You could try Mika. Relatively new, Michael white joint in the gables. Haven’t been but it might be good if you like Marea. Shingo another option if you like sushi. Enjoy the Fairchild.
Love Marea and its walking distance! I’ll take a look at Shingo too, thanks.
I’m not in town this weekend but for those who are, this sounds like a fun event
Couple of recent hits…
Fooq’s has fancy new digs, no longer staying up late near Corner Bar. The new site, near Sunny’s in Little River is very swanky and expensive. There’s a beautiful outdoor bar area and the inside is a theater to the kitchen action.
The menu feels like a mix of a typical modern US cuisine (tomahawks, whole bird, snapper, crudos) with Persian influence (Iranian noon, tadigh, pistachio, sumac, pommegranete accents). Everything was very good, somewhat expensive, but it felt a bit over engineered. More like a private equity guy built out the menu and the incessant upsells instead of chef. $75 corkage (we brough a beautifully aged Puffeney arbois that paired wonderfully with the bird), served Glasvins which were quite snazzy.
Walrus Rodeo still feels like a night of nostalgia. I can go every 9 months and not be bored because the menu is relatively static. Still love the oysters, the pizzas, the lasanga lamb. Food’s a bit heavy, but I’m also dainty. Brought a nice bottle of Jacquesson. $45 corkage is a bit more palatable.
Catch for a bank dinner. Ugh. Food is what you’d think it was (premium mediocre, the netflix of miami beach). Best dish was the branzino.
Mandolin for another bank dinner. Mandolin is always solid, buzzy, good atmosphere but for me has migrated into the lazy swag camp of restaurants that have enough momentum and hype where they can lay out the same playbook with no invention. Lamb kofteh is still tender and offset with nice cucumber yogurt, the wine list isn’t awful, and the branzino is more authentic than Catch. Peer to peer with other lazy swag joints like Contramar in CDMX.
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Hit up Ezio’s Steak House last night. First off love the location and the vibe in the dining room. It was Sunday so traffic was not bad, not sure how it is during the week or on Friday / Saturday. Chef Carlo was in the kitchen so I knew we were in for a great meal. I loved every thing about it. I am not really a steakhouse person; however, you can have a great meal here even if you don’t eat steak. If you do like steak they have a myriad of choices with many different ages. The aged lamb served with fresh mint and mint jelly was incredible. Overall an excellent addition to the Miami scene.
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Loved Recovoco. Would have went twice if the had a second fish entree.
Also enjoyed Zitz Sum.
Went to Mika twice as they were open on Sunday. First time outstanding (halibut), second time not as special but still good (sole).
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Aviv - Great venue for a work dinner. The large chicken dish was outstanding. The wine list is just ok.
Sunnys Steakhouse - As a NYer I did not think that Sunnys lived up to the hype on my first visit. It was good just not hype worthy. This vist was much better. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. And I like the wine list enjoyed a Stein Palmberg and Keller Von der Fels.
La Natual - Had an excellent meal. Burnt sweet potatoes, pasta and a burrata pie. Wish the wine list was more expansive. Sadly they have sold out of the riesling left over for my event. I enjoyed a Tschida Felsen I Blaufrankish.
A tail of two work lunches:
Setai on the Beach - Was looking forward to this. The $70 Dover sole was horribly over cooked and dry.
Carpaccio - Was not looking forward to this for no reason. It was surprisingly very good. I had to order the Dentice Pescatore was excellent. And the Bal Harbour lunch crowd was so fun to watch. Lots of very tan wrinkled people drink Veuve!
Have one more quick meal to fit in before heading to the airport! Stay tuned.
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Second meal at Ezios was even better than the first. Absolutely wonderful. Was never so happy mid meal when I got my 4th flight delay notification.
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Glad to hear that, I’ll be going there tonight.
Chef sent out sweetbreads both times and he is really excited about them. Not a big sweetbread fan but they were definitely great. He also is very excited about the Lamb dish. AND he sent this bacon out on my second visit.
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Work dinner at Elia, which is up the Miami River. Selected because we could take a co-workers boat and dock at the restaurant. Nice space, but the food was really subpar. Wine list underwhelming as well. Skip it.
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I’ll ask tonight, but I would bet that they are serving the heart sweetbread and not the regular throat sweetbread.
How was it??
Ezios or Recoveco? Deciding where to go for my birthday next month.
Short version: I like it, it’s a much need addition to the neighborhood and I’ll be back.
Long version: In my books, Italian and steakhouse are two terms that don’t go well together. As a steakhouse, Ezio’s managed to be good but not great, we had the 16oz bone-In rib steak and the sweetbread, the quality and the execution were on point, but I can do better at home.
What I really liked was the more elaborated side of the menu, the beef and lamb meatballs were really good, the linguine cacio e pepe with truffle too, and Japanese sweet potato amazing.
I’m eager to go back soon and try the lamb chops with mint jelly and any of the dry aged chops.
I really like the ambience too; given that it’s walking distance from my place, it felt like a really good place to walk-in and have a bite and a glass of wine at the bar as well.
And the last reason to go back: I didn’t check the wine list! My friend was in the mood for a dirty martini, so I just got a Rosso di Montalcino by the glass.
That all seems fair. I am not much of a Steak eater. It seems the descriptor Steakhouse is nowadays more of a “vibe” than a restaurant. Sunny’s is the same way to me. I am also not as into aged meats as some Chef friends.
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I think Recoveco for a smaller or two person dinner or Ezio’s for a large table. Very different food.
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Went to Recoveco this past weekend with my better half. The food was outstanding. Really great from apps to desserts. One particular highlight was the papaya salad, just mind blowing.
Wine list is just ok but $45 corkage is very fair for Miami. I will definitely be back.
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Dined out twice this week.
Michael’s genuine: still one of my favorites in the city. Consistently good, the menu is constantly changing, and a solid wine list. Had the red snapper which was delicious.
Le Jardinier: also another favorite of mine and always surprised that’s it’s such an easy reservation to get. Highlights were the shrimp bastion and the salmon. Good bang for your buck.
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Update from this past weeks dinners
To Be Determined - getting a ton of hype…but sometimes hype doesn’t translate to a must visit. My wife and I wanted to check it off the list and while some dishes (Crab cavatelli and Rock Shrimp tartare) were amazing others left much to be desired. Unfortunately as is the case with too many restaurants in Miami it was pricey and the portions were small. Wine list was meh but the $0 corkage was fair
Kojin - most here know I love Kojin and I am a regular, Chef Pedro just released a new menu and all I can say is WOW. Honestly for the value and quality when comparing to other Miami spots its hard to beat.
Cheers and have a great week
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