Tag Archives: review

1826 is a gift to Miami

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For whatever reason Chef Danny Grant decided to open a restaurant in Miami (Lebron, le ladies etc) I am thankful. His 1826 restaurant in South Beach is a show stopper. I would usually share pics of what I ate but the flash was so obnoxious I figured I could explain with my words.

FOOD

Sensational. Each dish was a surprise of flavor and had us asking “What the hell was in that?” From the bread to the dessert, there was no detail overlooked. The burrata dish is a must and was so divine I’m going to try to recreate it – anyone got a dehydrator I can borrow? My husband had the lamb shank which was cooked to perfection and nestled in a soft lovely sauce that had subtleties of cardamom and other spices. I got the seafood stew in which the waiter poured the hot creamy broth over the mix of fish, shrimp and vidalia onions so the wafts of curry could slap me right in the face. Nicely done.

SPACE

Lovely design. Beautiful wine cellar. You can also select your beer/wine/cocktail off of a convenient and informative iPad. There is also a third floor that has a lounge but we’re saving that rendevous for a weekend evening.

STAFF

Attentive. Knowledgeable. Unpretentious. My fav.

 

Hopefully, this gift from Grant will be appreciated by the Miami critics and continue as a South Beach treasure.

 

http://www.1826collins.com/

 

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Restauraudit: Edge Steak & Bar

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Luck struck me last week when The Hungry Post selected me as a winner for their Miami Spice giveaway. They had been running the contest for a few weeks with several different restaurants via their Facebook page. I was holding off on entering until they announced they’d be giving away a dinner at Edge Steak & Bar at the Four Seasons hotel. I’d heard amazing things about this restaurant and they didn’t disappoint. Here are some of the dishes we had.

Lamb braised with chipotle and spices, whole grain salad, fragrant herbs, yoghurt

Lamb braised with chipotle and spices, whole grain salad, fragrant herbs, yoghurt

Creekstone farms butchers filet, fire roasted broccolini, pepperoncini and raisin salsa, sweet onion butter

Creekstone farms butchers filet, fire roasted broccolini, pepperoncini and raisin salsa, sweet onion butter

Black cherry bubble, pistachio pound cake, vanilla bean ice cream

Black cherry bubble, pistachio pound cake, vanilla bean ice cream

Peanut butter mousse, strawberry gelee, banana financier

Peanut butter mousse, strawberry gelee, banana financier

You’ll notice that the lamb looked and smelled so incredible that I had to sneak a bite before I took the photo. We had a great evening and thank you again to the Hungry Post!

Restaraudit: Lucali

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Miami’s has had some nice little New York additions in recent years. Catch. Shake Shack. Mercadito. Serendipity. Il Mulino. Mr. Chow. Cipriani. (Just to name a few) The most recent being Lucali, a classy pizza joint from Brooklyn. I went recently with my hubs and here’s what we had to say.

1. Pizza – Sumptuous cheese lightly layered on their chewy crust. The only downfall was the crust/topping ratio – as you can see in the photo some edges were just much too wide.

2. Ambience – So Brooklyn.

3. Price – You might feel a little bad about how much you pay for this pizza. The place is cool, the service is great and the food is good, but my heart ached a bit when I got the bill. It’s pizza, not wrinkle reducing pizza.

Lucali - Pepperoni Halfsies

Lucali – Pepperoni Halfsies

Restauraudit: M.E.A.T

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Traveling to or from Big Pine Key is a 3 hour car ride so me and my beau always make a point to break it up with a great lunch. I’ve made it my goal to try every well rated place in the upper Keys. We more often than not end up at a seafood place but in this instance we were craving something meaty. And then we found M.E.A.T Eatery and Taproom. It’s a cozy quick service restaurant that offers savory and creative burgers which a great selection of beer.

I had the standard burger which was salty and delicious, the bun was also airy and flavorful. I was pleasantly surprised by the homemade ketchup. Generally I don’t like homemade ketchups but this spicy mango version was great for dipping the duck fat fries. – YUM!

photo

Restauraudit: Wok Town

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Decided to try Wok Town, a noodle bar near Lincoln road, after a movie the other night. Service is quick and the food is served hot. Good flavors but nothing to write home about. They do deliver so I may be hitting them up again, the salads looked quite appetizing so next time I’ll likely try one of those. My husband and I ordered the following:

Chicken lettuce wraps – a little different from what I was expecting, it was more of a ground meat concoction

Crispy brussels sprouts – these were very fried so much so that they weren’t green anymore. quite tasty but I wouldn’t call this a healthy side

Gyoza – we ordered the steam pork gyoza, lacked some flavor in the meat filling

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