An Insider’s 30-A

Criolla’s owner and executive chef reflects on some of his favorite restaurants along this scenic beachside road.

by Shawn Ryan
photography by Karim Shamsi-Basha and Courtland William Richards

When Johnny Earles opened Criolla’s seventeen years ago in Grayton Beach, he couldn’t even get onions delivered to his restaurant. At the time, County Road 30-A—the road running parallel to the Gulf of Mexico through Santa Rosa Beach, Seaside, WaterColor, Blue Mountain Beach, and Seagrove—was considered the boonies of Northwest Florida’s coast. These communities were too far out for companies such as FedEx and UPS to offer their regular services. And you could forget next-day delivery.

“They just wouldn’t come out this far,” Earles says. “It was an uphill battle.”

Chefs learned early on that necessity dictated originality in their menus, and a reliance on fresh local ingredients became paramount. Their seclusion led to the development of a distinct culinary point of view. What makes the eateries along this stretch of roadway so special is the way the culture and character of the 30-A lifestyle shows in its coastal cuisine.

The area’s white beaches with dunes covered in sea oats are isolated without being isolationist. The arthritic limbs of its titi trees and live oaks offer the temperament of rural living. But 30-A equally embraces the white-tablecloth amenities expected by residents as well as vacationers. It is an experience that Earles loves to share.

After living in Louisiana and Montana, Earles moved to Florida in 1983 and helped open Paradise Café (a restaurant located in the building that now houses The Red Bar). Six years later, he started Criolla’s, wanting to blend the freshness of Gulf Coast seafood with the Creole-style cooking from his grandmother’s kitchen. Not a formally trained chef, Earles did his homework through experience. Since Criolla’s opened, he has earned recognition as one of the most highly regarded chefs in the country. And these days, FedEx and UPS bring onions at a moment’s notice.

Collard greens, grits, and cornbread are familiar on menus along 30-A, as are quail and venison when the weather cools, minty-sweet iced tea and tart lemonade when it’s steamy. But infused in the southern born-and-bred dishes and drinks are flavors from the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast.

“If you look at a map and draw a line from Miami up here, and then from New Orleans to here, you see we are at a crossroads between the cities,” Earles says. “That is depicted in the restaurants on 30-A. We pull from both regions.” But there is one absolute: the freshness of the seafood. “We’re a stone’s throw from the Gulf, so not using fresh fish is a cardinal sin,” he says.

Most of the restaurants on 30-A get their fish from local distributors. Earles mentions Harbor Docks—a distribution company in Destin owned by Charles Morgan, who also owns Harbor Docks restaurant—as one of his primary sources. Oysters from Apalachicola and scallops from Port St. Joe, both about a hundred miles to the southeast of 30-A, are a certainty on many menus. And they are more than remarkably fresh; these are considered among the best in the world.

Using grouper from the Gulf, Basmati’s—a low-lit, romantic restaurant where Earles goes to enjoy “a nice dinner and quiet conversation”—brings the philosophy of Asian fusion to its diners. Its most popular dish, Firecracker Grouper, is a fillet spiced up to a level not quite hot enough to burn, but enough to nicely warm your palette.

And fresh fish is a staple at yet another one of Earles’ hangouts, Seagrove Village Marketcafe. The fried grouper sandwich is a signature item on a menu that also includes hamburgers and other comfort foods such as po’boys or a great ham and cheese sandwich. And with its cultural blend of clientele, the Marketcafe is the “heartbeat” of 30-A, Earles says. “This is like the wireless Internet hub of the area— all the information passes through here,” he explains. “With all the growth around here, it’s nice to have places where you come back and reconnect.”

A pleasant reminder of the area’s rural roots, the front of the MarketCafe also serves as an old-fashioned grocery. There’s an adequate selection of convenience-store items, such as soft drinks, condiments, and bread. A small bathtub holds drink koozies, while an old produce cooler is filled with beach toys. Owner George Hartley offers a wide selection of beers and a decent batch of wines. He picks up one bottle of Australian wine named Big Ass Shiraz, featuring a wide-bottomed kangaroo on the label. “I bet you don’t sell this at your place,” he says to Earles with a laugh.

The rustic roots also are seen in the focus on fresh vegetables. Northwest Florida shares commonalities with lower Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, and the food reflects the ancestry. Many folks who frequent 30-A remember homemade vegetables steaming on their family dinner tables, and they expect no less when they go out to eat. For his produce, Earles calls on James Whitaker, an organic farmer in Northwest Florida who supplies him with “incredible beets and radishes,” a variety of greens, and items such as baby bok choy that lend new flavors to southern fare.

As the seasons change, so do the menus. Summer typically brings lighter dishes. For instance, the Smiling Fish Café in Santa Rosa Beach serves a number of casual salads with spinach and feta cheese, plus arugula and other assorted greens. “I’m amazed at their consistency,” Earles says. “They really care about what they’re doing.”

During the fall, warmer menus with spicy, flavorful dishes compensate for the chill in the air. Winter squash, pumpkins, and other autumnal fruits and vegetables are featured. At Criolla’s, Earles offers Pumpkin in a Pumpkin, a crème brûlée made from first-of-the-season pumpkin mixed with mint-melon sorbet and candied chestnuts. He also harvests the purple fruits from the tops of prickly pears and turns them into sorbets and sauces. Café Thirty-A brings the comfort-food wholesomeness of Country Meat Loaf with Smashed Red Bliss Potatoes, Baby Green Beans, and Pan Gravy—just one example of traditional southern food that has been updated by area chefs.

A hot, fresh breakfast is the goal when Earles goes to the BaitHouse. The New Orleans influence shines through in some of the restaurant’s morning treats, including its Pontchartrain Scramble—a zippy mixture of eggs, andouille sausage, crawfish tails, and peppers. For more traditional tastes, the restaurant also has biscuits and thick gravy that’s filled with chunks of sausage.

Back at Criolla’s, southern flavor is a regular on this menu too. Squash, greens, beef, and pecans are frequent guests in Earles’ kitchen. And he uses these fresh ingredients to create dishes that—while rooted in the region that made them famous—feature a refined twist on standard recipes. “I make collard greens that don’t have a bit of fatback in them. It’s just a matter of taking extra time and not cooking them to death,” Earles says. “I’ll throw in some whole roasted garlic cloves and some caramelized onion, then cook them in a little bit of chicken stock. They’re not your mama’s collard greens.”

No, they are Johnny Earles’ unique creation and a signature of Northwest Florida’s distinctive cuisine—part tradition, part individual inspiration, all 30-A.