Toppers Restaurant & Bar – Sint Maarten
This selection from the Sint Maartin (Dutch side) is going to be given a tremendous amount of grace in this review for a number of reasons.
Redux – Ken Stewart’s Tre Belle – Bath, Ohio, USA
Great recovery Tre Belle! Although I rated this dish a 2/10 back just about 2 years ago, today’s offering was a vast improvement and salvaged the offering for future tastings.
Donatello Italian Restaurant – Tampa, Florida, USA
Wow. Just wow. This is pretty much the definition of a deconstructed dish but the most notable feature is that this was a SINGLE piece of meat. One, gigantic, plate-filling, perfect cut. I have never seen that pulled off before.
Forbici Modern Italian – Tampa, Florida, USA
Apparently, Tampa Florida shares some important similarities with the Netherlands. They both touch water, and they both seem to have carpaccio on every menu. Win for me.
Bern’s Steak House – Tampa, Florida, USA
I’ve heard from some Tampa locals that they don’t even try to go to Bern’s because it’s impossible to get in. They have a pretty amazing server training program and they really focus on doing things better than they need to be.
The Twisted Cork Cafe – St. Thomas, USVI
My first selection of carpaccio down in The Islands, it’s definitely not something you see a lot on a menu. The Twisted Cork is an utterly unassuming little building from the outside but as you step in and look at the array of menu items you’ll be impressed.
Ken Stewart’s Tre Belle – Bath, Ohio, USA
There are lots of things to say about this rendition, but most important is that it was hard to get past the fact that the meat was so cold it was literally half frozen to the plate.
In Den Dorstigen Haen – Venlo, Netherlands
It’s just another one of those cases of oh so close and yet so far. Whyyyy, is this carpaccio every so slightly cooked? Almost literally everything else was perfect.
La Trattoria in Old Dutch – Venlo, Netherlands
It’s a little unclear to the non-local why this restaurant has two names. Is it Old Dutch or is it La Trattoria? Apparently it’s La Trattoria inside Old Dutch. Maybe they were inspired by Intel Inside.
Bonaparte Grand Cafe – Venlo, Netherlands
Sorry for the terrible photo, the lighting was very ‘cozy’ at Bonaparte, with only a small tea candle on the table and pretty dark throughout. Very nice decor and perfect for a cold winter night.