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I have a new favorite spot in town, the bar at Even Keel Fish & Oyster restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesdays. This is where I can hold a chilled glass of crisp Whitehaven sauvignon blanc from New Zealand in one hand and a briny, mignonette-splashed Shipwreck oyster from Prince Edward Island in the other.
I enjoyed a platter of oysters during an earlier, unannounced review visit – when the quality and presentation were equally good – but when I returned for a photo shoot a few days later they were even better. That’s because on Tuesdays all varieties (including Tottens from Washington, Wellfleets from Massachusetts, Blue Points from Connecticut) are offered at $2 each instead of the usual $3, and drinks are half-off during happy hour (4-7 p.m.). With apologies to McDonald’s, this is a true happy meal. A dozen oysters and a glass of good wine for under $30? Yes, please. Some may find their happy place on Wednesdays, when Even Keel offers unlimited mussels for $19, or Thursdays, when the restaurant features steamed 1 1/4-pound Maine lobsters for $29.
Even Keel prides itself on offering much local fish and produce (including from Triar Seafood in Hollywood and Swank Specialty Produce in Loxahatchee), but it also features things from greater distances that fit the languid vibe of an approaching South Florida summer. Is there any better antidote to heat and humidity than clams and oysters on the half shell, or a cool tin of smoked fish dip ($11), served with pickled vegetables and toasted pita chips? This was my kind of dip — a blend of fresh, shredded kingfish and mackerel that was vibrant and vinegary, not cheesy or creamy, cut with just a hint of lemon aioli. The fish came in that day from a local boat, I later learned. I could still taste the ocean.
Even Keel, which opened in January, clearly knows what it is doing. Chef-restaurateur Dean James Max, who steered an impressive ship when he founded 3030 Ocean two decades ago at the Harbor Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale, is the name atop the mast at Even Keel. But Max runs a restaurant consultancy and frequently travels (he was eating puffin in Iceland this week), so the day-to-day kitchen duties are capably handled by chef-partners Dave MacLennan and Brad Phillips. MacLennan, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale and graduated from Cardinal Gibbons High, and Phillips, an Ohioan, have spent the past decade working at Max’s far-flung restaurant empire in California, Texas, Ohio and the Bahamas.
When it comes to quality seafood, it is best to get out of the way. MacLennan and Phillips have the sense to do so. A good sauce here, a creative plating with some fresh vegetable accompaniment there, and really, why do anything more? A warm lobster roll ($27) featured sweet claw, knuckle and tail meat dipped in drawn butter with a touch of ginger and fresno chilies, on a toasted split bun. A thin piece of grilled pompano ($32), its crisp skin glazed lightly with soy, had properly cooked, delicate meat and sat atop a gently spiced dashi crab broth and a bed of spring vegetables including baby bok choy, charred sweet corn, shiitake mushrooms and charred tomatoes.
More ambitious plates also worked. Huge, plump New England scallops ($34) were perfectly seared to a golden-brown crust, topped with a light mustard wine sauce and shaved parmesan, and served with a corn pudding flecked with flavorful, fat-packed Benton’s bacon from Tennessee. A hefty fillet of skin-on red snapper ($34) was also properly cooked (crisp outside, tender inside) with fennel puree, baby peas, sunchokes and lemon sauce. A crispy cauliflower appetizer ($17) was studded with sauteed blue crab in a balanced sauce of red pepper with curry, the spice tempered by raisins and thin apple slices.
My group was a bit surprised that no bread basket was offered at meal’s start, when we made do with raw bar items and a pleasant bottle of Albrecht Cremant sparkling rose from Alsace ($44). Wine markups were reasonable; that Albrecht typically retails for $19 to $24, and we later enjoyed a Ferrari-Carano pinot noir from Anderson Valley for $60 (it typically retails for $26-$30). In a followup interview, MacLennan explains that Max likes wine, and prices it to sell. As a wine lover who routinely fumes about triple retail markups in restaurants, that’s appreciated.
Even Keel gets other little touches right. On both my visits oysters were properly shucked and exquisitely served, on an icy platter with fresh-ground horseradish, cocktail sauce and cute, miniature bottles of housemade hot sauce and mignonette. Oyster varieties were clearly identified by little wooden Popsicle sticks that were wedged into the ice next to each batch. I’m always annoyed when premium oyster service is marred by confusion when a server — or diners — cannot remember which is which. At Even Keel, the guesswork is removed with the writing.
Service was attentive and the course flow from the kitchen went smoothly on a weekend night, when my group sat at a comfortable banquette along a wall. The configuration at Even Keel is a little odd, with an open kitchen on one end of the dining room, a sunken floor with bigger tables in the middle and the bar practically hidden on the opposite side of a wall, where it overlooks the parking lot. Maybe the bar was lively, but its energy was cut off from the rest of the place.
Not everything was perfect: A New Haven-style white clam pizza ($19) from the cherry wood-burning oven had good crust and clam distribution (20 shucked whole little necks spread evenly around the pie) but a heavy final scattering of arugula tipped the flavor balance to bitter. Next time I’ll hold the arugula.
We sent back a ceviche of Royal Red shrimp and scallops ($14) with blood orange after encountering a strong and off-putting iodine taste. Phillips later explained that Royal Reds are high in fat and iodine and ceviche’s preparation (marinating in lime juice) may release it. General manager Rick Hamilton offered to send out a replacement appetizer but we declined. The ceviche did not appear on our final bill.
A lemon creme cake desert ($8) was satisfying, not too sweet, not too tart and topped with macerated strawberries, and coffee was very good. We capped our meal with an old-school touch that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen on a South Florida menu: “Buy the kitchen a round of high-life $24 – six champagne of beers.” Servers get tips. This was a way to show appreciation for the workers on the kitchen line, who’d be served a bucket of Miller when service was done. I was curious to see if it would come with a bonus, such as a free dessert for the table. It didn’t. MacLennan later told me at least one party usually does it every night, and it’s a morale-booster for the grunts.
Paying something extra for pure altruism doesn’t seem like a crowd-pleaser in South Florida, which brings me to my biggest concern with Even Keel: its long-term prospects.
Open only four months, the 160-seat dining room was less than half full on a Saturday night. Other restaurants have failed in this spot, most recently Cibo Wine Bar. Fort Lauderdale can be a fickle market, and I’m not sure if the North Federal Highway corridor, near older neighborhoods such as Coral Ridge and Bayview, wants well-executed and higher-priced seafood. Many people just don’t eat fish. MacLennan says some customers have complained about head-on and skin-on preparations. There have already been concessions to simpler tastes: lobster mac-and-cheese is now a menu staple, along with offerings for meat-eaters like burgers and hanger steak.
A couple months back, I heard from a local restaurateur who thoroughly enjoyed his meal at Even Keel but also fretted about a mostly empty dining room. On his way home, less than a mile south on Federal, he drove past the newly opened Bahama Breeze, a chain where prices and ambitions are considerably lower. It was packed. “Shaking my head,” he said.
On my way home the other night, Bahama Breeze was still packed. As a seafood lover, I want Even Keel to thrive. But perhaps Fort Lauderdale gets the restaurant scene it deserves.
Even Keel Fish and Oyster
4100 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale
954-530-6276, or EvenKeelFish.com
Cuisine: American/Seafood
Star rating: 3.5 stars
Cost: Expensive. Appetizers and pizzas cost $10 to $19, entrees $18-$36, raw bar items $4-$17 with platters $35-$120. Desserts $8
Hours: 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday (dining room opens at 5 p.m., bar only first hour), 4-11 p.m. Friday, 5-11 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays
Reservations: Accepted, by phone or online
Credit cards: All major
Bar: Full liquor with craft cocktails and good, reasonable wine list with many selections below $50
Noise level: Conversational, soft music over speakers
Wheelchair access: Ramp to entrance from parking lot
Parking: Free valet
