Quinn’s Awards

Quinn’s Restaurant Review:

For over a decade at the start of South Beach's 1990s revival, A Fish Called Avalon, with Gerry Quinn as executive chef, was a fine-dining beacon amidst Ocean Drive’s sea of overpriced tourist traps. At his current multileveled indoor-outdoor eponymous restaurant in the “swanky little Park Central Hotel” (as described by its famous fictional resident, the vampire Lestat), prices are indeed high if diners opt for the place’s specialty, seafood. But dishes like signature Bam! Bam! Shrimp (hot-sweet marinated and grilled palm sugar-coated Gulf jumbos, subtler than most similar bang-bam-boom preparations thanks to sauce served on the side) are still superior to most Drive fare, even when the chef's not in the kitchen. Keep alert, too, for local fish rarely found in area eateries, like hog snapper, lightly sautéed to retain this reef specimen’s delicate sweetness. Quinn’s tart Key lime pie, with a light cookie (rather than graham cracker) crust, is also more subtle than standard. Bargain-seekers will find no cheap plonk on the thoughtful wine list, but it’s loaded with fairly-priced (barely twice retail) picks.