Ralph B.
Yelp
I must admit, my wife and I visited here with great trepidation because we loved its pre hurricane predecessor, Café L'Europe. But, as a supporter of the circle we walked in and asked for a table outside. We were seated on the signature deck which is St. Armond's very best people watching location. The menu is fairly small and designed to be Mediterraneanish tapa style and shared plates style. Though small, we had no problems finding a few choices. We started with drinks and received a perfect French 73 and a very tasty and creative Blood Orange Aperol Spritz. Good start. We then shared a beets salad, shishito peppers and French onion sliders. Each one was perfect. The beets salad was fresh and lightly dressed with plenty of beets. The peppers had been prepared fresh, garnished with a grilled orange, pistachios and on a generous bed of goat cheese. The flavor was ideal and like with any plate of peppers we were both on the lookout for the one stray extra hot one, which never came. There were two Farnsworth onion sliders. These were a taste sensation dressed with gruyere gouda, garlic aioli and arugula. The two of us were pleasantly full from the three plates, but not so full that we passed on dessert. Glad we didn't skip it because this key lime pie was about the best we have ever tasted. We will return on our next visit to Longboat Key. Great service as well. I will miss the old restaurant, but I must admit that this concept is a perfect fit for the Circle and fills a niche that had been open.