Cafe Jardin

Sunlit and slightly fragile, Cafe Jardin sits behind a clipped hedge on East Coast Highway, a French-influenced bistro that insists on a flowering garden and delicate ambition. Plates carry classic names with coastal restraint: salmon cleaned of fuss, slow-braised short rib, a potato-leek soup served in a thimble of a cup. The house biscuits are worth the fanfare when they land right, flaky and butter-salty; they also take twenty minutes, so order them early. Service oscillates between solicitous and distracted, and a relaxed evening can stretch into a patience test if the kitchen is busy. Yet there are honest pleasures here, a strawberry tart that remembers acid and sugar, a late-afternoon table with light through the lemon trees. Bring patience. Order the biscuits first.