Foodie

Delicious, Decadent & Divine

Discover Driftlight at the JW Marriott Tampa | By Ronda M. Parag

Tampa Bay locals, as well as hotel guests, will be delighted with a new steakhouse in downtown Tampa as the JW Marriott Tampa recently debuted the new dinner menu at the signature steakhouse restaurant, Driftlight. As the restaurant has been serving up delicious breakfast, they now are serving up a tantalizing selection for dinner.

We recently attended a media preview to check out the menu and have a sampling of dishes. As we gathered, we were greeted with a glass of champagne and a sampling from the Seafood Towers filled with a selection of east and west coast oysters, gulf shrimp, lobster tail and crab accompanied by passionfruit remoulade, cucumber mignonette and bloody mary cocktail.

As we were ushered into the open and airy main dining room with Executive Chef Matthew Brennan, Senior Sous Chef Dylan Rebuck and Director of Sales & Marketing Christopher Adkins, it was explained that there will be some cosmetic updates including a new wine wall to feature wineries that will be showcased.

Charred to perfection, the Oyster Lobsterfeller were topped with lobster, creamed spinach, local beer and parmesan. The chef explained that the kitchen only sources the freshest, local seafood available including fish, shrimp and crab for the tasty Florida Crab Cakes and Local Shrimp Mac & Cheese. Don’t skip the brioche Bread Service that is almost too pretty with it’s pink color from the naturally fermented sweet potato and served with citrus mailed sorghum butter. Steaks are the main feature of the menu and we tried both the Dry Aged Bone-In New York Strip and Ribeye, each aged 60 days. There is a choice of six house-made sauces from a signature Driftlight Sauce to Chimichurri and classic Bernaise. For those wanting a vegetarian dish, the Spring Vegetable Pasta was cooked al dente with herb ricotta cavatelli, pesto, fava beans, english peas and mushrooms.

The finish was sweet as Executive Pastry Chef Natalia prepared a sample size selection of carrot cake, cheese cake and chocolate cake to conclude our tasting. The layered carrot cake with hazelnut and goat cheese was simply decadent and perhaps the best we’ve tasted. Be sure to save room for dessert, and perhaps an expresso martini from the Driftlight Lounge.

We left delighted with all the tastings from the menu and vowed be back to enjoy a prepared-to-perfection steak dinner. M

Driflight is open for breakfast daily and dinner Tues. - Thurs. 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. and Fri. - Sat. 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. Complimentary valet parking when spending $25 or more. Reservations are recommended. Driftlight at JW Marriott Tampa | 510 Water Street, Tampa, FL 33602 | 813.314.6611 | www.driftlighttampa.com