Bistro by the Sea

We found it on the way to pick up the balloons.  19 yellow balloons to be exact.  The flower shop was about 40 minutes away from the beach house but it's hard to find a place that has 19 yellow balloons at a moment's notice.  What is the occasion you ask? Well, it's the continuation of my depressing post "19 years..."  and it was the 19the year anniversary of my mom's funeral.  We released the 19 yellow balloons in the evening in remembrance of my mom.  Well it took couple of times.  The first time we released it, we did it to prematurely on the dock instead of on the beach.  Well the winds were gusting strong to the west and guess what? The balloons wrapped themselves tightly around the deck of the house next to us.  They were furiously trying to fly away but the damn 19 ribbons they were tied to were all tangled up.  My 2 year old daughter kept saying in her dramatic way "OH NOOOOOOO...BALLOOOONS!" We started laughing out loud and we said Mom has a sense of humor.  Don't be so sad...that's what she's telling me.  Laughter is good.  The days don't always have to be sad and serious.  Well, now that I thought of it that way, it didn't quite bother me THAT much that the balloons were stuck.  Well wouldn't you know it, my husband climbed his way onto the second floor deck of the house (which was unoccupied) getting all scraped up, unlocked the house to get the balloons.  Yup, he basically broke in and entered AND trespassed a private property to get them.  Now, that's what I call love.  The Release of the Balloons, Part 2 went better.  We went all the way down to part of the beach where the waves just break onto your feet enough to tickle them, embraced each other and then just let them go all at once.  It was right before sunset where the bright lights were still breaking through the ethereal clouds in the sky.  We followed them all the up the sky until it looked like a little black ink dot.  Then it disappeared into the sky.  I was relieved, content, and happy.

Anyways, back to finding "it".... 

I was going to finish this post right after we went to the "it" but I was too drunk on their ever delicious yummilicious garlic bread.  I officially polished off 6 rolls by myself.  I felt really bad asking for a third helping of the house garlic bread so I made up an excuse telling our waiter that I wanted it to "lap up" my sauce.  Well,my trigger fish dish wasn't served with any sauce.

They were sprinkled with slight bits of Parmesan cheese and were just the most buttery, crusty deliciousness on the outside and downy soft and warm on the inside.  I would have just died and gone to heaven. They even came out looking like little billowy pillows. 


My sister and I decided that we would have VERY low expectation of the rolls when we made our reservation. It would taste like a stale hard eeky roll we told ourselves. Ones with the freezer burn you know? I mean, come on, it was well over 4 years ago that we came here.  We came to celebrate my mother in law's birthday back then.  My son was 9 month old at the time.  AT that time, for me one of the most delicious food experiences I had up to that point.  I mean, imagine that.  So when we planned our vacation to this beach, all I kept thinking was mmmm...garlic rolls and macadamia nut cheesecake.  Oh side track a little bit about that cheesecake - which in my mind was amongst the top contenders for my "last meal" choices.  You know if you could choose your very last meal to eat, what would it be?  Well, this cheesecake is right on top of that list.  And let me also preface by saying cheesecake isn't really my favorite.  Yeah, that tells you something. 

This cheesecake was rustic, not like those perfect factory-manufactured-seeming cakes you get at The Cheesecake Factory, or Eli's.  It had a handmade quality to it with the visible white macadamia nuts poking out at the sides.  Somehow the graham cracker crust even seemed home made - come to think of it - it probably was.  It was creamy, sweet but not too sweet and had a touch of honey and salt.  The texture of the crunchy macadamia nuts was the perfect combination.  THIS cheesecake from that point in my life was going to be the benchmark of all cheesecakes and desserts in general.  Yeah, it was that fabulous. 

Boy, at this rate, I'm never going to actually get to my dessert. THIS time around at the Bistro by the Sea.  We walked in and  it resonated .  The same worn down putting-green looking carpet and the same gargantuan lily flower wallpaper.  I immediately knew it was going to be the same foodie experience.  Well, I talked about the garlic rolls already so I'll spare you more details of me drooling over the them.  I'll even skip my most delicious trigger fish with honey Dijon sauce and crunchy whipped potatoes (I know, who knew that whipped potatoes could be crunchy?).  I'll go straight to the cheesecake.  The dessert menu changes daily so I knew there was a really big chance that the macadamia nut cheesecake would be something that I would just have to keep in remembrance.  And yup.  It wasn't on the menu.  BUT they had a Blueberry steusal lemon cheesecake.  Wow.  Once again, a creamy perfection The lemon cut the sweetness of the cheese and gave it the brightness that it needed.  To die for.  The blueberry drizzle and the home made streusal was just the cherry on top.  Wow again.  I ate every morsel. 

I was so relieved and extremely content happy.

Until next year Bistro by the Sea!  By the way, I'm not sure how I could forget this place.  The menu front has a red-headed hot mermaid with a martini propped up on a piano.   Now if I still can't find this place the next time I'm here that's what I'm going to ask the locals about that hot mermaid.