Roger Bull
 |  Jacksonville Florida Times-Union

Editor’s note: This review was originally published in The Florida Times-Union on March 10, 2000.

Biscottis has enough things going for it in Avondale. But when its owners branched out to open bb’s (as in, Bistro Biscottis) in San Marco, it created a very special place.

It’s a noisy, busy restaurant with good service and excellent, inventive food.

Now, let’s get this out of the way early: I was recognized. Ideally, a restaurant review is done in complete anonymity. Taking notes unnoticed is not easy. Besides, my photo used to run with a monthly beer column, though that has been solved.

But I had met the executive chef at bb’s before, and he recognized me and said hello.

I’m confidant that I got the same dishes that anyone would have gotten. I don’t know if I got better service. It was very good, very attentive. But then there were a lot of blue-shirted, blacktied waiters and waitresses continually buzzing around all the tables.

That said, from start to finish, it was the best dining experience I’ve had since I began reviewing restaurants a few months ago.

BB’s is a noisy place, there’s no doubt about that. It was full when we arrived at 8 on a Thursday night. But there was only one couple ahead of us, and we were seated within a few minutes.

The first room has a few tables and a bar where people stood eating appetizers and drinking. The main dining room is only partially separated by etched glass panels. The kitchen, all polished stainless steel, is open at the back of the room.

The restaurant seats only 84, and no one was being loud, but with the painted concrete floors, lots of metal and lots of glass, the sound bounces. That can be good if you want to feel like you’re out in a happening kind of place, bad if you want a quiet conversation.

It has a good wine selection, much of it available by the glass. The menu also features cheeses served with black grapes and crusty bread.

Here’s an interesting note. All the prices are in round numbers: written simply as 5. 7. 17. There are no $11.95s.

The menu has eight appetizers, ranging from $5 to $7. They had run out of Jumbo Puget Sound Mussels, the waiter said, although with smoked bacon and chipolte in a chardonnay vegetable broth, they sounded good. So did the Almond Crusted Calamari with Asian Vegetable Salad, Tangerine Cream and Spicy Chile Sesame oil ($7).

We ordered the Smoked Salmon and Apple Quesadilla ($7) and Polenta Styxx ($5.)

Both dishes came quickly and looked like they could be meals in themselves. The six polenta sticks had been deep fried very quickly so the crust was thin and crisp, the inside deliciously warm and soft. They came piled Lincoln-Log style on a blue cheese dipping sauce.

Even better was the quesadilla. I’m not sure I got a great feel for the cilantro pumpkin seed pesto that was on it, and the thin slices of green apple were lost in the goat cheese and smoked salmon filling. I’d rather taste smoked salmon, anyway. It was grilled to a warm perfection and topped with a sweet salsa of red and yellow peppers and capers.

Also on the menu are six sandwiches, $6 to $8, such as the Grilled Stuffed Flatbread ($6) with brie, grilled asparagus, field greens, roasted vegetables and tomato basil vinaigrette, and the Crispy Crabcake Sandwich ($8) on focaccia with smoked tomato remoulade and Napa cabbage slaw.

There are seven salads, $5 to $8, with an interesting variety of ingredients. The Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad ($7) with grilled portobello and vegetables with balsamic essence sounded intriguing.

No salads come with entrees, and there’s no small house salad on the menu. But I was told that staff would split a salad or make a smaller version if someone requested that.

Though the rest of the menu stays relatively the same, the entrees change two or three times a week, depending on what’s available. Usually, there are six to 10 entrees.

Only six full entrees were offered that night, ranging from $10 to $18, but all sounded good. Grilled African Pompano, with Corn and Mango Butter Sauce ($16) was tempting, as was the Pan Seared Tuna with Oven Roasted Ratatouille and Parmesan Kalamata Olive Butter ($17).

But we asked for the Stilton Filled Beef Filet ($18) and Semi-Boneless Rotisserie Chicken ($10).

The roasted half-chicken had a crispy skin but a tender inside — very nice comfort food. It was served on a large helping of superb pesto-garlic mashed potatoes that were as tasty and rich as I’ve had. Crisp, steamed fresh vegetables included broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers and sugar peas. Even the wedge of sun-dried tomato foccacia was excellent.

OK, I could have used a little more of the shiitake tasso gravy (which, by the way, begins with a spicy Cajun ham and ends with espresso and Worcestershire sauce). Not that the chicken or potatoes needed it, but I would have liked a little more. Still, it was as good a $10 meal as I think I’ve had.

The 8-ounce beef filet was cooked perfectly to medium rare, topped with a nest of shoestring sweet potatoes and served with the same mashed potatoes, vegetables and bread.

The steak was butter-tender and flavorful. There was only a small pocket of cheese, and though the beef was fine by itself, the tangy Stilton made it even better.

The shoestring sweet potatoes were a nice touch, as much for their thin, crispy texture as for their taste.

Making the beef dish more interesting was a picadillo, a sweet-and-sour relish of white raisins, capers, pinenuts, onions and andouille sausage. There was an awful lot to enjoy on that plate.

The menu lists five desserts, $6 each, all made on the premises. We ordered the Fruit Bavarian Tart and the Chocolate Oblivion, but were told the latter had been replaced by the Kahlua Double Shot. That sounded good enough.

Let’s make it clear that we ordered two desserts for research purposes only. Six dollars is a little high for dessert, but it was actually embarrassing when the waiter put both down at the table. Each dessert would feed at least three people, and we found ourselves glancing around to see if anyone was staring at the pigs who ordered one each.

The Kahlua Double Shot was a huge wedge of chocolate brownie, layered from crunch to gooey, for lack of better terms. Very good, very rich. The Kahlua flavor was minimal. As if that weren’t enough, it came with a bowl of very good vanilla ice cream.

The tart was better, I thought, but then I like lighter fruit desserts. A large, thin slice of Bavarian cream (custard, whipped cream and gelatin) was topped with a gorgeous array of pineapple, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and surrounded with swirls of raspberry sauce.

We had to box up most of it and take it home.

bb’s

  • 1019 HENDRICKS AVE. (904) 306-0100
  • TYPE OF CUISINE: Creative and eclectic.
  • DESCRIPTION: Clean and simple with an elegant air; very noisy.
  • HOURS: 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday- Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday. Closed Sunday.
  • CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: All.
  • BAR SERVICE: Beer and wine
  • RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED? No.
  • SEPARATE CHILDREN’S MENU? Yes.
  • WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE? Yes.
  • PRICES: Moderate.