Located in Hernando Beach, Brian’s Place is an upscale restaurant. Chef Brian Alvarez comes from a Cuban-Italian heritage and is third generation from Ybor City in Tampa.
The restaurant specializes in seafood but has a variety of other fare. It’s a nice, casual place to savor a unique meal in a family atmosphere.
In his words, Chef Brian “intermixes French flavors with Italian and Latin ingredients to create a unique cuisine.”
Thirteen years ago, Chef Brian and his father started the restaurant just 100 yards south of their current location. They began by making breakfast and sandwiches.
When possible, Chef Brian likes to source his ingredients locally. He uses Murphy’s Market, Green Acres for aquaponically grown lettuce and in-season fish from Tarpon Springs and Hudson. Brian’s place signature dish is pan seared grouper with plantain threeways and brown butter mash. The plantains threeways are plantain salsa (sweet plantain), plantain crisp (green plantain) and plantain crema (green plantains cooked with sofrito and cream strained and then thickened with sweet plantains).
Every week, Brian’s Place has two different special entrees. These specials often change. Recently, Chef Brian has been experimenting with wild game in these specials.
We tried three entrees: Red Chile Chicken with Brie, Crispy Seared Salmon, and Crab Enchilado.
Red Chile Chicken with Brie was served over pesto mashed potatoes and onion. It is then topped with truffle-roasted garlic aioli. The Crispy Seared Salmon is served over adobo roasted potatoes. This also comes with sautéed spinach and a coconut ginger sauce. The Crab Enchilado is crab meat simmered in a tomato sauce with capers, artichokes and spinach over spaghettini pasta. We also tried the black bean soup. All the food was excellent.
All the desserts are made in house. Favorites are Brian’s grandmother’s bread pudding and guava cheesecake.
We were too full to try any of the desserts, but I did have a classic mojito with my meal.
Brian’s Place is one of a few upscale restaurants in Hernando County. They offer excellent custom creations and is a perfect destination for a romantic dinner or celebration.
It is advisable to make a reservation by calling (352) 597-5101./ http://www.briansonthebeach.com/
IF YOU GO:
Brian’s Place
3430 Shoal Line Blvd.
Hernando Beach
Spring Hill, FL 34607
Phone: (352) 597-5101
Closed Mondays
Tues, Wed, Thurs:
Lunch: 11am-3:30pm. Dinner 3:30pm-9pm
Fri: Lunch: 11am-3:30pm. Dinner: 3:30pm-10pm
Sat: Breakfast & Lunch: 8am-3:30pm. Dinner: 3:30pm-10pm
Sun: Breakfast & Lunch: 8am-2pm