Fig restaurant in St. Pete Beach is simply creative

By LAURA REILEY

Times Food Critic

ST. PETE BEACH — Jamie and Suzanne Maiden are old pros in the business. They had a restaurant in Westport, Conn., for eight years. Then they skedaddled to the Florida Keys and took over Tavern by the Sea in Key Colony Beach, finally landing in St. Pete Beach in 2004. Jamie worked for a while selling wholesale seafood before the restaurant business pulled him back behind the stove. With the help of a third partner, Jacqueline Moronta, they opened Fig in 2008 at the site of the defunct Bruno's in St. Pete Beach.

Fig stands for Fresh International Grill. That about sums it up, but I still like the symbol of this particular fleshy, sandy, sexy fruit — the fruit associated with Dionysus and Bacchus for the Greeks and Romans, a symbol of enlightenment for Buddhists. On the other hand, it's at the center of the lowly Newton.

What does this all mean in terms of the restaurant? Suzanne describes what they're doing as "Fine dining with humble ingredients, but we make it affordable. We're not froufrou."

I'd agree with that. Dinner only, except for Sunday brunch, it's a pleasant, inviting space with huge, colorful canvases lining the walls and wide-set tables lending a welcome airiness. Suzanne and her small service staff are chatty and eager to please, willing to contribute guidance and opinions if asked. Parking may be the biggest impediment to enjoyment — drive around to the back of the restaurant and there seem to be precious few spots designated for Fig customers (the rest have ominous "do not park here" signs).

Once in, though, all is as Suzanne has promised. The guiding principle in the kitchen seems to be, "dishes we like." The short menu ambles through shiitake mushroom and bok choy stir-fry ($14) and seaweed sesame salad ($4), then takes a pass at mussels Dijonaise ($9) and pork medallions with mushroom bordelaise ($19). A little Asian, a little Mediterranean, some classical French — in my book this all adds up to New American.

Most of it is very competent. The tortilla pizzas ($8 to $10) were the only clunkers on a couple of visits, the super-thin crust kind of floppy under lots of wet ingredients. Head instead to the signature chicken breast entree ($15), a generous and gracefully conceived dish: A simple sauteed breast is paired with dried figs and almonds, swaddled in citrus beurre blanc and set beside a timbale of basmati rice. It reads like good home cooking. Same can be said of a cedar-planked salmon fillet ($17), glossy with a citrusy-basil glaze and paired with ribbons of cucumber. Nice.

The best dishes seem to be fairly simple. A napoleon of house-smoked salmon ($9) had a lot of good but contradictory flavors in it: Parmesan crisps jostled with layers of mango salsa for dominance, the mango winning out as the crisps got soggy. An evening's special of steamed clams with lengths of spicy sausage ($11) melded more elegantly, the rich seafood broth with just a hint of sophisticated Pernod or other anise-fennel flavor.

High on the decadence scale, one evening's lobster, smoked Gouda and artichoke ravioli ($20) was worth the calories, a plush tomato basil cream sauce pulling the rest of the flavors together eloquently. This may be the least health-conscious dish, as Jamie takes pains to offer heart-healthy and vegetarian options, and the house salad (included with every entree) is among the most carefully rendered I've tasted in ages, a perfect vinaigrette napping crisp spinach and greens, little lengths of dried fig adding bursts of sweetness. Now that's enlightened.

Laura Reiley can be reached at lreiley@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2293. Her blog, the Mouth of Tampa Bay, is at www.blogs.tampabay.com/dining. Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The Times pays all expenses. Advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment.