The Perfect Lunch

Bahia Honda, Florida Keys

After reading a tweet from @BigKahunaBrewer being disappointed that he ended his streak of no rum or beer with lunch, it got me thinking about the perfect lunch.  We have all had fantastic food that just left us wanting more.  We have had the perfect drink to top off a good lunch.  We have all ate lunch with a spectacular view.  And we have all had a great lunch in the perfect climate.  But, to put all of those things together would be magical…  So, here is to the perfect lunch.

While in college at the University of Miami we used to frequent this little bayside shack just outside of Coconut Grove.  It was something my roommate found that was away from the hustle bustle of modern day Coconut Grove.  You sat on these old, weathered wood stools right on the edge of the bay.  They seemed to only serve fish of some sort and the only table settings were red plastic baskets and a napkin holder.  But, man did it just have that super cool vibe.  I had never been to Miami back in the heyday, but I have to imagine it was a lot like this place.  It would have surprised me to see some sailor selling “Top Secret” documents to some guy sipping vodka, it was just that kind of place.  Shady seating with shadier people.  Not quite perfect, but I loved it.

Another great place to have lunch is Kelly’s in Key West.  You sit in the “garden”, and it feels like you are sitting in a 1960’s Caribbean hideaway.  Kelly’s is home to the original building that the first tickets to fly PanAm to Cuba were sold.  The building was originally located at the Pier House but was moved later to where it sits on Whitehead Street.  They have the most magnificent Mango BBQ pork sandwich.  Was it down with a signature margarita and you are having one hell of a lunch, in the best city in the world. 

Another great lunch place is the roof top bar at Margaritaville Las Vegas.  Well, I really didn’t “eat” lunch there, I kind-of sort-of drank my lunch that day.  You  sit three stories above the strip in this little outdoor bar with a sail to hide you from the killer rays of the dessert.  I drank a few Fat Tire’s that day and even had a few margarita’s, that was one hell of a lunch. 

One of my favorite lunches (I think it was lunch, I was on island time) I have had was at a small shack at Sandals Negril.  They had this fantastic jerk chicken.  I know, you are thinking there is no way a chain resort can have such great lunch food.  But, it did.  I ate it three or four times that week.  I would stroll slowly over sometime in the afternoon.  Order some Red Stripes and jerk chicken and proceed to eat every morsel off those bones.  It has just the right about of heat, mixed with perfectly blended spices and cold beer.  That is how lunch is made to be done.  And the fact that it was on the beach, literally, made it all that much better. 

I could go on about the great lunches I have had at Fisherman’s Warf in San Fran, or the picnic lunch I had at Bahia Honda.  But, perfection to me is any place that I can get a cold drink(like the mojito at Sloppy Joe’s), in a hot climate (Whitehead St. in Key West), preferably with a water view(Coconut Grove fish shack), with some killer food (Jerk Chicken @ the beach hut at Sandals Negril).  Here is to hoping you have a bunch of almost perfect lunches to help tell your story about what your perfect lunch may be!