Bryn Purser, baby! How can it be bad? Congratulations from Key West!

good mostly authentic Mexican place in a town where no others exist

There is very little, if any, produce available on this tiny Island. Everything is shipped in. There are only two kinds of restaurants here. 1) Those that pretend to be Fine Dining, & 2) Those that are Fine Dining.

Don’t go to some jimmied up New York wanna be, silent waiter over-priced tourist trap. Don’t believe that you can have an authentic Island Dining Experience. Go to this restaurant and eat the honest food of a chef and local owner. These people know the limitations of what they can get locally, and at the same time offer you the best meals to be eaten outside of your own, or your grandma’s kitchen.

The food is cooked with love and is done by a truly talented staff, not by dilettantes out of culinary school. Thus showing the true brilliance of the “Locals” is they are finished with pretense.

The Rooftop Cafe is probably the only truly authentic “Key West” fine dining experience on the island. By this I mean that it is a unique restaurant that offers exceptional food and wine, while not ripping off the tourists or emulating the “New York” B.S. The chef, Brendan Orr is an extremely talented, unpretentious young up-and-comer, who understands the idea of what our local flavors have to offer. His menus are not dumbed down to pander to the expectations of those who want to experience faux fine dining a la Top Chef. He offers only honest food with the absolutely freshest available resources. A common misunderstanding about Island Dining is that the ingredients are available right off the tree. This is untrue! He does not try to lure the customer into this misconception. The truth is that very little is available from right here in the Keys. (See Soup to Nuts II…)