What a great place! Our waiter, Brady, was superb. Great wine list too. We split the spinach salad which featured a warm bacon vinaigrette with roasted peppers and goat cheese. I had the black pepper seared tuna over braised spinach. The fish was perfectly cooked and very high quality. My companion had the Grouper Vince - pecan crusted with a honey Worcestershire sauce - over mashed potato cakes. While my entree was great, the grouper was out of this world. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We were told the entree got its name after country singer Vince Gill raved about it when the Chef catered his wedding. For dessert, we shared the key lime pie, which was a nice ending to a great meal.
Review Source:Eh...
I read reviews about this restaurant before my friends and I went. I'm glad I did because I was able to know what to expect on both pricing and attire. Â When we walked in it was about 8p on a Saturday and it was pretty crowded. I later discovered that's because of their infamous happy hour that lasts until 9p. Their drinks (mostly) and appetizers are half off. Martini's are 5 dollars. We put our names in for a table of 4 and had a half hour way. Considering the size of the place (relatively small), that we had 4, and it was a weekend during "prime dinner hours" in the summer (aka tourist season) I was surprised that wait was only 30 minutes! The happy hour was awesome if you are lucky enough (like we were) to get a seat. There's also live music which was great and really brought the place to life. The crowd is definitely older I'd say 45-55 on average and very much a cougar/WASP hang out. I'm relatively young and felt like a piece of meat from the moment I walked in the door.
Moving on to dinner: so we get seated and I have to say the whole experience took a turn south :( First we sit down and they didn't have the menus ready. Okay so we had to wait a couple minutes for those. Not a big deal I guess just weird. Typically you're seated and handed menus. Â So we get our menus and the waiter asks if we have any questions. We don't, however, my friend wants to order and appetizer and then decide on her meal. Our waiter was not having that. He said we need to put all of our orders in at the same time. Okay Mr. Bossy 1) I've been to and worked in restaurants before, uh no you don't. Appetizers go first and 2) are you kidding me? Okay then! He brought over the bread and when we were finished with that he asked if we wanted more. I said yes and he said okay and took my plate away and never came back with any :( I think the bread was the best thing I had! I ordered a bowl of their seafood bisque. For "fine dining", the price, and location (we live on the panhandle aka coast) this was as good as Campbell's soup would have been. Wow $9 for a bowl. I could have bought 3 cans of Campbell's soup for that! A few more times the waiter was rude, my silverware was dirty, the food was blah at best, especially for what I paid! I'm a local and I won't be returning. Maybe someone could convince me to go for happy hour, MAYBE.
Pretty good!!
Okay, now on to the long review that no one will read!!
Living in the panhandle can be difficult when it comes to fine dinning or finding anything close to bistro. So when it comes to special events, I can't just go into SF like I used to. So finding someplace nice for anniversaries or birthdays became an adventure for me and my boyfriend. I think we finally found the right place, at least while we still live here.
I went here with my boyfriend for my birthday dinner and overall, I had a great time.
The prices are very reasonable. Duck for 23$? Mediterranean steak for 25$? Oysters for 19$? And they're all cooked to perfection? A dinner for two for 100$? I'm into this. Â
The waiters were a little... weird? Overly friendly? Something was a little off with them, I have no idea what. Ours wouldn't stop talking about his wife. Uh, I don't care? lol please just feed me.
I ended up getting a free (and AMAZING) slice of banana cream pie, since it was my birthday. My God, I don't care for banana dishes, but ohhhhhhhh it was so amazing. I had to fight my boyfriend for it. I want to try the key lime pie next. Oh yes, I doooooo
Those bartenders are also really heavy handed, so I was a little blitzed when we were done
The crowd was a little older. The average age being around early 40's. While this isn't really a problem (not many teens or 20 year olds can afford a expensive meal), it's a little weird when everyone gawks at you for turning 23. I get it, you're old enough to be my parents, just don't look at me like I'm a little kid.
-0.52 stars for the tacky ass crap when you first walk into the restaurant. We understand that your chef is really famous and is a celebrity chef, but that doesn't mean you need to sell all his crap (ie cook books, t-shirts, his seasonings) in the front. If you're going to call it a bistro, make it look like one.
This place SCREAMS the chef's name all over it, but once you look past that, it's a great little place if you want a nice dinner.
3.5 stars.
Unless you've never ventured outside of your home, if you live in Destin, you've undoubtedly heard of how wonderful Cuvee Bistro is. Â Their happy hours last forever, til 9pm, and the place is always packed. Â Good luck finding a seat.
Coming here on the weekends, it is almost like being swept away to a real city, where people look well-heeled and can talk about wine and vacationing in Tahoe. Â Though with that, the crowd is much much older, and the people around our age are 1) gay, 2) sugar babies, 3) ourselves. Â Sad.
It is, however, a great hunting ground if you are in search of a cougar. Â Well kept older ladies with tastefully applied lip colors and giant wedding rings flashing abound. Â
Their martinis are good, and at $5 during happy hour, not a bad deal for a place like this. Â The appetizers are also half off during happy hour but the selection and quality is nothing to wow over even with the special deal. Â But given that we are not in NYC, or SF, and it's just good ole Destin, I guess I can see why they are so popular.
We had the most wonderful experience here! First, this is where the locals hang and we shared our cocktail table with the owner and his guests on New Years Eve. Â We were seated immediately, which surprised me because of the holiday, and our waiter, Jimmy, came right up and wasted no time taking drink orders. Â His very first comment was to take our time and enjoy ourselves and dinner...which meant they weren't trying to flip tables and push through as many guests as possible. I had the duck, which was perfectly tender and the berry reduction complimented it wonderfully. My husband had the grouper and raved about it. Â The other couple joining us both had filets and couldn't get over how tender they were...this is saying something considering my friend orders her steak medium well! Â The band started around 9:40pm, and we stayed until well after 10. Â We could've stayed all night, but needed to get home to a houseful of teenagers.
The next time we are in Destin, we will surely return.  Great food, great staff, and a swanky atmosphere.  Thank you, Cuvée Bistro, for helping us ring in the new year!
I really, really like this place.
Destin is short on high end, artisan inspired cuisine.
We ordered the BBQ chicken pizza appetizer.. which was very good. it was obviously wood fired, and had a tangy, smoky finish.
Our entrees con sited  of salmon, and a braised lamb both with sweet mash.. excellent flavor and presentation
Cuvee Bistro is a little taste of Miami in Destin.
Small portions and expensive prices. The caprese was delicious, but that was the only standout. My halibut tasted so-so and an extremely small portion. My date had the gumbo, which was decent sized, but bland. The #1 reason I won't come back is the $.75 refill charge on sodas in their extremely small glasses. Just seemed to be nickel and dimed for a naked emperor.
Review Source:We arrived at 5:00 with children.  The bar was packed, they must have some awesome happy hour specials, and we were seated quickly on the restaurant side.  The restaurant looks very nice.  We ordered a flat bread pizza which was great, and the pork belly is my kids new favorite food.  It was great, not to fatty, and just melted in your mouth.  The kids wanted two more orders.  Service was unbelievable.  They even took time to show my son how to fold napkins in a cool way.  My wife and I split the venisen and  pasta with shrimp and spicy crushed red pepper pomodoro sauce.  Man o man the pasta has way too much red peper.  We even asked to make sure we didn't order the other pasta that says it is very hot.  That is the only downside to the meal.  It was decent, but way too much heat.  Our server said that people have been saying that, and it is not supposed to be that spicy.  The venisen was amazing!  Overall a great meal, and even doable with kids thanks to the amazing service.
Review Source:This is a fine restaurant. Â The waitstaff was friendly and accommodating and the food and wine were exceptional. Â My husband had lamb shanks, and a taste revealed a michelin star. Â I had softshell crab with mashed sweet potatoes--excellent. Â There was a spicy yellow pepper sauce on top. Â I subtracted a star for texture: Â the crab had most certainly been frozen before it was cooked, but it was nevertheless delicious.
Review Source:Last night in Destin, hubby decided to treat me to Cuvee Bistro, recomended as the nicest place in town. Seated right away, Oliver our server was very friendly and knowlegeable about the menu. We ordered wine and drinks and our entres and all was going well until a passing waitress spilled red wine down my back as she passed by. Completely by accident, the glass tipped over on her tray. She insisted on spraying wine away on my white pants, so I went to the ladies room with her where she sprayed this stuff on my clothes. Manager came over a few minutes later to check on us and apologized. No big deal, it was an accident but he offered us a glass of wine on the house. Food arrived and my hubby loved his shrimp pasta but my pork chop was a little bland. Then the burning starts, the wine away the girl saturated my clothes in began burning my skin, i'm not kidding, can you say "chemical burn" Wow we called the waiter over and quickly paid the bill so I could get out of the place and get those clothes off.
Review Source:One of the better fine dining restaurants in Destin. Either make reservations or hope to get lucky and sit at the bar or outside. They have a great little "happy hour" menu that features half priced drinks and appetizers and runs all the way until 9:00. This is a great way to sample a little bit of everything. We had a great server this past time named Angel who was attentive and knowledgeable. Tim Creehan is a well known local chef who has had his hands in several restaurants through the years. Cuvee Bistro doesn't disappoint.
Review Source:The only reason I am giving this one star is because I can't give it negative stars. One of the worst experiences I've ever had in a restaurant. Â To start off with, we did not have reservations, but were told we could be seated in about 30 minutes. We told them great and we would go out to the patio to have a drink while we waited. Â The hostess told us she would be right out to get us. Â We ordered a drink and an appetizer while we waited on the patio. Â I got a mojito which was nice, but looked at the glass and it had lipstick on it. The server did take care of that. We got the fried green tomato app and it was very bland (the crawfish topping the tomato tasted ruined). Â After our appetizers and drinks were finished, I went to the hostess stand to ask on our table. Â The manager was there and basically told me that they did not have our name on their list and that it would be another 30 minutes. Â I told him not to worry about it, we would go elsewhere. He then said that they could seat us very shortly. Â I went back to the patio and waited another 15 minutes. My wife then went to check on the table and was told by the manager that we had chose to sit on the patio for our dinner. Â There is more that happened, but this is sufficient to get the point across. I will never go to this place again.
Review Source:This is a place at which not just to eat, but to dine. Â I had my first ever experience here last night, and will definitely be back for more. Â The seating was open without being crammed together; the ambiance was classy without being stuffy. Â The service was excellent; our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and making recommendations based on our preferences. Â The food was fantastic. Â We had escargot, oysters and pork belly to start, then moved on to filet and New Zealand venison, finished with creme brulee and all washed down with sparkling wine and Frangelico. Â We enjoyed a truly great meal and a wonderful experience.
A quick note: This isn't a corporate cookie-cutter restaurant. Â There is quite a bit of information to be passed from your server to your table, and no one wants to feel rushed or feel like your server has better things to do. Â If you are asked to wait a few minutes before being sat because your server just greeted a table, RELAX! Â Have a drink. Â It's worth the wait.
This was one of the more memorable dining experiences we have had in a while. Â Our server (Randy) was excellent and very wine-knowledgeable. Â A must try is the Braised Pork Belly with Apple Chutney. Â The signature Black Pepper Tuna is very high-grade. Â The Grouper Vince was excellent. Â Skip the bad-fried-fish-and-fries joints and have a lovely evening at Cuvee Bistro.
Review Source:May 11, 2012. Dined here our last night on vacation and SO glad we did. Familar with Chef Tim's cuisine when he was at Beach Walk. Had not been to Cuvee since he took it over. As good as it was before, even better now. Entree's: 1) Grouper Vince with Pecan Crusted, Honey Worcestershire Sauce with Mashed Yukon Gold Potato Cakes, 2) Sea Bass, Oven Roasted with Sautéed Spinach and Roasted Mushrooms in a Miso Broth 31, 3) one of the specials, Venison. (sorry, don't remember the details, but the way my husband was moaning and almost licking the plate, you know how good it was) One of the finest meals we've had in the Destin area. (been going there off/on for about 10 years) Cannot recommend enough! A local favorite hang out also; nice bar, great wine list.
Review Source:The food here was really good. Â Our server was excellent; I think her name was Mary. Â She was very knowledgable about the menu, and it was her description that led my wife to order the bison steak, which was awesome. Â I had the Vince Grouper and was also delighted. Â It made my taste buds dance like little tiny fairies with magic shoes that sparkled, and not with led lights that are placed in the soles of their shoes by a manufacturer in China, but real magical lights. Â With that said...we were on a hunt for seafood and did not find it here. Â No complaints from this rater, but if you want a true seafood place, look elsewhere.
Review Source:This is by far one my fav restaurants in Destin. This is one of those places that LOCALS rave about!!!! Â Destin is a wonderful place to vacation. However, there are a lot of tourist trap restaurants. Â We ate at Marlin Grill the night before and was disappointed so we gave Cuvee Bistro a tried. Our waiter at another restaurant even recommended this places! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
I'm glad we did bc the Venison Steak & Filet Mignon were delicious. Â Save room for Creme Brulee! Next time I will try the Lamp shank! Â Great food + swank ambiance = Cuvee Bistro
Went on a Tuesday night. Our server Randy was awesome. He was very helpful and knew the wine and food menu to a tee. Food was OK. I had pasta with shrimp and my daughter had the tuna. She said the tuna was good but the portion was extremely small. Fine for her, but not for a bigger eater. I would eat there again, but would eat in the bar for happy hour.
Review Source:Excellent food, professional service, although a tad on the slow side. You can tell the chef is top-notch, and the quality control is evident. The Caprese Salad had super fresh, large cut tomatoes, more than enough fresh mozzerella, and a good amount of basil. The Sea Bass dish was perfect. A very thick cut of fish, with a perfectly thin crunch and steaming hot on the inside. The wine list was also very overwhelmingly large. It appears the bar area is very popular. The overall menu is one of the best I have ever seen. If I wasn't just here visiting, I would want to come back many times to try as many things as I could. It is not cheap by any means, but you do get what you pay for.
Review Source:Wow! Â
We were visiting Florida and wanted to splurge...
We (4) had made a reservation for 7pm, we arrived 30 minutes early and didn't have any problem getting seated right away. Â
Tuesday free wine special promotion brought us to this restaurant along with the Local's Choice Award for 2010 & 2011, we knew we picked a good one.
We ordered:
Bison Steak (lean clean red meat)
Venison Steak (highly recommended)
The Filet
Lamp shank (fall off the Bone)
Dessert:
Sample (6) different sweets for $16.00
Drinks:
They serve Voss water & Sparkling water
The service was wonderful. Â The waiter was very knowledgeable of the menu and made honest recommendations to us. Â
I would definitely go again during our future visit to Destin FL.
Went on a Wednesday night for dinner. Â We were quoted a 45 minute wait; luckily we found seats at the bar. Â The bar staff was nice, the martini olives were a little sweet (?) and the flatbread pizza was AWESOME! Â They have a crazy long happy hour, something like 5-9 (I believe it's only at the bar)
We moved to the dining room once our table was available (more like 25 minutes than 45). Â Our server was nice as well, but the food was really not good. Nothing bad, just nothing I ever need to eat again. Â He had the grouper and I had the roasted chicken - both very unimpressive.
We noticed the menu is maybe 80% the same as the B&B we stayed at. Â Hmmm?
I would definitely go back for pizza & happy hour, but not dinner
Jesse took me here for date night on Friday. Â We had a wonderful time. Â The place was packed which is a great sign. Â The bar area was setting up for some live music which we both agreed we will return to check out soon. Â The food was very good. Â We started off with fried green tomatoes with crawfish. Â Very yummy. Â I ordered the peppercorn seared tuna and Jesse had the grouper. Â Both were delicious. Â We switched plates halfway through because the tuna got a little spicy for me and the grouper had a sweet sauce on it. Â I enjoyed both dishes. Â The waitress was awesome! Â I am excited to return! Â Glad its near our condo!
Review Source:This place is awesome. Â But first let me specify I had 2 different experiences in the course of the evening. Â The first was a 1 star experience, then came the 5 stars.
----------------
Let's start with the bad.
Date night. Â Wednesday.
I got dolled up to have a great night on the town. Â First stop was dinner at this lovely place I've been meaning to try since I moved here. Â Reservation was honored and we were seated immediately.
Our server came across a little gruff. Â A smoker I'm assuming as he coughed into is hand 8, yes I counted, 8 times. Â He asked if we preferred still or sparkling bottled water. Â I don't know about you but I came here to drink wine- tap would be fine (and I can smell an upsell a mile away). Â We could not remember his name, but he looks, and acts like Kramer from Seinfeld. Â True story. Â
I went to choose the wine and told him "the stag's leap cab". Â I said it three times. Â He didn't understand. Â I then opened the wine list to show him which one I wanted and he said 'oh you should get THAT bottle (points to other table) we only have 1 left and its our feature tonight.' Â Well considering I chose my bottle already and you havent told me what is in THAT bottle over there I'll get what I want, kthnx.
Considering how *I* chose the wine and not my date you would think I would be the one to taste it once opened, not the case. Â I was poured second. Â My date had to slide the glass over to me for me to taste it. Â Kramer looked baffled. Â
We inquired about specials and he told us at great detail about 5-6 items on the menu. Â I was very impressed with his knowledge of the menu- Â It was extensive. Â So kudos there. Â Too bad he didn't hear me when I said I'm allergic to seafood and kept telling us how lovely the salmon was and about the flash fried lobster. Â Sounds great, but deadly.
Then the bread! Â I'm not eating bread, I'm trying to stay as GF (gluten free) as possible these days so I pushed my plate away. Â Kramer came back with more bread, loaded up my other side plate, then loaded up my date's plate. Â Then realized we had about 11 pieces of bread on the table put some of the bread back in the basket. Â WTH?! Â Gross.
When the salad came out Kramer cleared my date's plate (with food still on it) to make room. Â ARE YOU KIDDING? Â He asked if I wanted fresh pepper on my salad and I said no, he then asked 'are you sure?' Â YES IM EFFING SURE.
(the table next to us informed us that he also ordered them a salad that they didn't want. Â talk about running up the bill.)
Finally the last straw, my date had ordered the duck with mashed and green beans. Â Guess what came out- duck with sweet potato mash and corn cut off the cob. Â Kramer says, in a very weird way "I took the liberty of changing your order. Â You will not be disappointed. Â Look at that corn, you can see how it was just cut off the cob for you! Â This is from me to you, no charge, no charge at all." Â Damn right no charge, cause its not what we ordered. Â Did he think he as doing us a favor? Â Its not what we ordered. Â
I had enough, I calmly got up and asked to speak to the manager.
----
NOW THE *****5***** star review
After we were seated in a different area of the restaurant (promptly) and got a new sever I was able to enjoy my meal, and this fine fine wine that is Stag's Leap. Â YUM. Â I had the petite filet. Â I was never asked how I wanted it by Kramer over there, but it came out medium rare and thats fine. Â The mashed potatoes were BANGING! Â I loved every morsel of them. Â I also had a side of the spinach which was a little greasy, but overall flavorful. Â My date seemed to like his duck. Â He sent the plate back to get the mashed potatoes and green beans (like he had ordered) then all was well again. Â
Our new server was super polite, kind, and had a great sense of humor. Â He also was able to recall every item on the dessert menu with no hesitation. Â I couldn't keep up! Â I had to see it written to make a good decision. Â I was so torn, the banana creme pie sounded so good...but..
We had the flourless chocolate cake with espresso mousse on a bed of raspberry sauce. Â It was great, and memorable. Â I usually don't get dessert in most places but I was happy we did here. Â I paired dessert with a glass of frangelico on the rocks- and called it a night.
This place has SUPERB customer service, and the best food I've had on the Emerald Coast since I have moved here. Â I really do look forward to coming back. Â Hopefully I'll never have Kramer as my waiter again. Â ;) Â SUPER SHOUT OUT to the manager who made everything kosher again. Â Thank you so much for being awesome. Â
yea 5 stars. Â Definitely.
I want to give this place 3.5 stars but for good form I am giving 4... 4th time is a charm... The food was really good, I was sent out a morel mushroom stuffed with Yukon gold potatoes, sun dried tomato it was hearty and though the warmth of august didn't stop me from eating this and wanting more. The bar is packed out night in and night out, our serve Casey was very knowledgeable and took great care of us. Other dishes that night included white asparagus soup, pork belly, Calder salad, and pompano. Will be back.
Review Source:Half priced appetizers and martinis till 9pm. Cougars Den. All the divorced over the hill milfs you could ask for. The food is great and the bar area has lots of tvs for the sports fanatics. Bottom line. Pick up a hot mom watch some march madness take a few drinks. Off the Meat Rack!.....I'll Be BACK! Terminator style.
Review Source:Great news - as the previous Yelper had mentioned, Cuvee Beach had steadily gone down hill. Now it is back - a new owner, a new name, and a new menu.
You'll find that Cuvee Beach has gone away, and it has been redesigned as Cuvee Bistro, headed by the Gulf Coast's own celebrity chef Tim Creehan.
Chef Tim was actually working in the restaurant the night we went, along with has partners. My biggest concern was the dress code - but I called first, and was told that it is "very casual" with shorts being acceptable for the dining room. While the restaurant does have an excellent atmosphere, it is not pretentious - gracious & southern as you would expect from Chef Creehan.
This is an absolutely terrific new menu! Amazing food, and our service was tremendous. Our server, Drew, absolutely outdid himself - he was knowledgeable, friendly, and chatted with us throughout dinner.
If you haven't been by yet, be sure to stop by to support Chef Creehan!
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