Opening night for South Beach, version 2.0

There was a happy appearance at the end of the four or so days of endless rains and wind of Hurricane Debby. The restaurant South Beach Bar & Grille held their first test run Tuesday, Aug. 6, with a celebratory dinner for the contractors who worked so hard to rebuild the restaurant. In the background, the stormy waves of the Gulf of Mexico could still be seen behind new, hurricane-proof sliding glass. With a full parking lot, passersby tried to get in, to see if the restaurant was open. 

They would need to wait until Saturday. It was a privilege to watch Monday as patrons came into the restaurant for the first time, and turned their iPhones sideways for a wide shot of the main dining room. The room is a big expanse, so when you go, turn your phone to horizontal, too, as you take a picture, and not vertical. Otherwise, much will be missed.

From every place inside, you can see across the room, and out to the Gulf. The design, with white walls, is all in service to its purpose, namely to give every customer a moment at the seaside, with a good meal, and friends. Of course in its old incarnation, the view was central, but unlike so many things these days, this new release, South Beach 2.0, the new is much better than the old.

The view of the Gulf is framed inside dunes, covered with sea oats, or Uniola paniculata. The sea oat is truly a wonder. No other plant roots so easily in the Florida sand, as it is heat tolerant, and has no concern with drought, sun or salt water. Like the restaurant, sea oats seem to thrive under any circumstances.

It was refreshing to see that locals dressed up to come. On Monday, a beach going crew came in, not even enough dressed for the Englewood Circle K on McCall, and headed back out the door. We can state categorically, that a pullover for after the beach is not a luxury. It is the opposite of the 1920s Dorothy Parker quote, where she reviewed the play Sinbad, and said, that the play is “produced in accordance with the fine old Shubert precept that nothing succeeds like undress.”

And now that we are mentioning Dorothy Parker, let us talk of tables at South Beach. There is a sort of Dorothy Parker circular “Algonquin roundtable” along the north wall corner, where during opening night Monday, Fr. Jerome Carosella sat with friends. It was not the literary society “Vicious Circle” table of the old N.Y. hotel, but instead became the respectable corner, proof the Church had and has a protective eye on this new endeavor.

Dorothy Parker can be seen as the inventor of modern snark, but her reference to New York City applies to South Beach.

“It is always a little more than you had hoped for,” wrote Parker in 1928. “Each day, there, is so definitely a new day.”

There are no bad tables. The bathrooms are hidden far to the east, and every table has a view of either some expanse of the room, or the Gulf. The kitchen is on the land side, of course, so it does not get in the way of the water. 

The east wall as you go in is a long stretch of two-tops. Let’s call that the BG gauntlet, as the hostess station is wisely located to the center of the restaurant. This means that every person who wants a table must come in for a view, which adds to the stage atmosphere. 

There are many things to be grateful for at the restaurant, including the fact that there are only two televisions, and they are behind the bar. The bar area is very much a locals’ place, and sort of tucked to the south. With the hostess stand at center, if there is not a table, one can wait there, away from the traffic, or step out to the beach.

The larger Boca Grande community had to pull together to make the rebuild work. And it was not only the stories of the contractors, staff and owners, but everyone, beginning with the McLaughlins, who gave the restaurant a home after Ian. 

During opening week, a table near the bar held a flower arrangement sent by Anne Honey, the wife of the late former owner John Kimpton Honey. It was he who spearheaded a group to buy South Beach when there was a threat of closure. The concern was not only that the island needed the restaurant, but it needed a public gathering place where every sort of person felt welcome.

Congrats to owners Bart DeStefano and Marco Meola, and the entire staff, on getting her re-opened.

Garland Pollard is editor of the Beacon. Email letters and comments to editor@bocabeacon.com.