Urbane's sophisticated taste moves in downtown
By Ashby Stiff
At night, the view from the park across the street is striking.
Through the glass facade of the new Urbane Restaurant and Bar a blizzard of shaded lamps and gleaming accessories project alluring warmth and hospitality.
Near the heavy glass door, the words "refined, sophisticated, gracious" appear, etched in glass beneath the restaurant's logo. Newly renovated and opened in premises that once housed the Tallahassee Police Station, then discos named Stonehenge and Club Park Avenue, and most recently a Cool Grindz coffee house, the smartly contemporary Urbane brings innovative, tasteful lunching and dining, and a cosmopolitan bar and winecellar, to a downtown growingly attuned to such.
The result is a carefully detailed but casually stunning dining environment, one suggesting a California state of mind. Jeans and pinstripes are equally welcome.
The restaurant, we learned, is the creation of a dynamic, talented couple, Bruce and Pam Pollett; he a stockbroker-turned-chef, she a former schoolteacher. They owned and operated a successful restaurant and a market in Jacksonville before deciding to return to the Tallahassee they once lived in and loved, to rear a family.
Chef Pollett describes his cooking as seasonally changing, high-energy and American contemporary; one that's all about ingredients and classic technique. We'd label the food eclectic, as varied as its small plates of Tempura Jumbo Prawns and Southern Fried Quail, as its Southwestern Chicken Caesar and Miso-Sake Glazed Salmon salads, or its main courses of Pecan Crusted Pheasant Breast and Low Country Shrimp and Scallops.
The cooking reaches inspired informality in its pizzas of Chorizo and Wild Mushroom, and Oven Dried Tomato with Roasted Shallots; as well as in Chicken and Dumplings Pasta and a bevy of sandwiches including Panko Crusted Grouper and Thai Chicken Wrap.
Last weekend's dinner began with placement of diaphanously light, muffin-shaped rolls with pepper butter, and pourings of sauvignon blanc and Super Tuscan Carpineto Dogajolo, an unfamiliar but quite pleasant blend of sangiovese and cabernet suggested by informative server Sarah.
Then, a splendid shared starter of Lobster and Shiitake Pancakes with coconut curry emulsion, thoughtfully presented in its artistically plated form before being halved for separate service.
Big Bend familiars comprised a main course of Blue Corn Fried Catfish. The two sizeable filets came topped with Tabasco tartar sauce and in the company of jalapeno vinegar-infused collard greens and zesty Texas caviar (AKA black-eyed peas).
We couldn't decide which was more flavorful, the catfish or the outsized Low Country Shrimp and Scallops served with creamy grits, asparagus tips, roasted corn and wild mushroom ragout. Delicious, both.
Land huggers might have preferred Pan Seared Duck Breast with sweet-potato-pear hash, or Green Peppercorn Crusted Filet with mashed potatoes pave, haricots verts, tobacco onions and gorgonzola butter. Each comes highly recommended.
A return for Tuesday lunch found similar savory flair in lovely-to-look-at Butternut Squash Soup, Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad and the Trio of Shrimp Cake and Fried Green Tomato.
Dessert? "Coffee and Doughnuts," with its whipped-cream-lathered cappuccino custard and just-fried beignets, proved worlds removed from a Dunkin' ensemble.
Expectedly, high value has its price. Urbane lunches and dinners can run in the $20 and $40 range, respectively, with a glass of wine. But you get what you pay for.
Limelight
Section D
www.tallahassee.com
Friday, November 30, 2007
115 East Park Ave •
Tallahassee, Florida • (formerly CoolGrindz)
P: 850.422.2221 •
F: 866.267.3906
Happy Hour: Tues-Fri 5-7 • Dinner: Tues-Sat
5:30-10
Two for One Martini Thursdays