Friends recommended that we try Cuvee Beach as they had recently had a great dining experience a few weeks ago. I read the past reviews and was skeptical but went anyway. Yes, there is a new chef and the food is wonderful! Not your run of the mill touristy fried seafood kind of place. The dishes were beautifully prepared and presented. My wife had the seared snapper and I had the grouper. The Caesar salad starter with Romaine and shaved parmigiana was on the money. Actually, we were so impressed that we went again last night and had their individual pizzas. Best pizza since I left NJ. Tried other restaurants during the week but this is definitely the best.

I would have to agree with the review below this. I had a similar experience. However, we were pleasantly surprised with our meal. The service and food was excellent. I must say we were coming off two terrible experiences in Baytowne. For a restaurant in transition they pulled off an excellent dinner service.
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We dined before 6:30 and received our entrees at half price. This also helped with our enjoyment. The cost of the meal was so much less than at the Marlin and another restaurant in Baytowne, but head over heals better in every way.
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I'm a tourist to Destin so I don't have much to compare this restaurant with. However, I will definitely be back to see how things sort out with the new chef.

Our recent dining experience at Cuvee Beach started with the waiter informing us that the restaurant had new ownership and a new chef from Napa Valley was coming in three days. We laughed and said we should come back in four days. Instead we stayed and were very disappointed. I discretly told the manager that 7 months ago we had really enjoyed our dining experience but we were very disapointed with the quality and preparation of food we were just served. I also told him the food was not up to the standards of the better restaurants in the Destin area. He graciously took 25% off our check. I would recommend waiting until the new chef has had time to turn the restaurant around and local critics have had time to sample the new menu.

Our first mistake was trying to eat at a restaurant in Destin on July 3rd (night before the holiday). Every place was packed. We chose Cuvee Beach because we drove by it and didn't see people standing outside (like Pompano Joe's, where we tried to go). It started out great. Nice atmosphere, friendly bartender, good drinks. Seems like a place well-dressed locals may go. We only had to wait 15 minutes for a table, but that was soon changed to a 30 minute wait. Then, because the kitchen was 'backed up' according to our waitress, Lindsay, we waited forever for our food to arrive. It must have been over an hour. She was apologetic and offered a free drink, but by that time, we had had enough and were just sleepy and ready to walk out. When our food arrived, 2 of our guests enjoyed theirs; however, mine was just o.k. at best. I had tuna (which was cold, not just in the center) and wasabi mashed potatoes which had too much wasabi :( My mother had the shrimp and scallops which she thought were great.
The meal, which was not the greatest, ended up with a $200 bill for the four of us, and we didn't even have any wine. I will try elsewhere next time.