But unlike Wonderland, where you know something interesting is sure to happen whenever you eat or drink anything, our experience at the Mad Hatter was decidedly mixed. And there's no question that the location of this restaurant, in a tiny little house with about a dozen or so tables, backing right out onto the beach and the Gulf of Mexico, is special. I'll also often take the bait when given the "new American cuisine" descriptor. I'm always a sucker for Alice in Wonderland references. In the hope of helping others navigate this culinary minefield, or perhaps get some advice for how we could have done so better ourselves, here is our rundown, in two parts: It wasn't all bad, but it sure wasn't easy finding a good meal either. If it's any consolation, it appears the converse is also true: the rich also apparently pay lots of money for very mediocre food as well. I've been reading the English food critic Jay Rayner's book " The Man Who Ate the World ," and one of the lessons he draws in it from dining around the globe is that great food is often wasted on those who can afford it. We spent one morning kayaking in the mangroves and saw more than a half dozen osprey, herons, egrets, and even a couple of roseate spoonbills.Īnyway, this isn't a travelogue, it's a food blog. For better or worse, if you didn't read the news you could easily be completely oblivious to the havoc and devastation that have already occurred only hundreds of miles away.
Although the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has had an economic impact on the area, with tourists avoiding the area out of fear of the oil hitting Florida's coast, the good news is that Sanibel and Captiva have not seen any environmental impact. It's the kind of place where the word "compound" doesn't seem out of place, where vacation homes costing millions of dollars bear goofy names like "Captured" or "Orange-u-Glad." Īside from being a haven for pirates and plutocrats, Sanibel and Captiva are also a natural haven, with major portions of the islands preserved as wildlife sanctuary.
Though Sanibel and Captiva offer many reasonably budget-friendly vacationing options, Captiva clearly also retains its standing as a destination for the über-wealthy, with a string of dozens of mansions right on top of the Gulf of Mexico (or, for the mere ultra-wealthy, on the east side of the island overlooking Pine Island Sound). In this century, the islands have been a vacation retreat for the rich and famous, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and more recently, the artist Robert Rauschenberg. Sanibel and Captiva Islands have an entertaining history: originally home to Calusa Indians, they were discovered by Ponce de Leon while searching for the Fountain of Youth, then later become a haven for pirates, including one Jose Gaspar, who supposedly held female prisoners captive on the "Isle de las Captivas" for ransom. As for the food? Well, we'll get to that. Just a few hours' drive provided a welcome change of scenery and atmosphere, with even the intermittent rains bringing with them the benefit of some cooler weather. I grew up in South Florida, but have never spent much time exploring the west coast of the state. We took a little expedition over the July 4 holiday weekend to Captiva Island on the west coast of Florida.
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