Gourmet
THE MAGAZINE OF GOOD LIVING
February, 1996
"TWO FOR THE ROAD"
by Jane and Michael Stern
Across from Cape Canaveral, Dixie Crossroads serves an improbable delicacy
(EXCERPTS)
"Once upon a time, rock shrimp were thought of as trash. If a Florida fisherman went trawling in the deep waters of the Atlantic for easy-to-peel white shrimp but he decked a thousand pounds of tough-hulled rock shrimp instead, he'd heave the hardheads back into the drink and curse his bad luck.
"Today, sitting at the tables of the Dixie Crossroads restaurant in Titusville, just across the river from the John F. Kennedy Space Center, seafood lovers are delighted when waitresses bring forth rock shrimp by the dozens — split apart for easy pickin' and broiled to pearly pinkness. The formerly worthless crustaceans have become one of Florida's most widely appreciated delicacies. They are available in good fish markets coast to coast and are a key ingredient in dishes offered by some of America's finest restaurants.
"There are none tastier that the ones served at Dixie Crossroads, where the recipe is simplicity itself. Order them by the pound — or get the all-you-can-eat deal — and request them with Old Bay Seasoning, Caribbean-style spices, garlic (scampi-style), no-salt, or plain. The shrimp arrive marshaled in rows, splayed open and in the shell like an army of tiny split rock lobster tails. Their size varies with the season, which starts in July and runs through March. When young, each one is scarcely more than an inch long — a bite size morsel. At the peak of the season, they are plumper than a crayfish and as sumptuous as prime beefsteak. A cocktail fork is provided to pull the meat from its hard, translucent shell. It comes away easily in one hefty piece. The buttery dunk served on the side seems like gilt for the lily, for there is hardly any seafood more inherently rich than these glistening creatures.
"A vast, multi-room restaurant has grown up around the original 50 seat seafood shack; and on weekend nights, a one- or two-hour wait for a table is not uncommon. (Reservations are accepted for parties of eight or more.) Outside, on a wooden deck under a tin-roofed gazebo, sits a gumball machine that, when fed quarters, disperses food pellets for the sea creatures thriving in a pond below the walkways. Our Fish Family, educational signs say, identifying the tilapia, mullet, drum and sheepshead that swim underneath. Despite the restaurant's proximity to the tourist attractions in Orlando, and the Kennedy Space Center, most customers who patiently wait their turn are local folks who consider Dixie Crossroads simply a good bargain, well worth the appetite-provoking delay. In addition to Floridians, the loyal clientele includes an regular contingent of astronauts' families from Houston who often come to eat shrimp while the space-shuttle crews are busy preparing for launches. Also among the expectant crowds are almost always a good handful of traveling foodies from out of state who know this restaurant as a compulsory stop on any eating tour of Atlantic Ocean hot spots.
"Success has not inspired delusions of grandeur. The Crossroads is still a casual, paper-napkin eatery with salad dressing that arrive in miniature plastic tubs and flimsy cardboard trays for the disposal of shells. We love the way the knotty pine walls are decorated — with lifelike effigies of various fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico, including an angry-looking sandbar shark, a bright pink red snapper, a cubera snapper, a silk snapper, a swordfish, and a grouper. Tables are easy-wipe varnished wood, and waitresses and busboys are lightning fast.
"Dixie Crossroads is famous for big portions; many satisfied customers take leftovers home. ... When pressed to label his cuisine, Thompson calls it "cracker cooking" and recalls that his education as a chef began when he was a boy in Titusville: He used to catch and slow-smoke local river fish to earn his "runaround money.""
Dixie Crossroads, Inc.
1475 Garden Street
Titusville, FL 32796
(321) 268-5000