Story and Photos by Julie Unger
The Seahorse Fashion Cuisine is an oceanic aficionado’s dream come true. Soothing music, ocean-themed décor and a beautiful tank with brightly colored fish greet guests as they arrive for a truly fine dining experience.
Chef John Sarmiento, who recently revamped the restaurant’s menu for its third season, took us on a voyage to the sea as we learned about the restaurant’s new signature dish — Whole Roasted Branzino. “The Branzino comes in from Greece,” Sarmiento said.
The tender fish is butterflied, grilled, then plated with baby artichokes, sliced heirloom tomatoes, black olive chimichurri and grilled lemon.
“Our heirloom tomatoes are local,” Sarmiento said. “They’re from a farmhouse in western Palm Beach County. We get them at the peak of the season.”
Quality ingredients, fresh, local and unique, make all of the difference when making something seemingly simple transform into a complex medley of flavors and textures.
“Just from the best fish, to the best artichokes, to the local tomatoes, and last but not least, the homemade black olive chimichurri,” Sarmiento explained. “It’s a combination of flavors here with the nice, fresh tomatoes and the local artichokes, then you get this nice boost of cilantro, parsley and black olives, combining it all together.”
The black olive chimichurri is made with cilantro, parsley, garlic shallots, lemon juice, red vinegar, salt, pepper and chopped black olives. “It gives a real bright, fresh wow to the plate,” he said.
The plate is decorated with a balsamic reduction made in-house, which complements the light, refreshing dish.
“It’s the combination of all of the fresh, local ingredients, using the best of the best,” he said. “When you get good tomatoes, you need to make sure you complement them with excellent sea salt, fantastic balsamic vinegar and then artichokes. Anybody can get canned artichokes. We get them in fresh, we cook them daily. We blanch them to perfection, then toss them in a marinade before they’re grilled. Every ingredient, you enhance its own flavors, and then you complement it with a little minor ingredient, and it makes the whole plate shine on its own.”
To top the dish, Sarmiento sprinkles fresh-grown sprouts, such as baby Russian kale, to add another layer of complexity and flavor to the dish.
An expanded wine selection is also available during season. Every few weeks, the menu changes, offering a fresh, new experience for Seahorse patrons.
Manager and partner Luu Lam has received positive feedback on the new menu. “We wanted to change the whole concept of it. We wanted to do smaller portions so everyone could try a little bit of everything, especially a party of two or a party of four,” Lam said. “They could come in, order three, four or five items, so they could get a sense of what the appetizers and the small plates are.”
The Seahorse’s menu is diverse, offering seafood, meat and chicken, as well as vegetarian offerings, which is good for larger parties where some may not like seafood.
Utilized in the menu are specialty foods such as parmigiana reggiano and miso, foods that are classified as umami — one of the five basic tastes. It features all new entrees, dinners, desserts and appetizers. The menu features a tapas theme, with small plates that are perfect for ordering rounds of plates with drinks.
Previously, the menu focused on seafood. Now, more meats, proteins and salads are available. Menu highlights include the Lobster and Avocado Cocktail, Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Truffled Snapper, Aji Amarillo, Skirt Steak and Grilled Lobster, the Curry Bowl, Blackened Free Range Chicken and a two-pound Maine Lobster.
The ‘wow’ factor of the restaurant — from the food to the service to the décor — are some of the things that make the Seahorse special. Lam calls it a “hidden gem.”
“When they come into the Seahorse, they are not going out to eat, they are dining out,” Lam said. “From the point where they walk into the door to the time that they leave, that’s what we want them to enjoy.”
The Seahorse is available for private parties and offers off-site catering, as well as delivery through Delivery Dudes and Cravy.
The Seahorse Fashion Cuisine — part of the Fashion Cuisine family of restaurants — is located at 10660 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in Wellington and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch is served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information and reservations, call (561) 791-1616.
