Trader Vic's: Hear the Tropic Thunder
4201 Two Trees Road, Destin, (850) 351-0900

Hours: Lunch, Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; dinner daily at 4 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Reservations: Accepted
Children's menu: Yes
Dress: Casual

By Bruce Collier
January 22, 2009 Issue

I first ate at Trader Vic's a while back, shortly after they opened. I sampled my first Trader Vic Mai Tai, and gave the menu a good run. It was a very enjoyable evening, and I remember mentioning that they needed a sign on the highway to let people know where they are. They have put up the sign. Otherwise, it's still a damn fine place to eat. The drinks go down easy—in that Jimmy Buffet parrot-on-a stick-way—the staff is friendly and helpful, and the food still satisfies.

We ate at Trader Vic's early on a chilly weeknight. It was pretty quiet when we got there, but the place began to fill as the evening matured. A centerpiece of the restaurant is the Mai Tai Bar, a spacious, grown-ups' place with a few discreetly-tuned TV sets, plenty of seats at the bar, and comfortable tables for those who want more privacy. There are also tables outside on a patio. We got a booth in the main dining room, a big place with lots more tables and some fancy, Tropic/Asian decor. Lighting is just dim enough to lend romance without compromising visibility.

Our server was Jessica, and she took good care of us. She started by letting us know about the drink special, then saw that we had water, rolls, and menus. I ordered the special—the Potted Parrot—a rum, orange juice and Curacao blend garnished with the aforementioned parrot-on-a-stick. Trader Vic's has a separate menu devoted to its tropic-themed drinks, a field of mixology in which Vic's was a pioneer. The menu will fill you in on the details, along with the history of Mai Tais, Suffering Bastards, Scorpions, Pimm's Cups, Planter's Punches and other tipples. Vic's doesn't claim to have invented them all—though they do claim the first Mai Tai—but they certainly give them loving attention.

We ordered starters, for sharing. Our picks were fried calamari and vegetable spring rolls. The appetizer prices were low enough that we thought the servings might be small, but we thought wrong. There were plenty of crunchy little squid rings, with a wasabi dipping sauce, and the spring rolls, though still a little oily from frying, were nevertheless hot and tasty with their sweet chili sauce.

Other starter choices included lobster bisque (soup of the evening), dumplings, coconut shrimp, hibachi-grilled beef, crab Rangoon, and an assortment platter with spare ribs. These can vary.

There was a special that night—swordfish—but we went from the menu, ordering Hawaiian barbecued pork chops and seared diver scallops. Jessica came back to tell me that the kitchen was out of scallops. She left me to consider an alternative, then returned very shortly to tell me the kitchen would be happy to get some scallops from the market. I hesitated. "It won't take any more time, it's no trouble," she said. It did not. I'm glad they did.

The main courses came. As with the appetizers, the portions were generous. Five fat scallops were seared nicely brown, sweet and juicy, with a mound of rice with mushrooms and a creamy and tangy reduction sauce. The chops, bone-in, were topped with caramelized grilled onions and sauced with a fruity, sticky demi-glace that offset their richness. Grilled fresh pineapple and a creamy sweet potato mash more than filled out the plate.

Other choices include a list of Chinese favorites—kung pao chicken, Szechuan shrimp, crispy duck, and chili beef, as well as red or green curries of chicken, beef or shrimp, rib eye, NY strip, filet, porterhouse, salmon, macadamia-crusted fish, and a fish of the day. Some of the items are prepared in a wood-fired oven, a 2,000 year-old Chinese style method of preparation, on display in a glass case near the kitchen entrance.

We weren't even remotely hungry at this point, and I had discovered that the rum in my Potted Parrot had settled at the bottom of the glass and was lying in wait for me. Still, we ordered dessert. The compromise was that we ordered just one, to share. Our choices were, as best I can recall, crËme brulee, cheese cake, banana fritters, an ice cream "snowball" with coconut and fudge sauce, vanilla ice cream with praline sauce, a chocolate macadamia torte, and a sampler. We got the torte.

A block of mostly chocolate came with a raspberry drizzle, fresh strawberries and blackberries. It was dark, dense and chewy as fruitcake. I ate most of it. My companion was full, and she was not writing the review anyway. If you find yourself in a similar state of satiety, you can choose from Trader Vic's extensive list of after-dinner coffees (laced or unlaced) or dessert drinks. When's the last time you had a grasshopper or a brandy alexander? Velvet Hammer, anyone?

The weather outside, at least for the time being, is frightful. Inside Trader Vic's, the Han Dynasty oven is hot and the Johnny Depp cocktails are cold. The rest is up to you. Remember, they have a sign now.

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