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• Cobblestone Grill

Chef Kathy's Island style crab cakes at the Cobblestone Grill in Zionsville. (Steve Healey for The Star)

Creme brulee' at the Cobblestone Grill in Zionsville. (Steve Healey for The Star)

Half-pound burger with bacon at the Cobblestone Grill in Zionsville. (Steve Healey for The Star)

The Cobblestone Grill, a restaurant tucked along Zionsville's brick Main Street, turns out to be a study in contrasts. The name suggests a quaint eatery in tune with the tone of the town -- steaks, burgers, sandwiches and such, served in a cozy setting. And to a degree, that's what you'll find.

But thanks to the arrival of new executive chef Kathy Jones, an island-cooking aficionado and former co-owner/chef of Indy's Island Cafe, you'll find "Floribbean" fare mixed among the menu items, served by restaurant staff clad in breezy short-and-shirt ensembles.

Cobblestone's interior, however, lacks a tropical motif. Gold-painted brick walls and green carpet provide the stage for white-cloth-draped tables and burgundy-upholstered chairs. Discreet ceiling lights supplement the illumination from wall sconces, and landscape paintings (not of oceans or beaches) dot the walls, along with window/shutter accents. It's a setting, as one of our dining partners said, that would have been equally appropriate for an Italian-themed trattoria.

They'll take-a Jamaica

My husband, Pete, and I met our friends Jon and Tammy for a dinner and mini-reunion after a busy summer. The Floribbean options appealed to us, as we're still missing Bahama Breeze and its yummy Jamaican beef patties. Fortunately, Jones has her own version ($6.95 for a platter of four) on the appetizer menu, so we ordered two.

These patties were quite tasty indeed, with savory ground-beef filling in golden brown, lightly puffy pastry. Two dipping sauces -- one a sweet fruit base, the other a tangy mayo concoction -- accompanied the patties, but weren't necessary to enjoy them.

We split our orders between tropical fare and more homey entrees. I went traditional, choosing the sour cream chicken ($15.95), a generous-size breast in a thick sour cream and mushroom sauce. This is fine comfort food; as I speared forkfuls of tender chicken and rich sauce, I could imagine fixing a similar meal at home on a snowy winter evening. I selected rice as a side, a nicely prepared pilaf with definite rosemary overtones.

Tammy also went with a grill standard, the half-pound hamburger ($8.95), made with Boone County beef. She could choose two toppings from a list of several; Tammy went with white cheddar (which she likes but seldom sees on menus) and bacon. Lettuce, tomato, thin red-onion slices and pickles came standard as a garnish.

She ordered her burger medium-well but it was cooked clear through, perhaps slightly overdone for her taste. The thick bacon slices were well prepared ("not undercooked and floppy, not burnt to a crisp"). There's a choice of sides with sandwiches, a nice option for those tired of fries. Tammy praised her sour cream mashed potatoes' creamy flavor, thick texture and even seasoning.

Savories and sweets

Jon and Pete went island hopping with their selections. Pete's Cuban sandwich ($8.95) combined smoked ham, roast pork and cheese, grilled between slices of Cuban bread and dressed with red onions, pickles and mustard. Although not as large as others he's tried, it hit the right taste notes.

Jon, meanwhile, ordered the tempting-sounding strawberry jalapeño pork ($16.95), grilled medallions of meat topped by the recipe's namesake barbecue sauce. Fans of jalapeño heat might be disappointed, but other diners likely will delight in the sweet sauce, which tasted far more of berries than peppers. The pork itself was well-cooked and flavorful.

When the dessert menu appeared, Jon and Tammy went for sticky toffee pudding ($6.50). Cobblestone's has a base of spice cake, rather than the traditional fig, an interesting twist, Tammy said. Still, she added, "the taste was not different enough to lose the sense that it was still sticky toffee pudding."

Pete and I shared crème brûlée ($6.50). You just can't beat the combo of toasty-sugar crust and creamy sweet custard. The size here is small enough for a single diner, but sharing eases the calorie guilt.

A bit rushed

The 7-year-old Cobblestone Grill seems to maintain a loyal fan base; the restaurant was bustling on a Tuesday evening. Perhaps that was why our server rushed throughout our stay.

As I commented to Pete, "She seemed in a hurry and hoped that we would be, too." Or perhaps the Floribbean fare just had me in the mood for a more relaxed approach.

In any case, it's nice to see tropical choices on the menu, and the prices and portions are right.

-- By Julie Cope Saetre, INtake correspondent