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WORLDLY CREATIONS
The Pearl Restaurant in Treasure Island | By Mary D. Scourtes
The entrees at The Pearl Restaurant sparkle with all the polish and worldliness of the owner, Chef Karim Chiadmi.
The native Moroccan and his French wife, Catherine, named their sophisticated restaurant for the lustrous gemstone. The dining room, painted in Marrakech red has charming brick walls, cozy tables and crisp linens. Glass cobalt fixtures glow from high tin ceilings.
“Nobody is allowed to paint but with this color,” said Chiadmi, 46, explaining his insistence on the specialty Moroccan powder he imported to decorate the intimate eatery.
He is much more open with his cooking, which includes a broad stroke of creativity for Mediterranean and Continental flavors. “I try everything – I love being a chef,” said Chiadmi. “It’s the only thing I know how to do. I enjoy creating something from nothing.”
That “nothing” is a stretch, once you taste a saffron shrimp and scallop bouillabaisse, Moroccan duck or Hawaiian opah. Grand soufflé-kissed chocolate mousse shows his mastery.
The menu allows more choices than you would expect from a restaurant with 70 seats. A tapas bar furthers exploration of global delights with French charcuterie joining almost 40 appetizing hot and cold selections.
Enjoy a glass of champagne sangria while sampling the tuna martini from a stemmed glass. Made from sushi-grade Ahi tuna marinated in Ketel One vodka, its seaweed, tapioca and fiery hot sauce offer flair. Tender shrimp and scallops with cabbage, cozy up in spring rolls. A Swiss cheese blanket offers nutty richness to the creamy, calorie-rich, Coquille Saint Jacques.
Other appetizers include a sought after mouclade, a creamy mussel stew from the south of France, beef carpaccio with capers and shaved parmesan, and shrimp plancha, splashed with key lime juice.
Chiadmi’s international talent bears fruit with Italian osso buco, Moroccan-spiced fish, lamb or chicken tagine, and a delightful French crepe laced with shrimp and scallops in a champagne sauce. Entrecote bascaise offers a tasty strip steak crowned with roasted shallots and melted Boursin cheese.
Dinners also include a chic lobster pasta with champagne beurre blanc and Cognac-sauced, mushroom and duck pasta. Lump crab fills the golden crab cakes, topped with remoulade sauce. The smart wine list includes more than a dozen wines by the glass with plenty of offerings from the Mediterranean-bordered countries, including Morocco.
Can’t make up your mind? Leave the ordering to Chiadmi. That’s what his regulars do. He routinely hears, “I don’t want the menu, just cook me something.”
The Pearl Restaurant
163 107th Avenue
Treasure Island, FL 33706
727-360-9151
www.gotothepearl.com
Open 4-10 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.
and 4-midnight Fri & Sat.
Closed Sunday.
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