DUNE by Laurent Tourondel

Where do I begin? We first dined at Dune during Miami Spice on a Monday night. We waited a bit too long, the server was not so great, the food was just ok and we asked about the wine and learned that it was 50% off bottles night so we ordered a bottle. When the bill arrived it had the wine at full price. We asked the server. He was unsure and then went to investigate. He returned stating that only bottles over $100 applied to the 50% off night. We reminded him that he had told us that bottles were 50% off so could we please speak to a manager. The manager came and basically stated that we were stuck with the price of wine because our bottle did not apply. We explained that our bottle was $60 but we could have ordered a $100 bottle and only paid $50 so really???? She was not interested in correcting the situation or appeasing us in any way.

We left upset and promising not to return. I was frankly, shocked at the lack of management skills dealing with this kind of situation so I wrote to the restaurant explaining what had happened. Within a day, I had a return email from Francios, director of operations with sincere apologies for the experience and invited us to return and try them again for brunch. We were thankful for the proper response but we were unsure if we would indeed return.

Fast forward to this past Sunday, about 18 months later and we decided to try once more and did indeed reserve for brunch. All I can say is that I am so thankful that we did. I have NEVER had such impeccable service and flawless food and spectacular atmosphere making it a winning trifecta.

We arrived early and had a walk on the boardwalk along the ocean, then made our way to the hostess. She was pleasant and sat us at a premium table with views of the very well designed deck seating as well as ocean views and also in range of the fun dj. Our server encouraged us to order the "appetizer" of bloody mary which came with a potpourri of snack items including a shrimp and the homemade mix was also tasty. Then came the french bread crisp with fresh herbs that was perfectly balanced crisp outside with warm and soft inside. This, our server told us was their specialty. We then had an order of stone crabs that are my favorite and were presented with intention and were perfectly perfect. We then had the main delight and of this I cannot say enough. What I can say, is how a true chef can perfect and make you dream of food... I have been dreaming of this lobster benedict since we had it on sunday. It was served on brioche with the perfect amount of butter to crisp the toast, the sauce was warm, not hot but a perfect compliment to the lobster which was heavily portioned as well and did not soak and make soggy the bread. The hollandaise was also the best I have ever had and clearly at the hands of someone who knows what they are doing in the kitchen. We thought we were complete when our server returned to convince us to get the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Croquant with banana gelato. Wow... again, perfect balance of flavors, presented with elegance, including a gold leaf and the banana gelato with the exact compliment to the sweet and the peanut butter of the croquant.

I must once again state how thankful we were to have returned and grateful to have had such a positive experience. There are no words offering enough praise... except perhaps... C'est Magnifique! We will return and bring others... thank you.