During a visit to catch up with some lifetime friends in the Stuart area, we decided to meet up over an early dinner. After doing some research on the local establishments I decided on South Fork Kitchen and Bar. They are a farm-to-table restaurant that was founded and run by Chef Ron Kerr who is born and raised in Naples FL and is a graduate of New England Culinary Institute. Chef Ron’s pallet of flavor covers a number of cuisines including Asian, Italian, French, and Cuban which is reflected in the diverse menu offerings. As soon as we entered we were pleasantly greeted by a host who offered us the choice of table as we were the first patrons that evening. Upon being seated and presented the menus we were offered our choice of waters. The server then returned and told us about the happy hour specials and gave us time to choose our drinks and appetizers.
For our starters, we choose the Grilled Octopus, Crispy Calamari, and Pot of Meatballs. The Meatballs were sensational almost like grandma used to make, they were served with a nice-sized crostini for dipping. Next was the Grilled Octopus, another hit, perfectly seasoned and grilled to perfection. The Fried Calamari was also perfectly cooked to a nice golden brown.
Chef Kerr has worked in restaurants in NY, Miami, Islamorada, Naples, and Palm Beach. You can experience his talents at his farm-to-table restaurant in Stuart. South Fork Kitchen and Bar is definitely worth a stop in when you are in the Stuart area. I would assume it to be more of a local stop rather than a tourist destination.
For our main meals, we ordered the Brussels Sprout & Kale Caesar Salad, SF Market Salad, Faroe Island Salmon. All of the meals were works of art as far as presentation. The Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad was shredded amazingly thin yet retained its crispiness and had the right amount of dressing to make all of the ingredients come together into a medley of flavor. The Faroe Island Salmon was cooked to a medium temperature and was melt in your mouth delicious. We capped off the evening with a Goat Cheese Cheesecake that is topped with local honey. My best description would be….. You HAVE TO TRY THIS! The drinks were a good pour and well crafted.
