Since we
moved into the house & got married, we really haven’t been eating out as
often as before. We love our new kitchen
so we actually end up cooking in more frequently, and we’re trying to be better
about saving money.
But last
night we decided to celebrate our first 2 weeks of marriage with a date night
out in St. Pete. We had a CL Deal to Station House that
was about to expire so we decided to go there.
I had gone there a few months back during my bachelorette party. I think it was actually better this time
around since most of the food is small plates and meant for sharing, which is easier
to do for a date night with 2 instead of 15 people.
Parking
is sometimes difficult on the weekends in St. Pete unless you want to pay at a
garage, but we found a spot near the Dali museum and took a walk since it was
so nice out last night. Station House’s location is great
– right in the heart of downtown.
It’s
interesting because it’s actually a multi-purpose building. The restaurant is in the basement but it is
much more than just that. The 2nd
level is a social club and used for events.
TeBella and Kahwa have their own mini coffee and tea shops set up in the
building. And their “Mind Body Station”
hosts yoga classes on the 2nd floor as well as in their rooftop garden. It also incorporates a coworking space where
creative professionals can set up shop and work rather than bringing their
laptop to Starbucks (they can even rent a desk, office suite, or meeting
room).
The
restaurant has a speakeasy vibe – we enjoyed live jazz music with our craft
cocktails and small plates of food. Our waitress,
Sarah, was super friendly and recommended all the best things on the menu. She said she’d only been working there a week
but you would have never known she was so new. She said we were her favorite people she
served that night.
I had
the Russian Punch which was a tart fruity cocktail with berries &
champagne. Lance’s Suffering Bastard drink
was good for him but definitely too strong for me – it was blend of gin and
whiskey, luckily over a lot of crushed ice.
We
started with the Cedar Key Clam Dip which is served with their homemade potato
chips. While they weren’t Datz chips, they were pretty tasty and
went well with the dish. Then we had the
Cauliflower Taboule which was fresh and felt very healthy.
The Radicchio
Salad was interesting because the bacon lardons were the same texture and color
as the radicchio leaves – it was a crunchy mix with pecorino romano cheese,
garlic croutons and topped with a soft poached egg that oozed over the whole
salad as the dressing.
My favorite
part of the meal was the Dark Lacquered Pork Cap, which we were told is cooked
all day in its own fat, so it was super tender.
It was served over a mirliton slaw with roasted peanuts and the meat had
a caramelized glaze topped with scallions.
I wish we each had our own plate of it instead of sharing it – I love
any dish that is Asian-inspired.
We
finished with one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time. It was a Dark & Stormy Budino – which is
a sweet Italian pudding. It had layers
of thick custard with flavors of rum, butterscotch, and key lime. We literally licked the little mason jar it
was served in clean.
They didn’t
really know what to do with our CL Deal but eventually figured it out – we didn’t
mind hanging around awhile though since the atmosphere is so nice. The price is definitely more than we’d spend
on a normal dinner out, but our coupon made it a lot more reasonable. I love
that nothing we ordered was a dish I would have made for dinner at home. All the food was original and creative. Sure
we’ll be back again!
Station
House is located at 260
1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
They are open Monday – Thursday 7am
– 1am and Friday – Sunday 7am – 3am.
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