Park Station, Winter Park

I had lunch at this American restaurant on Park Ave on Sunday. It replaces a French place that closed down about a year ago which replaced.... It is run by the people who ran the now shuttered Nopa. I didn't love Nopa. I thought it was a little unrefined for Winter Park and its own pretensions. Park Station is much more in tune with both of those. It looks sharp. They added a new bar backdrop (lighted and yellow) and either added or overlaid the bar/dining room divider with a nicely crafted, etched wood shell. They also added some chandeliers made of steel pipe, old fashioned light bulbs and framed photos of old coastal Florida. I would have hidden the tacky stucco facade on the far wall. It was an eyesore and poorly crafted when it was put in by previous ownership. I think it was an Italian theme then. The bar seats about ten. It had some boozy divorcees and couples watching football. The front dining area is mostly two seaters (a blessing for lonely guys like me and I think a smarter choice - you can always push two tables together but you can't pry them apart), There are about three on the bar side (a little crowded) and six on the other side of the "wall". The back has some four seaters and I believe the have some tables in the enclosed area out the back. They have around six tables outside as well. The tables and chairs are new and nice.  It was about half full at lunch. I was looking for another place, but, I forgot the name and I hid here when it started drizzling. The menu is about $5 too high on every item and the apps are all entree priced. I had ribs with truffle fries and a kale salad because that and the eggs benedict were the only things at normal price points. The ribs (5) were good. A tad dry. Probably on their third day. It's so weird, I'm getting better ribs at restaurants than at bbq places lately. They must have been rubbed in black pepper (a slow, back end burn) and maybe coriander. The sauce was heavy and sweet. Not bad. The fries thankfully avoided a wash in that chemical concotion they misrepresent as truffle oil. One area had a puddle of it and the rest were high and dry. The kale salad was more of a slaw and had little discernible kale. It was more cabbage. Some cute little guys that looked like brussel sprouts among the melange. Good. The meal cost $16.50. They jammed me for $3 on a soda. The menu (L and D) has flatbreads and breakfast stuff on the lunch menu. A burger is near $16. More substantial stuff at dinner. It gets up into the thirties. I looked at the menu at Bistro 310 down the street and they are a tad cheaper. A tad less enthralling too. And much less selection (alot of pasta). They kept their wine focus too. It's mainly a California-centric (ie $50 - $10 Cabs) selection, but, they show some diversity. Most wines by the glass are at the price the get at retail for the bottle and the bottles are around a 3X mark up. They offer up a small craft beer selection too. I didn't see any hard stuff. I wasn't expecting to try this place out (you sort of have to know it exists first), but, I'm not sad I did. I think it is a major improvement from Nopa, and if they can tinker with the pricing, it will be there for a while. It has been open for under a month (I think). Service was good.