First-time visitors to Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island in Florida may be surprised at what awaits them as they open the front door. Writer Julie Hatfield entices us with what we can expect from the restaurant when it re-opens from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. 

From the outside, it looks like a breakfast coffee shop. But this restaurant surprises in all ways. Photo by Timothy Leland.

The nondescript little house on a side street leading to a beach looks like a fish shack. Or maybe a neighborhood coffee shop. But Beach Bistro, as the name on a painted wooden sign identifies the place, is not what it appears to be on the outside.

It is considered one of the finest restaurants in Florida and certainly the finest Anna Maria restaurants.

When you enter Beach Bistro (which actually did used to be a breakfast coffee shop) and see the white linen table cloths, the long-stemmed red roses in tall glass vases on each of the tables, the glittering lighting and artsy photographs of celebrities on the walls, you know you’re in a special place. You could be in an exclusive Manhattan eatery that snippily takes reservations months in advance. Could the food possibly measure up to these surroundings? Oh my, it does . . . but more about that in a minute.

The Beach Bistro dining room at sunset. Photo provided by The Beach Bistro.

The picture window looks out on Holmes Beach and the Gulf of Mexico, just south of Tampa Bay, and if you would like an extreme Beach Bistro dining experience you can have your dinner served right out on the beach, at sunset.

Dine on the beach itself at Beach Bistro, enjoying dishes such as the Bistro Boullebaisse. Photo courtesy Beach Bistro.

Everything on the menu can be had at your table on the sand if you wish to dine al fresco, except, that is, for the foie gras appetizer because, according to chef/owner Sean Murphy, “it’s too fragile; it wouldn’t hold up out there in the salt air.” He feels strongly about the delicacy of his recipe for foie gras which is served on savory “fruited” brioche bread pudding garnished with a vanilla bean and Sauternes reduction, nutmeg anglaise and aged balsamic. Knowing that some cities have banned foie gras from being served, Murphy says “I will stop serving foie gras when they peel my cold, dead fingers from my fork.”

Sean Murphy, chef owner of Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island in Florida, is a master of gourmet dining, a lawyer, and a hockey coach. Photo courtesy Timothy Leland.

Everything that this artisan of the kitchen has created for his restaurant is several steps moved upward in creativity and taste from the average recipe for that dish.  Just about every restaurant along the Gulf Coast, for example, serves the local fish, grouper, in the form of blackened, grilled, fried or broiled. Beach Bistro’s grouper is crusted with toasted coconut and cashews and dolloped with a red pepper jam. Or crowned with butter-poached lobster and kissed with aurora cream.

Its rack of Colorado lamb is seasoned, pan-seared and oven-roasted, then finished with a port-rosemary demi-glace and served with a complementary sipping glass of Warre’s Vintage ‘85 Reserve Port. Murphy’s invention for spiny Florida lobster is to serve chunks of it, escargot-style, slow cooked in a crock with herbed spinach and seasoned garlic butter. If you thought tomato soup was a little bourgeois, try Beach Bistro’s, made from seasoned Parrish plum tomatoes with sweet cream and blue cheese and, if you wish, a shot of Grey Goose vodka. He serves the larger lobster tail, from his native Nova Scotia, with a touch of citrus and star anise served on a bed of citrus grits.

Beach Bistro’s Butter Poached Lobster Tail is served on Citrus Grits and Shrimp. Photo courtesy Timothy Leland.

An amuse-bouche at Beach often comes in liquid form; ours was a tiny glass of blueberry flavored vodka with one gigantic blueberry at the bottom of the glass.  Once, we brought a four-year-old into the restaurant suffering from the usual four-year-old low blood sugar at the end of a long afternoon at the pool. The waiter solved the problem of jittery late-afternoon youthful hypoglycemia by setting before her a plate of tiny chunks of watermelon with which to deal, while we leisurely sipped our pre-prandial liquids. So much better for her than a sugary Shirley Temple, plus it took time to eat. And the vegetarian in our party, expecting the usual boring little piles of veggies loaded onto his plate, was delighted to see a feast not just of peas and carrots and asparagus (although the latter was roasted and finished with a whisper of shallot and garlic, kissed with Bearnaise sauce) but it  also included French lentil shepherd’s pie and orange-infused risotto. Over this was a rich demi-glaze that made the selection look like a decadent roast beef au jus dish. In reality this creamy dark sauce was based on beets.

Beach Bistro’s Vegetarian Indulgences includes lentil shepherd’s pie, grilled asparagus with shallot and garlic and kissed with Bearnaise. Photo courtesy Timothy Leland. 

Murphy’s Canadian background put a love for hockey in his heart — and a soft spot for hockey players on his wait staff. He’s a hockey coach, some of his waiters are hockey players on the side, and, he notes, “professional hockey players eat free at Beach Bistro.” Murphy’s framed law degree hangs in the men’s room of the restaurant.

Desserts, all created by Murphy’s wife, Susan Timmins, are almost too pretty to consume. One of her specialties is “Praline Alexandra,” made from crushed Beach Bistro-made pralines rolled in vanilla bean ice cream, touched with Frangelico and decorated with a frivolous lattice wheel of caramelized sugar. We closed our eyes to the artisanal work of Timmins and scarfed down every calorie. It took all the restraint we had left not to lick the plates.

Learn more about Beach Bistro on their website. Follow their Facebook page for updates on re-opening. As of publishing date, the restaurant is temporarily closed due to damage by Hurricane Helene, but their sister establishment, Eat Here is doing takeout.

— Story by Julie Hatfield

Hungry for more? Got Florida on your mind? Here are some recommendations for restaurants to try in Miami; and here’s your guide to eating in South Beach.

Pin this restaurant recommendation to your favorite Pinterest Board.