THE TABLE CREEKSIDE
Pedro Flores has been with The Table about 14 years, since before it moved from Hillview Street to its Phillippi Creek location. He calls the cuisine globally inspired, but notes his team likes to include several local items to highlight what the area has to offer.
The item perhaps most representative of this on The Table’s Savor Sarasota menu, Flores says, is the stuffed Florida grouper filet. The dish features a creamy pecorino risotto, summer vegetables and grouper stuffed with baby scallops, crabmeat and butter shrimp to create a dynamic entree starring the fish for which Sarasota is most known.
It’s the California vegetable stir fry with baby green beans and red seedless grapes, along with the citrus-flavored sauce, he says, that makes this the perfect dish for summer because it’s refreshing and lighter than it looks.
The way the dish is cooked is what makes it unique, he adds.
“We sear it and bake it very lightly with just a touch of butter, so it keeps all the flavors inside of the fish.”
As for his secret ingredient, Flores says it’s the same for all his dishes: collaboration.
“The way we come up with the menu is always through teamwork,” Flores says, noting that everyone is involved in tasting and offering their opinion — from the dishwasher all the way to the manager. “If you don’t have a good team, you have nothing.”
Savor Sarasota Dinner
First Course
Barcelona gravlax
Calamari octopus cassoulet
Mediterranean watermelon salad
Second Course
Stuffed Florida grouper filet
Puebla land and sea
Grilled chicken marrakesh
Braised short ribs
Third Course
Caramel bread pudding
Catalonian chocolate cu