The best seat in the house is on the water, of course; perhaps one of the tables lining the narrow, dock-like strip running alongside the restaurant's wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Each has an uninterrupted view of the Intracoastal Waterway where you can watch as shiny, sleek yachts glide past. Or, if you time it right, you can catch the sun setting over the North Lake, a rare expanse of open water in these parts.
An army of servers -- 20 to 60, depending on season -- maintains the spotless dining room with its attention to detail, from the silverware presented in proper etiquette to the tablecloths cleared of debris using steel blades. A young woman takes our order with a smile and a bow and ferries out drinks and food without missing a beat. During our visit, several more servers stop as they pass, checking to make sure our water is filled and our needs have been met.
"The direction we took was simple: good service, beautiful setting, and Florida fresh," says Serafini. "We try to encompass it all, from locally caught fish from the Keys and Gulf to the seasonal stone crab."
In the kitchen, executive chef Chris Smith delivers a classic pairing of steak and seafood, with a decided Italian touch. Diners can start the feast at the raw bar -- oysters, Alaskan king crab legs, giant seafood tours, and Florida stone crabs (during season).
Starters are similarly seafood-centric: roasted oysters Rockefeller, plump diver scallops, crispy pow-pow shrimp, and Cajun-flavored crab cakes. A novelty pick comes in the form of fire-grilled artichokes that arrive tender and doused in a citrus aioli, char-grilled leaves curling at the edges.
You can also head straight to the main course: a whole fish baked -- or fried -- at market price; Florida snapper paired with lump crab meat and an avocado vinaigrette; or pan-seared sea bass with a coconut mango curry sauce.
If you consider yourself a discerning carnivore, you'll want to order steak. With such a large space to cover and so many mouths to feed, food goes fast. That means meat and fish are delivered whole to keep up with the demand, so the filets are fresh-cut and the meat butchered daily.
