by Dirk Leisure
Upon taking the rein’s as Head Chef at the Island House Bar & Grill this spring, Andi Jones had both a vision and a mission. Andi attended Culinary School in Florida and worked in restaurants in the sunshine state as he built up his experience. Then, when the opportunity arose, Andi decided to branch out and take the head spot in the kitchen this summer at the Island House. It was his turn to run the show. The trouble was, that the show had to change.
After many, many years of serving traditional summer fried food, the Island House needed to reinvent themselves. The owners had been intrigued and influenced by following popular cooking shows on TV and reading about trends in people’s tastes and preferences as they turned more health conscious. They reached out to Andi and asked him to help them make the transition from fried to fabulous. Andi was the right man for the job.
Knowing that locally sourced, fresh and healthy, foods are now essential to the success of any restaurant Andi set about making those connections and trying out new recipes and menu items until they arrived at a selection that would satisfy any and all who walked through the door (or took a seat on their famed porch). This Week on MV caught up with Andi to see how his summer, and the transition is going.
TW – We noticed a dramatic change for the better this year when we did an article on your appetizers a few weeks ago. What is going on in the kitchen here at the Island house? Everything tastes so great! Not that it was bad before but it was very traditional fried summer foods. Now you seem to be upping your game. Are you?
AJ – Yes, Definitely! The island house had been stuck on an old fashioned menu for many years and the owners wanted a complete change. New flavors, new thinking, new menu and new Chef. They had been passionate about food for many years personally, but had never thought to bring that passion to their own restaurant. I guess they kind of got stuck. But everything is changing now.
TW – What are your new signature dishes?
AJ – Well, we have the Shrimp Scampi and Lobster Scampi that are both new and very popular. The Lobster Quesadilla is a great new item as well. A lot of our traditional menu items have been totally re thought out too. For instance we now roll our own Hamburgers fresh every day and cook them on a flat grill. We used to use charcoal but people really love the flavor produced by the flat grill. All of our seafood is fresh every day. We don’t have anything that is pre-made anymore.
TW – You guys have always been known for nightlife and not so much for the food. How has that changed?
AJ – You’re right. The Island house made food to support the bar business, now we are focused on producing good food. We feel like the nightlife will always be there but we wanted to make people want to come here for the food. It’s taken a while to get people to see (and taste) the difference but it’s starting to happen and it’s very exciting to us. We pay close attention to reviews and what people are saying about us and it has all been positive this summer. We must be doing something right!
TW – Well, we can attest to that with the items we have had the chance to sample so far. We have a profile coming up after this Chef Chat. What would you like people to know most about your food?
AJ – Just that its all fresh, its all new and its really delicious. We have been running a special every day from 3-6pm where all Appetizers are half price. We hope that people will come in and try our new menu for half the price! Once they do, I’m confident they will be back again and again.
TW – Yes, we see the ad every week in our paper and wonder how you can give such a big discount! You can’t be making money giving such a great discount….every day! Can you?
AJ – No, we don’t, but when you’re passionate about something you want to share it. We want people to feel like they can afford to taste as many of our menu items as possible. We think it just makes sense to let people really get to know our new Menu and hopefully they will come back for more. I guess that’s my job (chuckles)
TW – Well, we can’t wait to try more of your menu and look forward to sharing it with our readers in the Restaurant profile coming up. Thanks for your time Andi, and great job!
