Sandor out at Vue on 30A - Santa Rosa Beach Club

Sandor voted out

Well the word is that the club looks great but Sandor is already gone - anyone know the scoop? Apparently Jim Shephard is also out and manager Jim Sides will be cooking until a replacement is found.

Heard from someone at the VUE on 30A restaurant that the club members voted down Sandor's menu for the new restaurant. Also heard that they hired back the previous chef and they are going with the old menu, to include grouper sandwiches, meatloaf and Caribbean jerk chicken. Too bad, since I believe there is now a huge disconnect between the ambiance and the menu. I had hoped that this diamond-in-the-rough would finally live up to its potential. Some dreams just never come true...

Well the word is that the club looks great but Sandor is already gone - anyone know the scoop? Apparently Jim Shephard is also out and manager Jim Sides will be cooking until a replacement is found.

I am really sorry to hear this. I was looking forward to a change of attitude from the beach club to one of more respect for those who patronize it other than the members. Obviously, such is not the case and it would appear that the same old few who rule the Santa Rosa Beach Golf and Country Club still continue to do so much to the detriment of the general public they are trying to attract to financially support what they cannot.

I am really sorry to hear this. I was looking forward to a change of attitude from the beach club to one of more respect for those who patronize it other than the members. Obviously, such is not the case and it would appear that the same old few who rule the Santa Rosa Beach Golf and Country Club still continue to do so much to the detriment of the general public they are trying to attract to financially support what they cannot.

It will be curious to hear if the membership/management ends up pleased with the ultimate results. I can't say I've actually ever seen a cosmetic face-lift that truly transformed the soul.

OMG...SWGB called this one! I owe you a drink. ;-)

SWGB has good instincts...and even better info.

If this is true, I guess I'll have to live without association with the elites as will many others. I was really looking forward to the new menu and surroundings. All the other non-exclusive places in the area will just have to do, I guess.

I too was looking forward to a new menu.

However, I was not looking forward to Sandor. Not one of my favorite chefs. I can remember the night he told me he was better and smarter than Julia Child.... wish my fish that night would have been cooked versus raw. And yes, I did try and send it back to get it cooked a little more and he refused! Tried to like his food, just didn't.

I did like the food at SRB Club quite a few years (15 to 20) back.

Maybe the folks at SRB Club will listen and get it right, for the locals and the tourists.

What a dumb decision - if the old menu/chef brought in business, why did they renovate and hire a new one?

Such a shame - it's one of the few places on 30-A where you can dine with a view of the gulf..................and they seem determined to not capitalize on it.

Can't comment on the particulars of either chef, but I know it wasn't high on my list of places for good food previously.

In the battle of the V's, it seems the V takes the lead versus the Vue...stay tuned...

I too was looking forward to a new menu.

However, I was not looking forward to Sandor. Not one of my favorite chefs. I can remember the night he told me he was better and smarter than Julia Child.... wish my fish that night would have been cooked versus raw. And yes, I did try and send it back to get it cooked a little more and he refused! Tried to like his food, just didn't.

I did like the food at SRB Club quite a few years (15 to 20) back.

Maybe the folks at SRB Club will listen and get it right, for the locals and the tourists.

I never met him or ate his food so I can't speak to that.

In the world of restaurant choices... for me, great food happily served TRUMPS. A great view while dining is lagniappe... not primary.
Think of all the friendly, great food, 'old dumps' that are adored, recommended, and frequented!

Conversely, a pervasive self-aggrandized-arrogance can curdle delicious food with one brief blow-hard schwoop. IMO there are so many great choices, why endure such a thing more than once (at most 2X for benefit of doubt)?

I'm curious to know how many times people will return to a view/location reliant restaurant that's backed by mediocre food and/or arrogant service? Several NYC landmark restaurants manage to survive on such former-glory-fumes; a thing I always found utterly baffling.

I'll give every restaurant two tries and that is it. There are too many good ones in the area, and BTW, that includes the chains which have their place too, it they're good.

I'm confused about which restaurant you are speaking of. The title led me to believe that changes were already in place at the new boutique/retro place in Seagrove, but it sounds as if you're actually speaking of the Santa Rosa Beach Club.
We did eat Sunday brunch there once because of the view. Would like to go back again because of the view but so many choices on 30A.
We're counting down to our spring break visit.
Ellen

Vue is the new name of the dining room at the Santa Rosa Beach Club.

I'm confused about which restaurant you are speaking of. The title led me to believe that changes were already in place at the new boutique/retro place in Seagrove, but it sounds as if you're actually speaking of the Santa Rosa Beach Club.
We did eat Sunday brunch there once because of the view. Would like to go back again because of the view but so many choices on 30A.
We're counting down to our spring break visit.
Ellen

The V is the new restaurant in Seagrove. (It's short for The Veridian.) The Vue is what they are going to call the newly renovated Santa Rosa Beach Club.

I'll give every restaurant two tries and that is it. There are too many good ones in the area, and BTW, that includes the chains which have their place too, it they're good.

seems like sometime back you had maybe the best pork chop ever . so which is it flip or flop ?

Viridian, not Veridian. Vue on 30A, not Vue.

Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed more of green than blue. Specifically, it is a dark shade of spring green, the color between green and cyan on the color wheel. ...

Vue is a mis-spelling of "view", or Visual User Environment (VUE or HP-VUE) was Hewlett-Packard's Desktop environment for the X Window System. It was a rival and precursor to the Open Group's CDE. Work began on VUE in 1988 at Apollo Computer for use with Domain/OS, as an alternative to Apollo's standard DM and wmgr. ...

Maybe this will help.

Viridian, not Veridian. Vue on 30A, not Vue.

Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed more of green than blue. Specifically, it is a dark shade of spring green, the color between green and cyan on the color wheel. ...

Vue is a mis-spelling of "view", or Visual User Environment (VUE or HP-VUE) was Hewlett-Packard's Desktop environment for the X Window System. It was a rival and precursor to the Open Group's CDE. Work began on VUE in 1988 at Apollo Computer for use with Domain/OS, as an alternative to Apollo's standard DM and wmgr. ...

Maybe this will help.

It helps give me a headache...maybe I should go to the V and have a XX.

That's really strange...That's alot of money down the drain for a Club that has been struggling to say afloat the last several years...I mean they did not even give the place a few months to see if it worked...Seems like there has to be more to this than what we are hearing for them to change course like this

seems like sometime back you had maybe the best pork chop ever . so which is it flip or flop ?

This is true. It was still the Santa Rosa Beach Club and the chef was Sandor.

I haven't been to either V or Vue but I have eaten Sandor's cooking, back in the day when he had the restaurant in the building that got moved from Seagrove to Alys Beach and is now George's. Twice we got to dine at Sandor's and twice we had the kind of memorably lovely and delicious experience that stays with you forever. The service was fantastic, the dishes creative and masterfully prepared, beautifuly served.

I haven't been to either V or Vue but I have eaten Sandor's cooking, back in the day when he had the restaurant in the building that got moved from Seagrove to Alys Beach and is now George's. Twice we got to dine at Sandor's and twice we had the kind of memorably lovely and delicious experience that stays with you forever. The service was fantastic, the dishes creative and masterfully prepared, beautifuly served.

yes, same here.

I look forward to following Chef Sandor wherever he may go.

OMG...SWGB called this one! I owe you a drink. ;-)

He has insider info lol

Viridian, not Veridian. Vue on 30A, not Vue.

Viridian is a blue-green pigment, a hydrated chromium(III) oxide, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed more of green than blue. Specifically, it is a dark shade of spring green, the color between green and cyan on the color wheel. ...

Vue is a mis-spelling of "view", or Visual User Environment (VUE or HP-VUE) was Hewlett-Packard's Desktop environment for the X Window System. It was a rival and precursor to the Open Group's CDE. Work began on VUE in 1988 at Apollo Computer for use with Domain/OS, as an alternative to Apollo's standard DM and wmgr. ...

Maybe this will help.

Not to be confused with Veridian in Watercolor either. :roll:

That's really strange...That's alot of money down the drain for a Club that has been struggling to say afloat the last several years...I mean they did not even give the place a few months to see if it worked...Seems like there has to be more to this than what we are hearing for them to change course like this

To clarify, the club financially, is in good shape despit down number of rounds of golf played. Average restuarant losses at a USa club range around $80k
so the "Beach Club" was no the higher end, but also has higher overhead than a non beachy golf club. That said, the enthusiasm instlled from the renovation to the new staffing is now tossed to the wind, with the membership scratching their heads.

I enjoy being a member, and its worth it, but every few years the newly elected board takes on their pet projects and recycles the same old policies tried and failed at thousands of other golf and CC clubs

Santa Rosa needs to decide what the F they want to be
Either a Country Club with public access or rely on soaking the members for more fees and be the Augusta of the South

When this all started i suggested they farm it out to a Golf Management Company, there are plenty of good ones who know how to balance the books as well as the members. Its time the club fessed up to it and let someone else handle it before they lose their core members

As for the beach club...... stay tuned for a name change back again(prediction)

We'll have to try both the new and not so new on our upcoming trip. Both have great 'views' unless something has been built across the street from the 'V'.
Also, may I do a little selling? In the 'V' video, the bar area, I think I spotted the distinctive bottle of Collingwood - I developed that whiskey and soon to be released Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey. (It's available here in Louisville.) Of course, for talking purposes, the master distillers and their teams did the development work
Ellen