The Search For Something New

As soon as you enter Sonya’s at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, the tasty aroma of a full wood-burning grill grabs you by the nostrils and pulls you in. The dark-wood walls of the restaurant, which caters to guests and outside patrons, are adorned with black-and-white photographs of monster catches and fish tales from days gone by.

Since Sonya’s is the main restaurant of an oceanside resort, it’s to be expected that seafood is prominently featured on the menu, although there is prime rib and other assorted beef options as well. Chef Michael B. Rosen has a knack for scouring the seas to create unique dishes for both vacationers and locals. His goal is to offer you something that you might not have had before.

“We have staples that are constantly on the menu,” he says. “But everyday we try to add something local.” That “something local” could be sheepshead, margate or grey triggerfish hooked just offshore from the resort. Or farm-raised sturgeon or barramundi from aquaculture farms in Central Florida.

Located off A1A just south of the Wabasso Bridge, the Disney resort is literally surrounded by seafood. The hotel’s boardwalk leads to the sandy shores of the Atlantic Ocean, while its property on the west side of A1A is flanked by the Indian River Lagoon, one of North America’s most diverse estuaries that accounts for nearly $300 million in fisheries revenue.

Read the entire article in the February 2008 issue