A perfect evening in Ormond Beach

We love visiting Ormond Beach, a town just south of here. Last night, we had a chance to eat at the Grind Gastropub and Kona Tiki Bar. I’d highly recommend this place. Great food, live music, and outdoor vibe.

(Grind is tucked behind the historic Rose Villa restaurant, which I wrote about in a post, Absinthe, early auto racing, and John D. Rockefeller’s house, a while back. I also had a long digression on the history of auto racing and how it was the sport of wealthy industrialists, starting with their races on the sand at Ormond Beach. The Rose Villa has an incredible absinthe bar upstairs, and they go all-out with the ceremony of preparing and serving it. They are very pricey, but it is an interesting experience.)

Grind has one of the best (and wittiest) menus I have seen around here. From what we’ve tried, I’d say their wood-fired pizzas are the best of the best. Our daughter ordered their “Duke” pizza merely because that was the name of our beloved English Mastiff. This is supposed to be their equivalent of a Hawaiian pizza, but it is made with cappicola (my favorite!), pineapple, buffalo mozzarella, and basil. So good.

We also ordered their truffle-marinated portabello fries, which are breaded in Panko and served with a Gorgonzola-bacon fondue. Brilliant.

For dessert, Jameson bread pudding.

After dinner, we walked on the beach and Elise ended up playing soccer with a bunch of teenagers. They were very kind and made a point of passing her the ball a lot.

We were treated to the most magnificent sunset that gave the wet sand a tangerine glow for miles. Man, I love Florida.