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Antonio's
Review Date: Sept. 21, 2006
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By Trent Rowe
The Ledger
The constellations Cassiopeia and The Chinese Five Chariots
have five major stars.
Winter Haven has its own five stars in Antonio's.
Paul Gago is the man behind the fine-dining room in the Best
Western Admirals Inn in front of Cypress Gardens Adventure
park.
In 1998, the off-shore owners gave him carte blanche to
transform The Mutiny Grill from a neighborhood meatloaf-andmashed
place into a real dining room you look forward to visiting.
The Spaniard did that.
Then he left. Then the staff left. Then new management lost
the luster of fine dining.
Antonio's went from well-deserved five stars, thanks in
large part to Chef Italo Casini, to an equally well-deserved
HHH1/2, thanks partly to a maitre d' who did tableside
cooking while wearing a polo shirt.
Gago came back in April; Casini is back. Even Chris, the
young piano player, is back and so is the class and panache
that made Antonio's a constellation of dining stars.
Decor is new, thanks to a hurricane, and an old mural is
gone and a new fireplace is in. Linens are black. That's
classy. It's so nice to stand up and not have white fluff
garnishing black jacket and trousers.
Gago doesn't like the taste of local tap water, so his staff
pours Acqua Panna, so imported that when you Google the name
the site is in Italian.
The bar stocks a premium British no-alcohol brew and a small
rainbow of non-alcohol wines stand out. You don't find this
selection often.
Service is professional. Our first server, Michael Scifo,
barely old enough to vote, had the polish you expect in a
veteran. He and our second waiter, with more than 40 years
taking care of guests, made a great team.
Specials, recited with prices, included a 12-ounce filet
with blue cheese and a port wine sauce for $42. Shrimp and
scallops with a lobster cream sauce, prepared tableside,
cost $44. Entrees include soup, salad, starch and
vegetable, raspberry sorbet, and bread with garlic and
spiced olive oil for dipping.
Even the olive oil is special. It's simmered with tiny
tomatoes, slices of garlic, saffron and fresh herbs. Let it
cool and use your bread, not a spoon, to eat it.
We started with Seared Jumbo Scallop and Ravioli Aragosta
($12). Slightly chewy (from frying) lobster-stuffed ravioli
stood upright in two huge scallops that had been floured and
fried until done perfectly. Keep some bread for the spicy
butter sauce. Square plates made the dish look as unique as
it tasted.
Tableside cooking is a bit like being Buddy Rich, the
drummer.
You start with the basics, embellish, add flair and flash
while still being tasty, do it quickly while people watch,
make a basic rhythm into a thing of beauty, finish the tune
with a flourish and move on to another one.
We moved on to personal preparation of Camarones al Ajillo
($14).
Gago sauteed four shrimp, each the size of a small lobster
tail, adding a splash of this, a pinch of secret spice from
a tin container like a treasure chest, juice from a lemon he
wrapped in a napkin before squeezing it from a great height,
and flaming each in a large spoon. Superb.
Tableside Caesar salad had been replaced by a spinach salad,
slightly wilted by a warm dressing of olive oil, honey,
bacon and syrupy balsamic vinegar. ($18 to serve two
diners.) Not a leaf goes to waste.
Excellent Caesar comes from the kitchen.
A shallow soup plate of Lobster Bisque might have come with
a warning. Thick and smooth, spice poked out of the warm
pink bisque and needed bread to dull the delightful glow.
Even the intermezzo had a couple of touches that made a
simple sorbet course special: The spoon had been chilled,
and a drop of berry liqueur in the glass made getting to the
bottom a worthwhile pursuit.
Steak Diane ($34) is a classic tableside dish that, when
done right, tastes as special as it looks. Two slices of
superb filet came
from the pan cooked exactly as ordered under a dark wine
sauce that will have you licking the fork to get the last
drop.
Shrimp garnished a huge fillet of fresh Gulf grouper ($28),
cooked just right, with a beige sauce that sang of lemon.
Even mundane chicken becomes something to crow about from
Chef Italo's kitchen. Poitrine de Volaille ($24) started
with a whole chicken breast covered by prosciutto and
mozzarella cheese, then a glaze of cooked blackberries and a
few fresh ones scattered around, the chicken presented on a
bed of fresh spinach. Chicken is mundane no more.
My wife likes grapes in sauces for meat, so veal scallopine
with fresh mushrooms and grapes was a natural choice ($28).
And we were more than happy with the scallops of tender veal
under a beige mushroom and grape sauce, where garlic peeks
out at you -- and winks.
Great garlic mashed potatoes and fresh spinach accompanied
the meats and fish.
Tableside desserts include peaches, cherries and bananas --
variations on a Foster theme -- at $18 for two. The hot
sauce melts vanilla ice cream to produce delightful
temperature contrasts, with just enough brown sugar and
spices in the steaming mixture to complement the fruit.
Feather-light Chocolate Cappucino Mousse ($7.50) and Italian
Chocolate Tarte ($8) are fitting ends to a wonderful dining
experience.
The restaurant is again the class act it should be, from the
greeting when you arrive to the rose for the ladies when you
leave.
Antonio's earns five stars.
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