Key West Wedding Dinner/Reception

We're hosting a Wedding Reception/Dinner for 50 people or less in Key West. We're looking for fine dining recommendations, please nothing Italian as we eat lots of Italian in Chicago.

Thanks!!!

A year ago I had a terrific meal at Hot Tin Roof. Nice view of the harbor also.
http://www.oceankey.com/default.aspx?pa ... restaurant

I'll second the recommendation for Hot Tin Roof. Fabulous food, elegant setting. Costly, but exceptional. The dishes I remember were tuna tartar, lobster and jerk shrimp grits with truffle oil, lobster bisque, strip steak with cabernet sauce, and mashed potatoes with artichoke and bacon.

Not as high-end, but really lovely is Bagatelle. While Hot Tin Roof is in a new hotel, Bagatelle is in a wonderful, old Victorian mansion. The food here was sensational, as well. We had the Bagatelle seafood chowder (shrimp, fish, conch in a sherry cream chowder -- fabulous), tostones (fried mashed plantains) topped with creme fraiche and caviar, hearts of palm salad, lobster, Jamaican curry chicken (so good we bought the cookbook), and pecan dolphin fish. So depending on how fine you want the fine dining to be, this might be a nice choice.

Finally, not for the wedding dinner, but if you need a place to have another great meal while you're there, check out Blue Heaven. It's wonderfully funky, mostly outdoors, and while it looks Bohemian, the food is imaginative, fresh, and great. My most memorable meal there was lobster Benedict for brunch -- homemade English muffins topped with a thick medallion of lobster grilled in butter, with a poached free range egg and gorgeous Hollandaise. Another great meal brought us carrot and curry soup with mango chutney garnish and black bean soup followed by yellow fin tuna carpaccio with habanero-flavored tomato coulis andseard deep sea scallops in a sauce of mushrooms, garlic, onion, and tomoto, served with crostini.

Louies Backyard has always been a beautiful location with great food for fine dining
http://www.louiesbackyard.com/

and as well, even tho it's a tapas place, Nine One Five is a really beautiful place with great food on the main strip of Duval
http://www.915duval.com/

Square One:
http://www.squareonerestaurant.com/

and I never had anything less than a spectacular meal at Cafe des Artistes (which has evolved into Pieces) when I lived in KW
http://www.pisceskeywest.com/about_blue.php

hope this helps...

leesh wrote:Louies Backyard has always been a beautiful location with great food for fine dining
http://www.louiesbackyard.com/

Louie's Backyard is a sentimental favorite, as I proposed to my wife on their beautiful outdoor dining area overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Food impeccable, Norman Van Aken, of Norman's, was chef at the time, setting perfect, champagne right on cue, even a round of applause from the the other patrons. If I may be so bold, it was a magical moment. Fond memories, fond memories.

That said, this was a couple of decades ago, though I recently heard Louie's Backyard is back to it's former glory after a bit of a downturn.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Louie's Backyard is a sentimental favorite, as I proposed to my wife on their beautiful outdoor dining area overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Food impeccable

And the drinks are really strong. How else could MSWiv had said yes!

My wife and I had the pleasure of celebrating an anniversary at Louie's Backyard a couple years ago. I can't really remember the food (although it was very good), but the setting and the champagne were spectacular.