Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Eddie V’s brings swanky seafood
Eddie V’s set to open in Fort Lauderdale’s tallest tower
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood features a “prohibition” private room, bar and main dining room, above. With an accent on glamour, service and a Wine Spectator-blessed wine list, Eddie V’s is a fine-dining flagship of Darden Restaurants in the 100 Las Olas tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The restaurant is set to open Thursday.
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood is poised to open in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Feb. 25, bringing an elevated style of dining and hospitality to the ground floor at 100 Las Olas, the city’s tallest tower. With an accent on visual glamour, attentive service and a Wine Spectator-blessed wine list, Eddie’s V’s is a fine-dining flagship of Darden Restaurants, along with the Capital Grille.
The Fort Lauderdale restaurant is one of three Eddie V’s scheduled to open in buzzy locales across the country in the first quarter of 2021, joining a new location in downtown Nashville and one a few blocks from Manhattan Beach, near Los Angeles.
Part of a 21-restaurant chain, Eddie V’s stakes its reputation on fresh seafood and prime steaks trimmed by an in-house butcher.
Menu highlights include Maine lobster tacos ($21); the Shellfish Tower of Maine lobster, jumbo lump crab, six shrimp and six oysters ($75); and a well-reviewed Chilean sea bass entrée, steamed Hong Kong style ($48). The 8-ounce center-cut filet mignon ($43) can be paired with South African lobster tail (together $95). For big appetites, they serve a 22-ounce bone-in ribeye ($58).
Setting the tone for the Fort Lauderdale location is general manager and managing partner Alev Ersoy, whose resume includes stints managing the Capital Grille in Boca Raton and the restaurant at Boca West Country Club.
The Paris-born Ersoy is a model of sophisticated, service-first humility, but he does not mince words on certain subjects.
“Our Maryland-style crab cake will beat any crab cake in Fort Lauderdale,” Ersoy says.
The kitchen will be supervised by Executive Chef Jose Gonzalez, formerly of Eddie
V’s Chicago and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Chicago.
Eddie V’s Fort Lauderdale will play on a big stage in a rapidly changing section of the city’s bustling tourist thoroughfare. The 499-foot 100 Las Olas building — the largest of several nearby
towers that have opened or are near completion — includes the Hyatt Centric hotel on the first 15 floors and residential units up to the 46th floor penthouse.
Ersoy says area is a perfect fit for Eddie V’s.
“This is really the new hot spot on Las Olas for a restaurant like ours that features an element of both luxury and elegance, but is also relaxed and approachable,” he says.
Creating an atmosphere that is both refined and accommodating is a point of personal pride for Ersoy, who traces his appreciation for good service back to his Turkish grandmother, who doted on him as a child. Ersoy says he’ll do what he has to do to find that favorite bottle of wine you had on your honeymoon in Tuscany, but also smaller requests.
While working at Eddie V’s in Boston, Ersoy came upon a family with a child who turned out not to be a fan of fish or steak.
“Being a dad, right away you pick up on that, so we went ahead and delivered a chef-made grilled cheese sandwich for the child,” says Ersoy, a 48-year-old father of two. “Obviously these items are not listed on the menu, but this is something we’ll accommodate to personalize the experience for any guest, adults or young children.”
The main dining room at Eddie V’s Fort Lauderdale is a study in urban chic, dominated by a dramatic cascade of light from a center chandelier and more than 300 bottles of wine displayed behind a wall of glass. The space can accommodate about 100 diners, but that number will be reduced to meet COVID-safety protocols.
There are four other private dining rooms that can accommodate parties of 10 to more than 30. The smaller room is called the Speakeasy, accessed via an unmarked door. Like the other private spaces, the Speakeasy is reservation-only, with COVIDminded capacity limits.
The restaurant features a large bar area called the V Lounge that is lined by glass partitions that can open onto an expansive terrace facing Las Olas Boulevard. One corner of the lounge includes a performance space for live music — on opening weekend it will be jazz from the Southern California-based AJ DeGrasse Trio. Eddie V’s representatives say the calendar will include local musicians.
The V Lounge also will be the setting for Eddie V’s theatrical cocktails. They include the Smoked Old Fashioned, the bartender torching a wooden plank to capture the smoked flavor in the glass, and the Hope Diamond, made with Grey Goose and butterfly pea flower tea (and a diamondshaped ice cube). The tea made from the butterfly pea flower, native to Southeast Asia, transforms the drink from deep blue to violet to magenta as it interacts with the vodka and water.
“It’s a show,” Ersoy says. Eddie V’s Fort Lauderdale is at 100 E. Las Olas Blvd. The dining room is open
4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 4-9 p.m. Sunday. The V Lounge is open one hour later each night.
Call 954-468-3583 or visit EddieV.com.