Exit 1

• Cuisine(s): American
  Hours: Dinner Tuesday through Sunday 5 to 11 p.m.
  Price: $$$ $$$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards, cash
• Attire: Elegant
  Features: Private Party
  Serving: Dinner, Late Night
  Alcohol: Full bar
• Reservations: Accepted
  Parking: Free, Lot Available, Lot Available

Description

At Exit 1 in Key Biscayne, too many blunders overshadow a rising chef's true potential. That rising chef is Bradley Kilgore, the toque who co-owns the eatery along with his wife, Soraya, and Jeremy and Paola Goldberg. Given Kilgore's impressive resumé -- which includes a stint as senior sous-chef at Azul inside the Mandarin Oriental, an appearance on Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods America, and time at Alinea under Grant Achatz and L20 under Laurent Gras -- it is difficult to understand the restaurant's many failings. At the secluded seaside spot, windows are dusty, plates are dirty, and the cuisine is rife with flaws. There are exceptions, such as the heirloom red and candy-striped beet salad -- with piped dollops of velvety pistachio anglaise, ethereal black sesame powder, and a perfectly astringent anise vinaigrette -- as well as a skin-on local snapper fillet, arranged artfully atop a creamy golden Romesco sauce. Those are the dishes that show Kilgore's true potential. Otherwise, there are few reasons to return to dine at Exit 1. Let's hope the Goldberg-Kilgore team starts running a tighter ship. They can do much better than serving smeared platters in a dusty country-club setting.