FOOW Fish Out of Water WaterColor Inn Beaches of South Walton WaterColor FOOW FOOW

FOOW Awards

Cutting-edge Southern cuisine in a storybook setting.
Openings: Brunch & Dinner daily

Features

FOOW, Santa Rosa Beach, FL


FOOW Restaurant Review:


FOOW (formerly called Fish Out of Water) occupies rarefied space: the oh-so-studied casual WaterColor Inn in the "New Urbanist" resort community of WaterColor on the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors and locals --- who generally stroll or bicycle over --- enjoy some of the most elegantly rendered Southern cuisine in Florida. In a beautiful setting --- where pale, natural woods and brightly-colored tiles, and a wine wall set off the hopping exhibition kitchen --- the culinary crew perform their magic. Sometimes the magic is simple (a single Apalachicola oyster, wood-grilled and suspended in a tiny cup of sea-scented cream) and sometimes more complex (fricassée of grouper cheeks with sweet corn risotto or tempura-battered squash blossom stuffed with jumbo lump crab). But always the focus is on locally raised seafood and produce farmed along the prolific Gulf Coast. It may be the only spot on the Panhandle in which to try the likes of local heirloom tomatoes with field peas, sweet corn, fried okra and apple wood-smoked bacon. If you can, nab a spot at one of the few gulf-side tables on the balcony and watch the stars come out.