The Restorative: Looking Beyond Main Street
Left and middle, Jason and Erin Borajkiewicz, Chef/Owners and right, Tom Cochrane, Sous Chef.
July’s restaurant of the month takes us off the beaten path of Main Street to The Restorative at 420 Patricia Ave. in Dunedin. After looking over their website (www.restorativerestaurant.com), I knew this was going to be a truly unique dining experience. The Restorative is open Tuesday through Saturday for just four hours most nights, from 5-9 pm. There is no phone, so reservations are taken online via Tock. Because seating is limited at the tables and bar, the owners have created an intimate dining experience.
One of the interesting aspects of this restaurant is the frequently changing menu. Chef/owner Erin Borajkiewicz, aka “Cricket,” said they start with a new menu on Tuesday. Occasionally, there may be one or two menu items that roll over from the previous week, and there are definitely small menu changes throughout the week.
“If we are really busy, then by Saturday the menu might be brand new,” Cricket said.
“Oh, is this because you run out of ingredients?” I asked.
Cricket laughs and replies, “We just get bored and like to change it up.”
She explained that when you have a set menu and someone always comes in for same thing, they may be disappointed if the food was prepared slightly differently, or if an ingredient is not exactly the same as last time. People notice if there are fewer tomatoes today than there were last week.
The Restorative’s menu is unique, healthy and fresh. “We source by quality, price, and then location,” Cricket said. “So, if the best fish we can get is from Alaska, we’ll source it from Alaska. Quality is always first.”
During our visit, the BP Team tried several items. We definitely ventured outside of our comfort zones, and the flavor combinations were pleasantly surprising.
We started with homemade na’an bread and herb butter (pictured above left). Turns out, Sous Chef Tom Cochran is the resident na’an expert. We learned the best way to share na’an is to tear it, not cut it with a knife.
Next, we sampled the roasted fennel, bagna cauda, Calabrian chili bread crumbs and feta (above middle). This was an unexpected flavor explosion!
Moving on to the chicken liver and foie gras mousse with cherries, pickled mustard seeds and lavash, we had a little reservation (above right). Liver is typically not something we go out of our way to eat, however, we found ourselves mopping up every last bit of it with the na’an. It was that good!
For our main dishes, both Bill and Kyle had the beef tenderloin served with preserved and fresh tomatoes, red onion, chimichurri and cumin jus (above left).
Kim had the buccatini with tuna conserva, white beans, chili, garlic bread crumbs and sea beans (above right).
The beef was so tender and overall a light, delicious meal with amazing flavor. The buccatini and tuna was also light and flavorful, and I could taste the salty goodness of the sea beans.
For dessert, well, what can we say? We tried all three! Did we have a favorite? Yes. All of them.
Front, whipped goat cheese, blueberry mostarda, peaches and pistachios.
Top left, passion fruit panna cotta, dulce de leched, mango and coconut.
Top, right, chocolate cherry tart, stout, black forest ice cream.
Cricket and Jason met in Nantucket, Mass., and spent most of their time working in Martha’s Vineyard. After a decade of traveling and working at different restaurants, they decided to move back to Jason’s hometown of Dunedin. Along the way, they learned to cook different cuisines from talented chefs.
So, what’s on the horizon for the summer menus at The Restorative? “Lots of corn, lots of tomatoes; things that are a little bit lighter, because it’s like 800 degrees out there,” Cricket said.
Check out their Instagram page to see all of their food pictures: https://www.instagram.com/the_restorative/
Their website: www.restorativerestaurant.com
Make a reservation here: https://www.exploretock.com/therestorative/
420 Patricia Ave, Dunedin, 34698 | Open 5p-9p | Tuesday 5p-8p | Closed Sun & Mon