True fine dining allows well behaved children, but fine diners know better than to take their kids to a fine dining restaurant. The child might be lucky enough for the kitchen to prepare something like a gourmet grilled cheese, but there would never be a kid's menu. The kids would be expected to behave like proper adults.
Dinner jacket would be required for men, and ties heavily recommended. If ties are not worn, expect a small selection of ties to appear before the man makes it to the door of the dining room, with the suggestion, "perhaps you would feel more comfortable wearing one of these in our restaurant."
The only thing "special" in fine dining restaurants are the prices on holidays like Valentine's Day, and they are special in a way, much different than 2 for 1.
Table cloths are a must, but not always white, and not always linen. Glass tops covering table clothes so that the restaurant can save money on laundry are a no-no.
An extensive wine list is not a requirement, and can simply be too overwhelming to make customers feel comfortable. Higher end, quality wines are expected, and perhaps a few relatively moderate priced wines would be welcomed by many customers.
Ah, the food. Food is a requirement, not only great tasting, but also well presented and the servers should be knowledgeable enough that they can accurately recommend wines to balance any of the foods on the menu.
Service -- Fine dining is as much about the atmosphere and service as it is the actual food. Expect your napkin to be straightened when you leave your seat at any time. You should always be served replacement silverware before any dish is served which might require a utensil. You should never have to ask for anything. Instead, servers should expect your needs, and be prepared to ask. You would never hear, "You want me to get you some more water?"
Atmosphere - it varies, but the setting would be formal and you wouldn't see posters on the wall. Perhaps there would be softly played live music, such as classical guitar or piano.
Do we have fine dining in South Walton? I'm not sure that I would go that far, nor am I sure that there is enough demand for formal dining these days to actually keep the doors open on the restaurant. I've been to numerous fine dining restaurants at the most prominent country clubs in the south eastern USA, and can tell you that fine dining is a declining art, as diners are changing over to the more casual dining establishments which serve great food. We are more of a FaceBook world than we are a Piedmont Driving Club world and people in general are a little more relaxed as the generations turn. My favorite restaurant in the world, Segar's, formerly located on West Pace's Ferry, just down the street from the Governor's mansion in Atlanta, closed its doors several years ago. It was as good as it gets in the world of fine dining. Forget the Ritz, and forget the stuff private clubs. Segar's was owned and operated by a Master Chef, and the servers were with him from day one of opening. Imagine a restaurant where the servers never changed. There were two menus each night -- you either ordered dinner, or dinner with paired wines. Dinner was a seven course meal and if you wanted wine with dinner, you were served a paired wine with each course. There were no rules on refills, so as long as you had food on the plate, you had wine in the glass. Dining took two to three hours and was a treat you would forever remember. That was fine dining!
Fine dining patrons have been diminishing since the mid 1990's, and are difficult to find anywhere. Here at the beach, we mostly have upscale casual dining. Good examples would be Cafe 30A, Cafe Tango, Borago, Bud and Alley's, Calysa, and George's. A few restaurants in the area come to mind when I think of fine dining, though they don't feel as formal as what I think of as fine dining -- Pardis (Rosemary Beach), Seagar's (Sandestin Hilton), and Flemings (which is wierd to think since they are a chain). Chops 30A feels like it is trying to be a fine dining restaurant too, much like Flemings, but in my opinion, it is not. Out of all of the restaurants in our area, Paradis would probably be the closest to "fine dining," as I define it. However, Paradis doesn't feel formal and stuffy. It actually feels warm and cozy, yet refined.
