Miami By The Mouthful
Cubano from Enriqueta’s Sandwich Shop
Miami, FL – Beware of staff members asking questions. That is, unless you’re ready to open up your wallet. This was the lesson my family and I learned the hard way after a frustrating, weeklong stay at the gloriously refurbished Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel. The 60 year-old landmark underwent a $1 billion renovation a few years ago, single-handedly injecting new life into the Mid Beach area. In the 1950s, the Rat Pack made it a winter retreat; in the 60s, James Bond duped Goldfinger here by the pool. But over the course of our winter break, it was clear you needed to either be a Russian oligarch, a New York City hedge fund manager or Auric Goldfinger himself to keep up with the dizzying array of fees and extras. Need a beach umbrella? That’ll be $35. How about a steam in the locker room? ($35). Want access to the pool chairs or the gym? ($19.95/day); need a rollaway bed? ($45/day). I can see why 007’s nemesis had his manservant Oddjob tag along. No one’s going to argue with him about leaving a $25 deposit for an umbrella.
On a weekend night, the main lobby pulses like a Vegas casino, with 20 and 30-somethings ready to drop serious coin for entrance to LIV, the in-house nightclub where David Guetta was DJ’ing one night. Meanwhile, a handful of high-end imports are ready to take your credit cards: London’s Hakkasan (average, outrageously expensive Chinese served amid techno music, child strollers and Sippy cups), New York’s Gotham (steak) and Scarpetta (Italian), as well as their latest addition, Michael Mina 74, featuring large, clubby booths and a seafood cart that gouged me $116 for two crab claws and a pair of jumbo prawns. Fortunately, there are plenty of other great places to eat in Miami these days.
Not that you have to be a celebrity chef to attract attention. Local girl Michelle Bernstein is still drawing crowds to her namesake, Michy’s, just north of downtown, while New York City’s Andrew Carmellini – who oversees NYC’s Locanda Verde, Lafayette and The Dutch – has installed a Miami version of the latter at the W Hotel at 22nd and Collins, with a classic American menu full of fresh seafood, aged steaks and insanely delicious pork chops. Über-Spaniard José Andrés also opened a Bazaar here, in the SLS Hotel just a few blocks south on Collins, where his Spanish-influenced modernist cuisine reigns like a matador at high noon.
One benefit of staying at the Fee-tainebleau at 44th & Collins, is its proximity to the 41st Street causeway that shoots across the Intracoastal Waterway over to the Design District and the Wynwood area. For the price of a side of Chinese broccoli at Hakkasan ($18) our cab driver delivered us to a sea of relative calm, culture and killer coffee.
Start with lunch at Enriqueta’s. This locals-only joint makes outstanding Cuban sandwiches, jammed with slices of ham and roasted pork, layered with bright yellow mustard and tart pickles, then pressed and heated like a panini. Get a batido (shake) made with the tropical fruit mamey, and grab a guava-and-cheese-filled empanada for the road.
Stroll down to 2nd Avenue, through the heart of the Wynwood Gallery District, and admire the fascinating assortment of graffiti art, while checking out some of the galleries along the way. Artists literally compete for the largest “canvas” they can find; every building is covered in brightly-painted murals. During the Art Basel Show in the late fall, the galleries buzz with constant activity. Stop at Panther Coffee for a bracing cold brew, or just an artful latte. The owner is a Portland, Oregon transplant who worked for the cultish Stumptown Coffee Roaster there, before planting his flag with his wife here. Nearly every restaurant of note in the city carries their small-batch roasted coffee.
For dinner, head to the Design District. Tucked among the Jonathan Adlers and Pradas, chef Michael Schwartz’s empire offers a trio of options. There’s Harry’s Pizzeria for wood-fired pies and great microbrews; a few blocks away, the Cypress Room, with its white tablecloth American cookery elevating farm produce to new heights, and just up the street, Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink – a fun and sophisticated restaurant cooking simply delicious food, ranging from snacks of mustardy deviled eggs and pucks of sweet-and-spicy pork belly parked next to a small mound of bracing kimchi, to homemade pastas and whole-roasted fish and chicken. Be sure to save room for Hedy Goldsmith’s crave-worthy desserts, including a cookie plate I’m still thinking about.
Barely a mile north of Michael’s, The Federal sits in a non-descript strip mall, wedged between a Baskin Robbins and a sushi joint. Inside, the décor ranges from old license plates and wash basins, to a giant, horizontal mirror surrounded by hunks of wood. It’s cozy and comfortable, and on a Friday night, 100% local. The food could best be described as American comfort with a twist. Like much of Miami, the husband-wife team is its own delicious mash-up of Columbian, Vietnamese and German. Deviled eggs are crowned by pulled pork and pickled serrano chilies; crawfish tails swim in a creamy pool of grits while a slab of seared foie gras rests atop eggy brioche and bruléed bananas, drizzled in caramel sauce for what becomes either a sweet appetizer or a savory dessert, flambéed at your table. My 13 year-old son took it upon himself to commandeer the steak tartar. I don’t blame him. The Mason jar arrived stuffed with seasoned, raw beef, briny capers, crispy shallots and a quail egg, but it was seasoned with slow-smoldering mesquite smoke that escaped as soon as you opened the jar; utterly delicious.
In South Beach proper, tourists have been flocking to Joe’s Stone Crab for decades. But a new guard is taking up residence here, featuring bolder flavors than Joe’s hashbrowns and coleslaw. Tongue & Cheek takes a nose-to-tail approach but still offers something for your picky aunt, while just a few blocks south, Sam Gorenstein is passionate about raw fish.
“I just became obsessed with ceviche,” he told me outside of his 240 square foot take-out joint, My Ceviche. Located next to a youth hostel, in a cramped space that doesn’t allow for a refrigerator or freezer, Gorenstein relies on whatever his fish guy brings him each day. Best bet? Order a few ceviches and take them down to South Pointe Park for an impromptu picnic. Your choice of seafood is cut to-order, then bathed in a fresh citrus bath (which literally cooks the fish) and tossed with thin, red onions, large wedges of cooked, soft sweet potato and tiny discs of yellow corn-on-the-cob.
South Beach’s Lincoln Road has its share of overrated tourist traps, as carnival barkers beckon with their plates of linguine and strip steak. But detour a half-block off the main drag and step into a den of Northern Thai comfort food at Khong River House. Owned by the same group that has Yardbird a few blocks away (amazing fried chicken and biscuits), Khong serves a fiery, crunchy som tom (papaya salad) I would be proud to share with my friends from Bangkok, plus Northern Thai specialties like funky fermented sausage and comforting Chiang Mai-style curry with noodles. Authentic, ethnic food embedded here among the German, French, Brazilian and Italian tourists? Welcome to the new Miami Beach.
The Federal
(affordable wines, creative food with little pretense; a fun night out)
5132 Biscayne Blvd.
305-758-9559
http://www.thefederalmiami.com
Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink
(consistently delicious lunch or dinner in the Design District)
130 NE 40th St.
305-573-5550
Khong River House
(surprisingly authentic Thai flavor combinations in the heart of tourist-mecca Lincoln Road)
1661 Meridian Ave.
305-763-8147
My Ceviche
(to-go only, but you can dine at one of the tables in the adjacent youth hostel)
235 Washington Ave.
305-397-8710
The Dutch
(Andrew Carmellini’s creative take on American classics)
2201 Collins Ave. (at the W Hotel)
305-938-3111
The Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel
(overpriced, fee-driven landmark in gentrifying Mid Beach; avoid restaurants)
4441 Collins Ave.
(305) 538-2000
Michy’s
(local celeb chef Michelle Bernstein’s lone restaurant, north of the Design District)
6927 Biscayne Blvd.
305-759-2001
Pubbelly
(Visited on a previous trip; this local company cooks delicious mashups of Puerto Rican, Korean and Japanese in an exposed brick loft-like room)
1418 20th St.
305-532-7555
Yardbird
(Again, surprisingly authentic and delicious Southern classics like pimento cheese and fried chicken in a well-worn tourist section of South Beach; same owners as Khong River House)
1600 Lennox Ave.
305-538-5220
Tongue & Cheek
(A little something for everyone, from tourists to serious foodies; great cocktails)
431 Washington Ave.
305-704-2900
Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS Hotel
(over-the-top presentation in an over-the-top room; high-concept and high prices)
1701 Collins
305-674-1701
http://www.thebazaar.com/south-beach-the-bazaar
Enriqueta’s Sandwich Shop
(sit among city workers and locals in a casual café where it’s nearly impossible to spend more than $10 or $15 per person)
2830 NE 2nd Ave.
305-573-4681
El Palacio De Los Jugos (there are several locations; this is the original)
(It’s just south of Miami airport, so if you don’t have a car, you might want to visit just before or after your flight. It’s one of my all-time favorite Cuban restaurants)
5721 W. Flagler
305-262-0070
Versailles
(this is the legendary Little Havana restaurant; a Cuban landmark)
3555 SW 8th St.
305-444-0240
