Zampieri’s Harbor Grille: Works Like a Charm, Right Out of the Box
320 Hwy 98 (Destin Yacht Club) Destin, 650-3900
By Bruce Collier March 9, 2006 Issue


Zampieri’s Harbor Grille—hereafter called Harbor Grille, that being the way they answer their phone—opened fairly recently. It’s proverbial that the first few weeks of any restaurant’s life can be trying times, both for the staff and the customers. However they did it, the kitchen and house at Harbor Grille have passed their shakedown cruise. Service is well coordinated and attentive, and the menu features a variety of Gulf and land-based appetizers and entrees.

There’s a bar at harbor level. Tables are arranged semi-circularly around it, with a stage and a few ringside tables. Upstairs, looking down at the piano bar, are tables and booths. Another area looks out onto the harbor and all them big boats.

The decor is on the darker-toned side, with subdued lighting and rows of jazz and music- themed paintings on the walls. The napkins are in little-black-dress-friendly dark colors. At least that’s what my dining companion told me, and she’s a girl, so there.

There’s live music, varying nightly and weekly. The night we ate there, a single pianist was offering up everything from Brubeck to Buffet. Unlike some restaurants with music, Harbor Grille doesn’t make you take turns: eat, stop eating and listen, start eating again, etc. The music is more of a soundtrack. Dining is the main event.

Our server introduced himself as Patrick, and we ordered cocktails. While we were studying the menu, he brought out a pair of amuse-gueules (or amuse-bouches, if you prefer), literally, “mouth amusers,” mini-appetizers to eat with drinks. These were two small mounds of risotto, flavored with truffle oil, topped with a lobster claw.

We ran the menu, appetizers, salads, main courses, desserts, skipping only the soups. I ordered an appetizer special—pan-seared scallops, and my friend chose poached shrimp with a pair of sauces.

My scallops were a large pair of plump discs, charred on the outside, warm and juicy within. They were sauced with a port-wine reduction that was itself enriched with foie gras butter. The five poached shrimp were butterflied, cooked tender with a standard cocktail sauce and a creamy dill-cilantro dip that I liked even better.

Other starters included crispy duck spring rolls, baked oysters on the shell with two sauces, fried lobster, crab cakes, seared tuna with seaweed salad, bisque, gumbo, and a soup of the day.

Salads came next. My friend ordered the Harbor Grille salad, a house special of mixed greens, marinated grape tomatoes, shaved fennel and shallots. She chose blue cheese vinaigrette over lemon herb vinaigrette. My salad featured grilled asparagus, coarsely chopped sweet tomatoes, a thick calamata olive relish, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. A crisp basil-seasoned crostini rested like a bridge over the plate, and was helpful in soaking up the dressing.

Other salad choices were arugula with Creole cane dressing and fried oysters, and a crab and avocado salad with cucumbers and tomatoes.

We picked both of our main courses from the menu, though there are nightly specials. I ordered a swordfish loin—something I’ve never had before—and my friend asked for the free-range chicken breast, seared in an iron skillet.

The swordfish loin was one of the most tender serving of anything I’ve ever eaten. There’s “fork-tender,” but I could have cut this fish with a sharp word. It was perfectly grilled, served over corn grits, garnished with a slice of smoky andouille sausage and shrimp grillade gravy. It was the model of fancy-pants comfort food.

The chicken was also excellent, plopped decorously on a mound of field peas and a mushroom-filled cabbage roll. A disc of prosciutto, fried crisp like bacon, sat on the top. The melted buffalo mozzarella on the chicken seemed like an afterthought, but it was all part of the richness of the whole thing.

Other main courses were nine-spiced tuna, seared scallops and shrimp, grilled tenderloin medallions, broiled salmon, steaks, and a grilled lamb chop. Sides variously found on these entrees include mushroom ragout, pasta, stir-fried vegetables, potato gratin, and lemon grass broth.

You could choose from nine desserts that night, two of them off the menu. We took one from the menu and two from the specials. Yes, that’s three desserts, but the music had made us adventurous.

I had a warm slice of blackberry pie, in a flaky crust, with house made ice cream. The berries were the small variety, just slightly sweet, and were joined by blueberries and what may have been rhubarb. My friend ordered a pineapple upside down cake, rich and loaded with fruit, with dense coconut ice cream and toasted shredded coconut. Our third choice, split equally, was the molten chocolate cake, spiked with toasted almonds. We ate pretty much all of it.

Zampieri’s Harbor Grille glitters, it gleams, it’s gorgeous. The ritzy atmosphere grabs and holds your interest until the food starts coming. Then that holds your interest for keeps.