30a seagars restaurant

March 26, 2019

Seagar’s strikes gold with new spring menu

Chef Guidry freshens things up without sacrificing flavor

By Michelle Farnham

The calendar might say spring began March 20, but at Seagar’s Prime Steaks &
Seafood, the seasonal menu begins April 2. Executive Chef Lee Guidry previewed his
spring dishes during a media luncheon March 22, offering a parade of fresh produce
and seafood – much of it locally sourced.

“This is my favorite time of the year. Mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes are all starting
to pop out of the ground,” Guidry said, as he introduced his first cold apps, including
a Chilled Shrimp Remoulade.

“Food invokes a lot of memories for people, and this dish is a play on a classic
shrimp remoulade, but I’m dressing it up,” he explained. “It’s a true remoulade sauce
with poached U-12 Gulf shrimp, a julienne of baby iceberg, tri-pepper chow chow,
and crispy shallots.”

His Pan-Roasted Bobwhite Quail earned top marks from diners, offering smoky
flavors accented by a black tea brine, and stuffed with foie gras quinoa. This is all
pan-roasted and finished with balsamic and apricot glaze and pomme puree.

Seafood lovers should look into the Grilled Calamari, featuring a fresh, whole squid
stuffed with jumbo lump blue crab, basil, and shallots. This is accompanied by a
salad of watercress, pickled shallots, and mizuna – a Japanese-style arugula.

“It’s a very clean flavor, marinated in olive oil, lemon zest and pepper Espelette – a
French pepper very high on the citrus tones but not too spicy,” he said.

You’ll notice many of Chef’s spring offerings include a salad component, and that’s
by design.

“Salad plays a big part for me in the spring. I think it’s a great palate cleanser – super
clean flavors – and I’m trying to stay away from the butter and the cream in a lot of
the dishes. We’ll be keeping that theme going throughout the summer, too.”

Reviewing the menu, you may do a double-take on the savory cheesecake that
accompanies the Seared Red Snapper entrée. It’s an indulgently creamy addition
that totally elevates the fish, wilted spinach, and roasted yellow tomato coulis.

“The savory cheesecake is lump crab, whole grain mustard, green onion, shallots,
Boursin cheese and a house-made crust,” Guidry explained. “It’s the same idea as a
sweet cheesecake, we’re just omitting the sugar and changing the crust to more of a
savory.”

The appropriately named Flavors of Spring dessert features mascarpone flan,
rhubarb sorbet, and lavender meringues, with strawberries five ways: gelled, patéd,
dehydrated, macerated, and powdered.

For the cocoa lovers at the table, the Chocolate Bomb is a vision. Hiding under
mirror glaze and a garnish of gold leaf is a dome of bittersweet chocolate mousse,
Irish cream, and raspberry on a hazelnut shortbread.

Other spring specials – in addition to the standard Prime steaks Seagar’s is known
for – include a Grilled Pork Belly, Pan-Seared Diver Scallops, Beef Tartare, Butter-
Poached Grouper, and Grilled Gulf Shrimp with house-made king crab cannelloni.

The spring menu will be available for the next three months, before Chef gives
diners a look at his summertime creations. Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood is
located within the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa. Dinner is served
Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 6 p.m., and reservations are accepted.

Photos by Michelle Farnham

January 24, 2019

Seagar’s Takes ‘Slow Food’ Approach this Winter

Blog

By Michelle Farnham

MIRAMAR BEACH – Executive Chef Lee Guidry and staff have re-opened Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood following the annual January “refresh,” a time to refinish the flooring, replace the china and generally maintain the restaurant’s fine dining ambiance.

Also refreshed is Guidry’s winter menu, featuring heartier dishes, largely prepared using a “slow food” approach. Think braised meats, house-made paté, smoked proteins – real comfort food.

Starting with cold appetizers, Chef presented his charcuterie and cheese board, featuring country paté, made from pork butt, pork liver, duck confit and black truffle. A quartet of cheese was accented by house-made cherry mustard and pickles, and smoked duck breast.

The Prime filet mignon beef Carpaccio stood tall, adorned with marinated artichoke hearts, a dressed salad of baby arugula and red onion, shaved ricotta salata, and toasted pine nuts.

“It’s a very, very simple dressing of lemon and olive oil to enhance the flavor,” Guidry explained.

For the salad course, the roasted candy-stripe red and golden beet salad utilized ribbons of Bibb lettuce tossed in a champagne vinaigrette, goat cheese, candied pistachio, and beet chips.

“It’s basically beets two ways,” Guidry acknowledged. “The chips we put into a simple syrup and dehydrate them, so they have a little sweetness to them to counteract the earthiness.”

You would be hard-pressed to find a restaurant that makes more of its menu in-house. From the steak sauce to the pickles to even the crackers – which Guidry revealed he runs through the pasta roller to get consistently flat – the Seagar’s staff creates it in the kitchen from scratch.

Among the hot apps, Chef said he went “old-school” with a very classic duck cassoulet, unexpectedly garnished with a duck leg bone. He filled the rustic French bowl with a duck confit, pork belly, mirepoix, and white beans, all baked under puff pastry.

He served his take on steak fries: baked potatoes that have been simply sliced as thick rounds before being deep-fried. They are delicate and tender on the inside with a satisfyingly crispy skin exterior, seasoned with rosemary, thyme, and parsley, and offered with a Camembert fondue.

A dish of tempura jumbo lump blue crab comes served over a warm salad of Napa cabbage, carrots, red onion, bell pepper, cilantro, and ginger dressing.

Moving on to entrees, Seagar’s keeps its meat dishes fairly consistent year-round, but Guidry likes to put his own spin on seafood as the season allows, staying local as often as possible. His sautéed snapper revisited the white beans from the cassoulet, along with wilted spinach and warm Gulf shrimp salad.

The pan-roasted black grouper is over a king crab and roasted red pepper risotto with julienne vegetables, finished with a roasted shallot and basil beurre blanc.

To complete the meal, Guidry offered a selection of homemade frozen desserts, including the not-to-be-missed coconut sorbet. His staff generally makes two to three sorbets and three to four ice creams daily, with a homemade vanilla ice cream coming to the menu in the near future.

To finish on a warmer note, he offered a winter spice and Grand Marnier-poached Bosc pear, bruléed with turbinado sugar.

“The pear itself has been cored out and stuffed with mascarpone, a little bit of vanilla bean, lemon zest, and orange zest,” Guidry said. “On the plate is a walnut butter and a crumble of walnut and maple shortbread.”

The winter menu will have a short release – only two months – before Guidry rolls out his spring offerings. Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood, located at 4000 Sandestin Blvd. South, is open Tuesday to Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m., and from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.