Eating here, you`ve got it made

DINING
GG’S WATERFRONT BAR AND GRILL ★★★1⁄2
Eating here, you’ve got it made
Ex-mob hangout
becomes a legit
fine dining spot
GG’s Waterfront
Bar and Grill
606 N. Ocean Drive,
Hollywood
954-929-7030
GGsWaterfront.com
Cuisine: Classic American
seafood and steaks
Cost: Expensive-very
expensive
Hours: Lunch and dinner
daily, Sunday brunch
Reservations: Suggested
Credit cards: AE, MC, V
Bar: Full service
Sound level:
Conversational
Outside smoking: Yes
For kids: Highchairs,
boosters, menu items on
request
Wheelchair accessible:
Yes
Parking: $3 valet
By John Tanasychuk
20 » SUN SENTINEL » SUNSENTINEL.COM » FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012 » BR
STAFF WRITER
If the walls could talk at GG’s
Waterfront Bar and Grill, they’d
no doubt have lots to say about
some of its former patrons, which
include some not-so-nice Mafiosi
such as Meyer Lansky and John
Gotti.
That was a long time ago — 1948
to 1994 — when GG’s was known
as Joe Sonken’s Gold Coast Restaurant and Lounge, and wise
guys sat at red leather booths
under chandeliers made from
ship’s wheels while a strolling
guitarist played “Return to Rome.”
Ah, the good old days.
Let’s just say I had my concerns
— delightfully unfounded — before checking in on GG’s twice in
the past month.
Two years ago, veteran restaurateurs Dan and Lise-Anne Serafini
took over what had become Giorgio’s Grill. Close to half a million
dollars later, the Serafinis have
transformed a time-warped Intracoastal cliche into a handsome
waterfront destination.
I had a sense this place was big
— it seats 400 — but it runs like a
much-smaller, more-intimate operation.
It starts at the valet stand, where
a well-mannered bevy of uniformed attendants whisk your car
away. Inside, the hostess gives you
seating choices that run from
main dining room to dockside and
patio. The dock is my favorite. The
servers are professionals who
know a thing or two about service
and hospitality. After one meal
inside, we asked to see the dock
and were escorted outside for a
tour. That same waiter greeted us
warmly on our return, even
though he wasn’t assigned to our
table.
“I think it’s a testament to us
being here as owner-operators
every day and leading by example,” says Dan Serafini, who has
increased staff from 25 to 60. “We
want to bring back the locals. This
GG’S/COURTESY
The meat and Greek dishes are good choices, but the chef is at his best with seafood, such as this scampi.
was a local hangout for years, but
it lost its luster. It had run its
course. It was time to come up
with a new concept.”
Chef Henry Gonzalez’s menu
may best be described as classic
steak and seafood meets modern
South Florida. You can start with
shrimp cocktail ($5 each) or raw
oysters ($18 per dozen), tuna
tartare with kimchi and sesame
($13) or spring rolls filled with
grilled chicken and roasted vegetables.
Reminders of the old, Greekcentered Giorgio’s Grill can be
found on the menu, including
roasted vegetable flatbread ($11)
topped with Kalamata olives, feta
cheese and pesto. The Mediterranean Trio ($11) — tzatziki, babaganoush, taramasalata — is big
enough for a meal.
Floribbean crab cakes ($13) get
plated with black-bean corn salsa
and roasted-red-pepper coulis.
One night, we started with a
platter of stone crabs (market
price).
Red meat is a good choice. New
Zealand lamb chops ($29) are
GG’S/COURTESY
GG’s new owners spent half a million dollars on renovations.
marinated in herbs and citrus, and
come off the grill wonderfully
tender. A 15-ounce New York strip
steak ($29) was less tender, but
fine. Steaks and chops are served
with a choice of vegetables or
roasted, herb-mashed or baked
potato.
Gonzalez is at his best with
seafood. I can’t say enough about
his bouillabaisse ($32), which
includes a half Maine lobster
along with clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp and calamari in a
classic saffron tomato broth. The
saffron may have been a bit
overdone, but each shellfish was
perfectly cooked. Another night, I
ordered a special seafood risotto
($36), an overflowing platter filled
with the same goodies as the
bouillabaisse, minus lobster. Another winner.
The chef serves Florida snapper
($30) with a rich citrus beurre
blanc, basmati rice and asparagus.
And it takes a real talent to pair
coconut and mango curry with
seafood, but he does it expertly
with pan-seared Florida grouper
($30).
Ever notice how visitors to
South Florida want to eat seafood
with a water view? They’d do no
better than at GG’s.
There’s a fine tiramisu ($8) on
the dessert menu, but the real star
here is the unconventional Napoleon ($9), which starts with phyllo
dough instead of puff pastry, and
gets classic cream filling topped
with fresh berries and preserves.
Folks in Hollywood have high
hopes for the 2014 opening of the
Margaritaville Hollywood Beach
Resort. I say GG’s is already
leading the way.
jtanasychuk@tribune.com or
954-356-4632. Read his blog at
SunSentinel.com/sup and follow
him on Twitter at @FloridaEats.