Melinda’s Offers Island Charm, Varied Menu

By Melanie Marquez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Apr. 26–HOLMES BEACH

Dining at Melinda’s Cafe and Catering can feel like sitting in a friend’s casual island cottage. Mismatched decorations and lived-in furniture make it an unpretentious setting, but it’s her creative kitchen skills and focus on fresh ingredients that keep vistors returning.

Owner Melinda Lampariello changed the name in October from Fit to Eat, a move she says was to make the restaurant more personable.

Choosing a dish is hard at the Holmes Beach breakfast and lunch eatery, a modest enclave tucked behind the Anna Maria Island Tourist Information office.

Feeling like a tamale? There are four to pick from. Maybe a burrito? Always a recommended idea from the staff.

But wait, breakfast dishes like omelettes and pancakes are served all day. Then there are the sandwiches, soups and salads. It can be dizzying for a hungry person to take in, but once a choice is made, regrets are unlikely.

Starting a meal with the black bean cakes ($5.99) is like trying to close an over-packed suitcase filled with things you can’t leave behind. Every bite of the two hearty patties invites another and another, a succession of uncontrollable repeated chomps until the cakes are gone. It’s hard to hold back from eating the lettuce lining the plate.

More than an inch think and topped with salsa, guacamole and sour cream, the central black beans take the cake, as they should. A crispy exterior complements the smooth bean texture. The only drawback is for sour cream lovers, the drizzle served on top might not be enough.

For some extra kick with any dish, two sauces sit on each table. Flavors range from hot mustard to pico de gallo. For more flavors see the display on the counter.

The black bean cakes can be enough for two to share, especially if a salad like the Beach Walk ($7.99) is added. The vinaigrette lightly coats the salad, allowing the varied, bold flavors in the dish to take hold. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled in bits throughout crisp, hand-torn romaine lettuce, combines well with crunchy slivers of almond and cooling rounds of hearts of palm. The ripe, creamy avocado slices contrast with the sweet strawberries lingering between cubes of tomato. Melinda may have found the perfect mix for an island-inspired salad. Not enough for a meal, but adding a cup of soup ($3.99) could leave a lunch seeker full and satisfied.

For a hearty lunch dish, look to the Black and Bleu Wrap ($8.99). A sturdy, savory tortilla holds together a heaping portion of roast beef, letting slices of the meat fit into every corner of the wrap. The gorgonzola cheese adds a zing and the added lettuce, tomato and grilled onions don’t make the wrap hard to handle, but some bites require a wide-open jaw. Fresh fruit sits to the side of the wrap.

An occasional special, the salmon with lemon caper sauce ($8.99), offers a sizable portion of salmon served on a bed of lettuce, green peppers and tomatoes with the restaurant’s signature vinaigrette to the side. The sauce, a fresh combination of lemon and capers, combines well with the fish, but if this dish wants to become a permanent feature, the salmon needs to be cooked a little less, letting the natural moisture of the fish linger.

For a sweet finish, the Chocolate Nemesis Cake ($3.50) may look like a small slice at first, but the nearly flourless dessert brings overwhelming chocolate flavor with each bite. Easily shared, the thick cake sticks to the spoon, requiring some well-deserved effort to get it off. Offering more tart than sweet, the homemade Key lime pie ($3.50) has a smooth, almost loose texture that leaves lime lovers in heaven, that is if they can fit the dessert in after Melinda spoils them with everything else on her menu.

Restaurant reviewers dine anonymously at Herald expense. New restaurants are given an eight-week grace period before being reviewed.

Review

Melinda’s Cafe and Catering

Address: 5315 Gulf Drive

Phone: 778-0411

Hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

Credit: Visa and MasterCard

Alcohol: Beer and wine

Handicap access: Yes

Neighborhood: Holmes Beach

Price type: Breakfast dishes $5-$8, Lunch dishes $6-$12

Outdoor dining: No

Web site: www.melindascafe.com [http://www.melindascafe.com]

Kid friendly: Yes

Reservations: No

DINING OUT BLURB (can be any restaurant/food fave)

What: Clancy Rolls at Clancy’s Irish Sports Pub and Grill, 6218 Cortez Road, Bradenton

Why: I love appetizers; especially these rolls, which are gooey, cripsy and packed with flavor. If you like Reuben sandwiches, you’ll love these large egg rolls filled with corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Thousand Island dressing is served for dipping.

Jana, assistant features editor, is from Pennsylvania, where sauerkraut is a preferred hot dog topping.

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NYSE:MA,