The New Commander's Palace in Destin, Florida

Commander's Palace in New Orleans is one of the top restaurants in the country. Among its honors is the Lifetime Outstanding Restaurant Award from the James Beard Foundation.

Recently the Brennan's opened a Commander's Palace in Destin, Florida in a waterfront location on the Gulf of Mexico overlooking Destin Harbor.

After they had been open for about a month we decided to give it a try. We went with high hopes that they could match the service, ambience and quality of food they are so famous for in New Orleans. And yes, they did.

The food combines New Orleans and Creole traditions with ingredients from the Florida Gulf Coast and the Caribbean.

We loved the whole meal, for starters Jack had their famous turtle soup and I had the chicken and crab Courtbouillon, along with their hot garlic and cheese bread. For entrees I had grilled Wahoo and Jack the smoked pork chop. Both were perfectly cooked and presented with unusual and delicious vegetable garnishes.

Here's the Zagat review and some photos.

The dining room has huge windows overlooking Harbor Walk Village and the Gulf. It's a great view, but at lunch time the dining room can be very bright with the combination of the big windows, the array of overhead lights plus white walls, linens, dishes and chairs. And it's certainly much too bright for a gentleman who is, perhaps, taking his secretary there for a three-martini lunch. He just might get spotted by a friend of the family.

By the way, three martinis will cost him 75 cents. Yes, they have 25-cent martinis -- at least at lunch on weekdays. Three's the limit, however. As the menu says, "That's enough."

It was a wonderful experience and one we will repeat again soon. Plus it is only 50 miles from Pensacola.

For more information about Commander's Palace, read the
Wiki article.