Frank Sabatini Jr. | Downtown News
- Donovan’s Prime Seafood
- 333 Fifth Ave. (Gaslamp District)
- 619-906-4850
Prices: Appetizers, soups and salads, $8 to $22; entrees, $28 to $52; three-course prix fixe, $55
As many of my fellow carnivores will attest, there are times when the ocean laps at our appetites and sends us into mad hunts for dinners comprised entirely of seafood. Forget the buffets. We’re instead talking about fancier affairs like those found at Donovan’s Prime Seafood, where its new executive chef has introduced dishes that breathe glamour into halibut, sea bass, salmon and shellfish.
Since taking over the kitchen this Summer, Augie Saucedo has revamped about 60 percent of the menu, adding some Asian twists here and Louisiana touches there. He’s even gone so far as England with a haute version of fish and chips using buttery ling cod and served with mango slaw and green curry mayo. The only common components of the dish are the fries and the naughty, greasy batter.
Donovan’s Prime Seafood is the oceanic offshoot to its namesake steakhouses in the Gaslamp District and La Jolla. At the Prime Seafood restaurant, located also in the Gaslamp, beef is an obligatory footnote to nearly a dozen different varieties of oysters that share menu space with dramatic seafood towers and seasonal fish that arrive fresh to the kitchen daily.
From the appetizer list, Saucedo has somewhat reinvented the Maryland crab cake, which appeased my dining companion after admitting that she’s never been a fan of them. The chef punctuates the sweet crabmeat with little cubes of linguica sausage for imparting mild sparks of garlic and paprika to the recipe. Breadcrumbs are kept to a minimum, just enough to sport a sexy crisp. In a final twist that is essentially New Orleans-inspired, he serves the crab cake over silky buerre blanc sauce spiked with bourbon.
Hamachi tartare sitting atop warm chili oil is another recent rollout. The raw fish is formed into a tidy puck containing lime, and then topped with avocado mousse and fresh watercress. As you fork along, the flavors alternate between spicy and citrusy, fatty and fishy, although not in the off-putting sense.
We followed up with salads; a standard chopped medley of various organics and a novel wedge creation that skips the Roquefort and bacon bits in lieu of an addicting walnut puree and sweet onion strings. The milky dressing paired swimmingly to a pile of creamy Gorgonzola alongside as candied walnuts and bay shrimp added luscious complexity. A steaming-hot loaf of table bread became the conduit for mopping up the savory puddle left behind.
Pleased by the wispy, currant-like notes of Darcie Kent pinot noir we chose from a comprehensive wine list that ranges from affordable to pricey, we encroached on entrees that further showed off Saucedo’s 20-plus years of working in commercial kitchens. His experience includes an eight-year stint at The Shores Restaurant and Marine Room under the tutelage of acclaimed French chef Bernard Guillas, who Saucedo credits for “teaching me everything.”
My companion opted for Alaskan halibut, a wonderfully chunky filet pointed up with tarragon-tomato sauce and a top “crust” of parsley and leeks. Just when you deemed halibut a plain-Jane fish, this preparation will cause to think otherwise. The plate was perfectly rounded out with field peas, mushrooms and expertly cooked fingerling potatoes.
It was difficult naming a favorite when trying the salmon I ordered, which came covered in smoked almonds and garnished with citrus fennel salad.
The whole thing was encircled by bright-yellow saffron verjus, an ingenious condiment that seems natural to the fish, as its fatty oils soaked in the fruity, floral essence of the saffron.
Judging from the detailed flavor profiles we experienced in most of the dishes, it’s safe to assume that Saucedo makes a mean lobster risotto and miso-ginger sea bass, both of which are also recent additions to the menu.
Right up to our final spoonfuls of pot de crème, which screamed of fine bittersweet chocolate, the wait staff performed impeccably.
Our lead server, Jeff Fortin, had given us a knowledgeable rundown of oyster varieties while staggering our meal courses without a hitch – a class act that made a usual Monday night feel like a special occasion.
Frank Sabatini Jr. is the author of Secret San Diego (ECW Press), and began writing about food two decades ago as a staffer for the former San Diego Tribune. He has since covered the culinary scene extensively for NBC; Pacific San Diego Magazine; San Diego Uptown News; Gay San Diego; Living in Style Magazine and The Gay & Lesbian Times. You can reach him at [email protected].
