovely places to play with food, and a few others we didn't get to try. There will be more Fun Playing With Food from this trip, coming up shortly!

More Fun Playing With Food From Appetite Deli and Bakery

I have an unfortunate tendency to take Appetite Deli & Bakery for granted. Located just a short walk or drive from the office, it is often our "go to" - such that I seldom grab my camera. And when I looked, and realized how long it has been since I wrote about them - well, shame on me! Because Appetite is a true gem of a breakfast and lunch joint.

As noted on their website, "Bennett & William Davis, both alums of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, launched Appetite on October 23, 2006." Since then, Bennett has been providing savory breads and amazing sweets, and William has shined as the Deli Lama - coming up with daily sandwich creations and soups that show off his love of playing with food.

I've got a collection of photos going back many months - so without a lot of explanation - here's some of the food we've played with at Appetite!


Caprese Grill on Bennett's Sourdough

Fresh mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes, pesto, grilled. This is one of my "go-tos" in summer, when the tomatoes are grand.


Turkey BLT on Bennett's Baguette


Egg Salad & Cheese on Bennett's Rye



I love the egg salad - first, because there is no celery in it, and second, because there is red onion!


Cobb Salad

Mixed greens, tomato, avacado, bacon, Blue cheese, turkey - yum!


The Brieze

Well - not exactly - instead of smoked ham, I had turkey. Brie, apple slices, mayonnaise, mustard, spinach and onions completed this sandwich, which looks to be on Bennett's rye.




Cobb Salad - with house made roast beef this time


Vegetable Soup w/Posole

This was an inspired creation!



Roast Beast

House made roast beef, cheddar, onions, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and horseradish on Bennett's whole wheat bread - yum!






Lenten Friday Fish Lunch

During the Lenten season, Will does a fish sandwich on Friday - I was very impressed with this (and I really didn't expect to be impressed, because these kinds of fish dishes usually don't do much for me).

Will made this the Daily Sandwich Special. Every day, Will offers a great lunch special: full sized sandwich, deli side (or chips or cup of soup) and dessert (though I usually get a fresh brewed ice tea instead) for $6.50. That is a lunch value that can't be beat!

My deli side here was the broccoli salad, which is one of my favorites.



Instead of the ubiquitous fry, Will cooked the fish to order in a saute pan, with seasonings instead of breading. A lovely house-made relish was under the fish, and tomato and cheese on top. I enjoyed mine on Bennett's fabulous baguette.


Another soup - probably split pea.


Another Will-creation

House made corned beef, turkey, tomato, cheese, and a custom dressing all grilled down on rye. MMMmmm.


House Made Macaroni Salad


Cupcakes!


Chicken Salad with Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato on Wheat

An inspired improvement on the BLT.



During Passover, I enjoyed this lovely salad, topped with tuna and chicken salad, and accompanied by Will's Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette.



Anna had no bread restrictions, and enjoyed this sandwich special with ham, turkey cheese, apple, and a side of broccoli salad.


Macaroons

Bennett made the most fabulous Macaroons this year! They can now be found in the pastry case most of the time.



I didn't take the camera again until June 15!


Corned Beef & Turkey on Bennett's Croissant

They let Bernie do his own variation on the Daily Sandwich Special (he mostly left things off). I, of course, had to try it the way the Chef intended it:


Daily Special

Corned Beef, Turkey, Tomato, Red Onion, Havarti Cheese, Thousand Island Dressing grilled on Bennett's rye. Yummers! Even though I would normally never consider eating cheese with corned beef - I gotta say that this combination really won me over.


Pasta Pesto Side Salad

House made, of course. And most delicious.





Thank goodness I hadn't looked down at the pastry case before ordering lunch (and taking Iced Tea instead of a sweet). But Bernie insisted I taste his - we both agree - Bennett makes the best darn cupcakes, period. And he samples them wherever he goes, and this is his opinion.



Finally, to wrap this post up, lunch from Thursday June 18. I was craving pizza, but sort of in a hurry, and I wanted something I could get quickly and eat at my desk. As I started my car, it hit me - Bennett's foccacia bread! I hadn't had that in months - and it would slake the pizza need.


Cheese and Caramelized Tomato Foccacia Bread

William cut my loaf in quarters and warmed it in the oven for me. Together with freshly brewed Tazo ice tea, this made a perfect on-the-run lunch!



I marveled at the incredible texture and mouthfeel of the tomatoes - lets face it, really good tomatoes are still some weeks away. But these had gotten wonderfully chewy and sweet. And the crust was delightful - crisp on the bottom, but fluffy and toothy in the middle.



We are truly lucky to have some wonderful lunch places in and near Lyndhurst - but my go to remains Appetite, where much is made from scratch (no - not everything - but if that matters to you and you ask - Will and Bennett will steer you in the right direction), and all is made with care. Now, if I could just remember to bring my camera, and keep track of how often I've written about them!