In southeast coastal Georgia’s town of St. Mary’s, Sterling’s Southern Café is all the rage, garnering great reviews in local newspapers and magazines. The lady at the Georgia Welcome Center, a good two hours up I-95 from St. Mary’s, had recommended it. I had little choice but to stop for dinner last night.
At first, I had trouble negotiating the menu, not because it was large or loaded with creative dishes, but rather because the menu seemed overrun with clichés. Chicken parmesan is not exactly a classic low country dish, and the almond crusted grouper, tenderloin tips and chicken picatta seemed like déjà vu all over again. I chose the crab cakes to start and the crabmeat stuffed grouper as the entrée.
I wasn’t disappointed, although the two crab cakes were a little light on the crab. But the filler was tasty and perfectly seasoned. The grouper was a large piece of fresh fish, lightly and perfectly pan sautéed, crisp on the outside, almost as if it had been fried, and moist inside. The accompanying lemon sauce was appropriately restrained in both its taste and quantity. The jasmine rice and bright green crisp beans were the right accompaniments.
Sterling's is intimate; I counted about 10 tables. The wait staff goes out of its way to be friendly. They were solicitous but stopped short of overbearing. My water glass was refilled twice without asking. Prices are friendly as well, with no entree topping $20, although salad does not come with the dinner (a nice piece of garlic bread does, however).
The restaurant does something we haven’t seen since Durgin Park, the famous restaurant in Boston that seats people at long tables, strangers next to strangers. Sterling’s maintains a communal table inside the bay window in the front of the room for those without reservations. I had reserved a table, but a couple from Indiana who followed me in had not. They were offered the empty communal table for eight. A few minutes later, a single came in and was shown to a seat at the end of the table. When I left, they were all on their way to becoming fast friends. The communal table is a terrific idea that would solve some problems for busy restaurants, and maybe promote world peace (okay, okay, but we do like the idea).
Some years ago, St. Mary’s was granted a “best small town” award by one of those magazines that invents such awards to boost circulation. By all accounts and our own experience, Sterling’s is the best restaurant in the best small town.
Sterling’s Southern Café is at 219 Osborne Street in St. Mary’s, GA. Phone: 912-882-3430. Web: www.sterlingssoutherncafe.com
