CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF SEAGAR’S

A South Walton staple and tradition, this classic New York-style steakhouse remains elevated in gastronomy

BY HANNAH BURKE

When guests at Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa began inquiring about the best fine dining experiences in the area, Frank Flautt set out on a mission.

Flautt, co-founder of Hilton Sandestin’s management company, Sandcastle Resorts and Hotels, thought it only right that his full-service hotel had for its guests an exclusive, refined restaurant on property.

“We had built additional space downstairs, and I decided I wanted it to house a high-end steakhouse,” recalled Flautt. “Something elegant, something that only used the freshest, most premium ingredients, but with a relaxed environment where you’d want to stay a while.”

Flautt, who concedes he’s something of a “foodie,” fondly recalls embarking upon a tour of the East Coast’s finest eateries and vendors to sample products and borrow inspiration for the experience he wished to emulate in Sandestin. Places like Delmonico’s and Sparks steak houses in New York, and Folk’s Folly in Memphis, he said, were just the ticket.

But superior product could only carry his fledgling restaurant, Seagar’s Prime Steaks & Seafood, so far without a highly-skilled team dedicated to superior customer service.

“We have been fortunate to have truly good people work for us,” Flautt said. “Our first executive chef, Mark Sublet, set the tone of the quality that people have come to expect from us — that we are going to use the best possible ingredients and the best possible people to serve our guests.”

For Seagar’s, which has had the honor of receiving a AAA Four-Diamond rating for the past two decades, it’s a quality that has endured and earned them a devoted local following who have made the restaurant synonymous with special occasions and celebrations.

Dining here is an unhurried, deliberate experience. Repeat clientele will tell you to expect to spend at least a couple hours here as you savor each course, absorb the ambiance of dim lighting and a live pianist, sample the 600-label wine list and engage in meaningful conversation.

“I see it as my job to keep those conversations going,” said Seagar’s current Executive Chef, Fleetwood Covington. “People know, at our core, we’re a classic New York-style steakhouse. What I try to do is take that reputation and add an element of surprise for a fresh, progressive approach.”

Some of Covington’s latest conversation pieces entail avant-garde items such as a translucent key lime pie or rich diver scallops served atop housemade laminated pasta with edible flowers.

“I am fortunate that our company takes pride in who we are, because they make sure we’re enhanced every year by investing in us, giving me the ability to try some pretty cool things,” said Covington.

Seagar’s menu changes seasonally, but it’s important to Covington to retain Seagar’s identity — with classics like the tableside Caesar salad, sumptuous Steak Diane and flambeed bananas foster — while adding an extra layer of worldly gastronomy to elevate Seagar’s into a new era.

“I met Fleetwood when he joined us to work on Seagar’s front line in 2017, and it’s been a joy to watch him grow,” added Flautt. “He is an extremely talented young man who brings experience from his time spent in Europe, and people genuinely enjoy eating his food. I know he is the next star of Seagar’s.”

“Seagar’s makes me very proud, and it has remained consistent with its values,” said Flautt. “We put the guest first in the restaurant just like we do at the hotel. Over the next 25 years, I think we’ll continue doing just that.”