Salt

To be blunt I was expecting much more from a 5 Diamond restaurant. The staff was ok, really really good in some ways but far from stellar. Special mention though to Salt’s Sommelier who knew his craft. Disappointingly Salt’s cellar is seriously lacking in premier Grand Crus vintages? This was a major let down. Management needs to reconsider the clientele and their cellar.
I am well traveled and versed in a variety of fine kitchens around the US and Europe, and yet found myself totally puzzled by what the chef de cuisine was presenting in the menu, particularly in the appetizer section. It felt overly pretentious, particularly after a lack luster presentation of the Carte des Vins.
On a semi positive note our waitress was able to explain the menu and we narrowed down our selection of foods. However, she did have to confirm with the kitchen several things (so not great, but at least she got answers). My wife told me after we left that there was a fairly obvious and large cobweb dangling not too far from our table… I’m glad she didn’t tell me during our meal.
The appetizers we ordered were truly phenomenal; both in their presentation, rich complex textures, and taste. Nicely done!
The Entrees were on the other hand frankly sub-​par. My wife and I had different cuts of beef, and both were so-​so, when I expected divine delights one often derives from a great cut of meat. The experience was a very far cry from what one may experience at any Ruth’s Chris around the country.
I won’t bother mentioning the lobster.
I don’t recall a cheese selection, which would be a nice touch to round off the wine, alas another miss.
Deserts. My wife had been dreaming and talking about the souffles for weeks, and they did not disappoint. The in-​house chocolates and mini french macarons were also note worthy.
My recommendation to potential customers, is to enjoy a cocktail, appetizers and/​or desert at Salt, but drive to Le Clos in town for dinner. Le Clos may not offer Salt’s view or grandiose seating, but its Chef de Cuisine, in my opinion, is far superior and offers overall a far better dinning experience at a much friendlier price point.

Last Sunday my wife and I enjoyed the Chef’s table experience as we celebrated my birthday.
WOW! Save up for this unforgetable experience. It is worth it.
Chef Mason and Food & Beverage Manager, Taylor Thompson and our waiter Ryan brought the perfect compliment to our fine dining experience.
We are coming back.

My boyfriend and I were staying at the Ritz hotel for a birthday celebration. After browsing the restaurants in the area we decided to make reservations on site at Salt. Wow, were we glad we did! This place was beautiful and the entire wait staff was very polite and accommodating. We expected no less from this hotel, but somehow we were still blown away at how each course was as delicious as the last. An A+ for the presentation, service, and flavor.

Ok I know a 2 star– but it really is overrated … I am from Washington, DC. Lots of high end restaurants and for all the hype– Salt very average– not bad– average– and definitely not worth the prices– best part is dessert — yummy– so
Go for a drink, the view and dessert-​then u won’t b disappointed

One word: OUTSTANDING. The food was amazing and the service was top notch. Matt was our server and exceptional. My husband had the potato wrapped tuna and sea bass and I had the chicken and brussel sprouts as a side. Every single dish was fabulous and uniquely prepared and presented. The potato wrapped tuna wa sushi grade and had octopus served with it, the sea bass was guaranteed max 18-​hours out of the water and flown in from Hawaii. We had the chocolate soufflé for desert… Wow. Wine list was great, service was exceptional. Not a single thing to criticize. The bill was steep and I would complain about that lots of places but it was worth every penny here.

One of the better meals hubby and I have ever enjoyed… and one of the priciest, too.
The Ritz Amelia Island is a lovely resort, and after valet parking our car, we wandered around a bit saddened that the hotel had been full on this trip and that we were just guests for dinner.
First let me share the locals of Amelia Island and Ferandina Beach won’t recommend Salt, they won’t recommend any non-​local establishment. They are very protective here about their local fisherman, particularly the remaining shrimp boats, and they’ll try everything to steer you to some of the admittedly delicious, wonderful restaurants on the island. I’m so glad we resisted those recommendations in this one instance.
We were greeted immediately and seated at our table with the perfect view overlooking the Atlantic. If the dinner had not been so wonderful, I would have dinged them one star because our large picture window was in need of repair with a little fog to it around the seal. But alas, you see a five star review.
The bread hostess brings out this basket with four fresh breads to choose from for the day… one had Guyere cheese in it (yum), and another was sourdough, a third was a more rustic with olives in it, and I don’t recall the fourth. All three that I sampled were yummy, fresh, and warm. (She comes back throughout your meal, no need to worry.
For an appetizer I chose a Prawn dish that was outstanding ($ 20), shrimp over grits seared with some deliciousness on top and tasty accompaniments, I wish I remembered better, but it was lovely. It was served to me brought out with a dome on top so that when presented, the steam and the aroma of the sear from the grill jumped out at you — wow. It’s going to be that kind of night, now we’re talking!
Hubby had a grilled romaine salad ($ 16) that he relayed was excellent, but didn’t have the showmanship of my shrimp and grits variation.
For an entrée I had a seared Sea Bass ($ 45) that was so lovely I took a photo. The mushrooms and other veggies were delicious served atop a purple potato purée, and it was delicious. The fish had been seared with some sort of cheese layer that was just yummy. Hubby had an excellent Filet ($ 47) that was so incredibly tender you didn’t really need the steak knife. He also added brussel sprouts ($ 12) and garlic potatoes ($ 12), the brussel sprouts were excellent, I have garlic issues so I didn’t try the potatoes.
I had a glass of the St. Michelle Chardonnay ($ 14) that was just sweet enough, and hubby had tea ($ 4,50), and then of course we ordered dessert.
The carrot cake soufflé ($ 14) was excellent, and served with pralines and a homemade cream cheese flavored ice cream and a warm pineapple rum sauce. Yum. Hubby had the dark chocolate soufflé ($ 14) that gathered very high reviews as well.
We were never bothered by any of the servers, attendants, or the wine steward, yet we were always perfectly taken care of, glasses never unattended, and the presentation every time with each course just made you want to clap a little and giggle.
Dinner before tip was $ 212, so this isn’t a cheap night out, but it’s a good one, for sure. Fantastic all the way around, you see how I can forgive the foggy window!

What a great experience! We were fortunate enough to experience the chef tasting. Every course was amazing especially the steak which is heated on a salt block. If you are in Amelia Island I definitely recommend eating here.

We stopped in the salt up on the recommendation of some friends and were very glad we did. Certainly D highlight of the restaurants in within the hotel complex and a place where there shouldn’t be making up some excellent food.
We started with bread with a number of different salts elections. There were four salts that were provided and all were very good. Having numerous different salt options where we were either able to order different ones, or if there were different sets of four that were available would have been a nice way to introduce diners to many of the offerings. Not a deal breaker, but something that could certainly make things interesting. The butternut squash soup was delicious and well worth trying.
The main course offerings highlighted «Earth and Sea» options. Our table focused on the land! Overall the chicken was lovely, the elk chop was excellent, but the highlight of the meal was the «Steak & Eggs» — Beef Tenderloin Served on a 250 Million Year Old Himalayan Salt Block– Read: steak seared on a hot salt block and served with two quail eggs in a tiny frying pan! The salt block was certainly a great conversation piece and I feel like it added a little bit to the flavor of the meat, though not a huge amount. The main offerings were all very good, however, I was left wishing that they had incorporated more of the salts into their cooking. It may be something that was done and simply wasn’t highlighted. Regardless, with all the focus that is given to the salts, it seemed like something that would be easy to incorporate and give customers a unique focus with the meal. All in all the food was good and safe. Excellently prepared, but didn’t blow me away. It seems by simply accentuating the things that they’re already doing well, it could be a place that people would come to, even if they didn’t vacation there.
For dessert, we shared three different souffles, and those were absolutely delicious! The dark chocolate, the Grand Marnier and Carrot cake. Very rich and served with some delicious ice cream, it was a great way to end a delicious meal. Note that the souffles take quite awhile to make, so our server had us ordered them at the same time as we ordered dinner. One of our party of members just had ice cream and it too was quite nice.
All things considered, this is an excellent restaurant that served up some very good food. It’s not the sort of place however that I would go out of my way to go had we not been staying there, and that was largely because they seemed to miss an opportunity to really put the different salts on display and have them play with different foods. Definitely worth checking out if you’re staying on the resort.

This place was phenomenal. We decided to come here for dinner while we were staying at the Ritz, and after my mom and I tried out the infused salts in the Salt shop in the hotel.
They started out the course with an amuse-​bouche of some duck confit. Didn’t quite get the full name but it was very balanced with flavor and texture. So delicious.
Then my dad and I split the halibut gnocchi. The halibut was so fresh, but surprisingly the gnocchi was the freshest I’ve ever had. I didn’t modify the dish and ask for no grapefruit, which I typically dislike, and I’m glad I didn’t. The tiny pieces of grapefruit went surprisingly well with the dish. I also enjoyed some of my brother’s creamed spinach side dish and my mom’s sautéed spinach side.
After that, we were given complimentary desserts: salted caramel, salted lavender macaron, and chocolate truffles. Each was also delicious.
We also ordered desserts. I’d highly recommend the chocolate soufflé and the caramel apple brioche pudding.
What a surreal experience this was. I honestly could not find anything to critique about the meal or service. We even got to try more infused salts than what was in the shop!

Fantastic restaurant, gourmet dining on the beach. We were visiting Amelia Island in December and this was probably the best of many good dining experiences on the island. First, although very professional it was also very open to our children, who loved their meal (they both ordered from the adult menu); my 13 year old son keeps talking about it.
I started with the foie gras, which was served with a buttermilk donut and coffee and beer ice cream. Interested mix of flavors and the foie gras was great.
For my main course, I went with the elk chop, which I really enjoyed. It was a very large chop, perfectly cooked medium rare, and not gamey (often the problem with elk).
The side vegetables were a true standout. I’m not a big veg guy but was very sad when my son finished the brussel sprouts. The braised kale also had a tremendous flavor that was hard to stop eating.
Nice, albeit gimmicky, touch is the multiple salts served with the meal and the fact they then package your favorite ones to take home. Again, gimmicky but I enjoyed this part also.
Finished, with a chocolate soufflé, which was perfect.
There is also a tasting menu that looked great but did not think the kids were up for it. Overall, a great meal.

One of the best dining experiences and cuisine you could ever wish for. If a special event ask for Taylor. They will take care of you!

Breakfast with a view.
Although breakfast was a stiff $ 26.00 for the southern buffet, the view and food more than made up for the cost. The chef prepared omlette was delicious and one of my favorite items ended up being the sticky buns at the end of the hot food island.
As always, the service is impeccable and the food delicious.

Salt deserves every one of those AAA diamonds. The relaxed, understated ambiance, the warm service, the phenomenal food. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to dine at such a superior establishment.
Salt is housed inside the Ritz Carlton Amelia Island. One entire length of the dining room is comprised of large windows that frame sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
They provide complimentary bread service accompanied by butter and 4 salts. I recommend trying the unsalted bread, it allows you to properly taste all the salts.
We ordered the following:
1. Tuna and Watermelon Tartar — light and fresh. Yumm!
2. Key West Pink Prawn — tender, smoky, flavorful
3. Beef Tenderloin and Maine Lobster — WOW. I have never had a more perfectly prepared tenderloin steak. I am a ribeye girl, but I would order that tenderloin again when I return.
4. Ribeye — my dining partner ordered the ribeye. It was underdone, the wait staff did not ask him to cut into it to confirm it was to his liking.
5. Carrot Cake Parfait — this was ok, nothing spectacular.
They gave me a small box of my favorite salt (it was a smoked salt) and 2 pieces of Norman Love chocolates & sea salt caramel.
Salt is an absolute treat and I would go back for a special occasion without question.

Amazing, amazing! I travel for work all over the world and top 3 restaurants I have ever eaten. A full dining experience!!! Staff, food, ambiance are perfection!!! Thank you

Salt exudes a fine dining experience, but while it strives to offer the perfect meal, it fell just short of attaining that due to a couple of minor points.
I truly hate to nit-​pick, but when your standard is that high (probably a goal of a Michelin star) and your prices match, I’m going to hold you to an equally high standard. I should also point out that this is another borderline call where I would add a half star if I could.
I’ll start with the good, which there is plenty of. The setting is spectacular. Grand wood-​paneled dining rooms look through large windows out on the ocean.
The staff is phenomenal. We wanted for nothing. Our waiter not only brought us everything and checked on us frequently, he was convivial and explained the unique aspects of eating at Salt — primarily, the salt of course.
The special salts are slightly gimmicky, but some of them are truly a treat for the taste buds. The Yakima is just awesome! It tastes and smells just like applewood smoked bacon! We brought back a box of it and cook with it frequently.
The steaks are definitely première. I had a NY strip and it was cooked to perfection and seasoned evenly which complimented a great cut of beef, but therein lies a problem. They give you a multitude of exotic salts to try and season your food with and the steak needed nothing. We ended up using it on our side dishes so we could enjoy the salts.
For the sides, we ordered the wild mushrooms and the mashed potatoes. The mushrooms were delicate and wonderful. They really seemed like they were picked from some protected glen or the like — lots of great natural, earthy taste. The potatoes, on the other hand, were the perfect vessel for the salts. They were completely plain. If we had not had the salt to season the potatoes, they would have been utterly disappointing for a restaurant of that caliber.
I do appreciate the effort to cook seasonally so they get points for that.
My girlfriend and I split a gran marnier soufflé. It was very, very good… but not great and not deserving of more positive criticism.
However! The candy brought at the end of the meal was fantastic. The sea salt caramels were melt-​in-​your-​mouth-​make-​you-​want-​another great. But the macarons… oh the macarons… They were the best I’ve ever eaten — bar none. They’re made fresh everyday in-​house. We raved about them to our waiter and he gave us a whole take-​out box full of them at the end of the night! That’s classy.
It was a difficult choice to not go with 5 stars for this great vacation restaurant, but it just missed barely on a couple of points that were enough to knock it out of that elite category. Still, check it out. The experience is worth the price tag.

Salt is incredible! The interior is great, staff is very friendly and knowledgeable and didn’t mind us taking our time to have a nice birthday evening! Food is incredible!
I made a Saturday evening reservation about a month in advance for my wife and I’s birthday getaway weekend. I let them know it was our birthdays so when we arrived we saw they had a specially printed menu for us (see pics) which was a nice little detail and offered us a glass of champagne which we gladly took.
Started off with the prawns with grits which were totally amazing. Every piece of it had incredible flavor and texture. Wouldn’t change a thing about it except ordering more of it!
For my main dish, I had the Steak and Eggs which sounds so plain but when you read the description you start to realize how awesome this is: Beef Tenderloin served on a 250 Million Year Old Himalayan Salt Block with quail eggs — This isn’t your average steak and eggs! This is the kind of thing Salt is known for! They cook the steak rare or med rare and then you finish cooking it to your liking on top of the hot salt block. So cool and soooooo delicious! Steak was so tender and flavorful. I also added the lobster tail (this is a birthday weekend! :)) which was also tasty.
For desert, we split the dark chocolate soufflé. It came in a tall mug-​like dish with cream to pour over top. So warm and soft! Personally, I liked the salted caramel ice cream it came with the best.
On top of all that they brought out a special birthday desert plate with a few more treats on it (see pics). The caramels were the best!
Overall, I would absolutely recommend Salt and I’d come back here any time I can.

Salt was an excellent experience for us, but didn’t quite hit a perfect meal. Overall, the food and quality were excellent, and service was great, but a 5 diamond restaurant really should have service that is perfect all around.
My husband and I celebrated our birthday’s here and our server, Ryan was great. He was nice to talk with, provided excellent recommendations, and was overall a genuine person.
To start, he brought champagne to help kick off our celebration meal. The champagne was good, and gave us time to check out the drink menu. I settled on a glass of wine while my husband had a cocktail.
We had the prawns to start and they were AMAZING. Flavorful and fresh — I wanted more. I had the golden title fish dish with the gnocchi. It was simply amazing and the flavors paired so well together. The quality of the fish was top notch. To finish, we ordered the chocolate soufflé, which was ok, but nothing memorable. Dinner was good, wine was good, service was good. The different salts were a nice touch and the décor was intimate and classy.
The reason for the star deduction was overall service. I’ve been to other 5 diamond restaurants, most recently Heron’s in Cary, NC. Heron’s was precise with every detail — timing of the dishes, picking up your napkin when you got up from the table for any reason, pushing in the chair, etc. I wish that caliber of service would have also happened here, but alas, it did not. I will recommend eating here though if you are looking for a great experience with an excellent meal.

I’m spoiled. Ok I admit it. My incredible fiancé surprised me with the Chef’s Table and it was the best dining experience of my life. From meeting the executive chef and having him prepair a custom menu before our eyes, to traveling through the kitchen and meeting each member of the culinary team. Every moment of the night was enchanting.
Our 7 course meal was accomplanied with perfect wine pairings for each course. Between courses, we visited each area of the kitchen to meet the chefs and learn about their roll in the kitchen. Everyone is so passionate about food here it makes your heart sing! The food is mind blowing but meeting all the people involved in producing the love on the plate was my favorite part of the experience.

Service was lousy and the dinner was over $ 300…
I made reservations for Salt several weeks before going. I emailed the restaurant manager (listed on their website) prior to my visit with dietary concerns for my husband since he suffers from Crohn’s. Needless to say, I never received a response from the manager. We arrived early and sat in the bar area. Our bar server was very friendly and fast. I had a delicious cocktail made with Domaine, Bourbon and lemon juice ($ 16, but it was good). We closed out and checked in for dinner around 10 minutes before our reservation…
We informed the staff that we were celebrating our anniversary, but we were given no special treatment for this. This wouldn’t be bad, except that we viewed other tables receiving special treatment for their anniversaries. Not sure why we weren’t ‘special’ enough to be treated the same… We had also requested a window seat when making reservations, but were sat at a table no where near the window. It then took our waitress more than ten minutes to come by. When she did, she was awkward and impolite. It was very strange service for a restaurant like this. We were dressed up and ready to have a good time and she really messed up the night with her awkward and off-​putting behaviour.
We both ordered the Chef’s Adventure and I did mine with the wine pairings. The waitress brought the pairings whenever she felt like it (not with the courses). The last wine came out nearly 10 minutes before our dessert showed up. After eating bread, our waitress brought the first course along with salts to sample. She told us we should sample the salts with bread… gee… would have been nice to have the salts when the bread came out then lady. ugh!!!
The food itself was incredible (minus the dessert which I’ll get to). The Chef’s Adventure started with an amuse-​bouche of nice corn/​crab chowder and was followed by our favorite, a salmon tartare. This was so amazing! My husband was given steak and eggs and I was given Ahi tuna and eggs which were tasty. We also had a lovely sea bass which was also quite tasty. The dessert however was a bland and unoriginal Bailey’s cake which was very disappointing.
The bill came to over $ 300. I wouldn’t have minded paying that if the service had matched the food, but I would never ever go back for dinner nor would I recommend anyone I know to attend after the down-​right awful serivce. Bad service can ruin your night, and you don’t need to pay someone a small fortune for that kind of experience.
If anything, I’d recommend getting a drink and an app in the bar and enjoying the place that way.

WOW! Just wow. My girlfriends and I dined here on a recent trip to Amelia Island. We made our reservations about a month in advance so I was very much looking forward to dining here and this restaurant definitely exceeded my expectations. It is easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had!
Without much debate, the girls and I decided to try the Chef’s Blind Adventure Tasting Menu. For $ 95, this is a four-​course meal to the chef’s discretion and each dish is a surprise. At the beginning, the server will ask for allergies or if there’s anything we absolutely would prefer not to eat. If you’re considering dining here, I personally think this option is the best bang for your buck. It’s cheaper than ordering that much food off the menu, and you get to truly experience the chef’s creativity. Every dish that arrives is a surprise and it makes for such a fun dining experience!
I will spare the details of describing every single dish I had since this menu constantly changes so I will just refer you to my pictures. However, I will say that our starter appetizer, the chilled lobster bisque with crab cake, was quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten… but everything else was also nothing short of extraordinary.
Of course, service is excellent.
Definitely worth the price for the experience of dining at this gem. What a treasure!!!