Twilight Cafe - Sanibel, FL Review

Disclosure: I know Robert Parks, owner and chef at the "new" Twilight Cafe. I have known him for years, served on a Board with him and ate at his Twilight Cafe in its previous location. So I probably would not do a bad review of his new Twilight Cafe location, in any case.

Fortunately, I am not faced with that dilemma. I and three others had dinner there on a recent Friday night.

Starting with wine, the house Pinot Grigio was very acceptable. The Penfold Cabernet Shiraz was up to standard for that brand and variety.

Bread was served with an oil and spinach dip saucer. The bread was unfairly delicious. Unfair, because when you fill up with good bread your appetite won't stick around for dessert.

The menu for dinner was overrun with many fascinating choices. My missus chose a mixed baby greens salad, which she shared with me. It was quite good, combining greens, tomatoes, toasted almonds and fried goat cheese croutons in a citrus vinagrette dressing. Both interesting and filled with taste surprises.

Susanne ordered the vegetarian portabello mushrooms. She raved about it. Another of our party had grilled spiced shrimp. The third party had seared tuna. There was not a bad taste among the dishes.

I took advantage of menu feature that allowed me to choose my own combination of foods. I chose grilled grouper, grilled broccoli and a linquine with spinach and basil.

This was one of the best meals I have ever had on Sanibel, and possibly within even a wider area.

The evening was not without a problem, however. For some reason a smoke alarm went off - no smoke; just the alarm - and persisted long enough that one table of diners got up and left. Eventually, the source of the problem was found and the alarm silenced. I don't hold this against the Twilight Cafe because it was a one-off event and unrelated to the food or service - which also was attentive without being overbearing.

The whole thing was about $200 including wine, tax and tip.