Miami at New Year

for some reason I never published this post when I wrote it a year ago ….hoping that none of the restaurants have gone out of date here it is ….. re-reading it makes me want to go back to Miami on this cold February morning in London!

 

Over the years we have visited Miami several times, and every time we visit we find something new and always have a sense that it is a city that is constantly evolving and changing.  It is a multicultural city and it makes a virtue of its multi ethnicity and cultural heritage past and present and future.

It is a city bursting with street art as this mural below demonstrates.  It can be found in the Design District.

We had a great day exploring all the trendy shops in the Design District and stopped off for lunch at BVB Bistro & Deli which is a French style cafe and deli.  The majority of the serving staff appear to be French and are extremely charming and helpful with the menu.  Ironically for a French cafe we shared a Greek Salad which was served with  delicious french bread and excellent coffee.  Inside is a cabinet with an array of tempting small french pastries and treats.

Later that day we went to Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink this was in the heart of a trendy mall and despite it being surrounded by swanky shops the restaurant itself felt incredibly relax and very family style atmosphere.  There were lots of children there and the waiting staff were excellent at keeping the little ones entertained and feed and making sure the adults had plenty of amazing appetizers and excellent wine list.  We had falafel and pickled onions followed by wood roasted aubergines chickpeas and preserved lemon.  The pita bread was particularly good and very fluffy.  For mains we had octopus that was wood roasted and had a sticky chili sauce and crema and fenal and pecorino salad.  Excellent selection of wines by the glass.  There was lovely jazz music in the background which meant we stayed much longer than we had intended to and it was a good vibe.

 

Next day we went to the Wynwood and started the day at Panther Coffee.  This is a locally run coffee store that roasts its own coffee beans in small batches.  The coffee shop reminded me of places in Shoreditch in London or Meat packers in NY.  It had very dark interior with lots of grungy music but exterior it had plenty of space to sit and watch the world go by and eat their delicious Danish pastries.  From the coffee store we wondered around the area and checked out the amazing street art such as this

For lunch we went taco and went to Coyo it had the longest queue so we thought that it must be the best place to eat in the area.  It was great.  You could choose 2 tacos and you place the order at the bar and then take a number and find a spot to sit down.  We ordered 4 by mistake and this was plenty! Fresh flavours included quinoa and coriander and chilli grilled fish and avocado and chilli.  Very busy atmosphere and tacos come out in metal trays.

 

In South Beach itself we went to Beach Craft which is chef’s Tom Colicchio latest offering.  It is set inside the rather glitzy One Hotel (rather liked the hotel bar which was full of artificial trees lit up with twinkle fairy lights).  Colicchio prides himself on using only organic and as far as possible local ingredients.  The meal itself was very vegetable focussed and we started with rocket, perrino and pear and pumpkin seeds and squash marinated in walnut oil and pumkin seed oil.  octopus blacken with apple match sticks coriander celery leaves and chilli.  2 flat breads with green goddess with kale pine nuts and ricotta cheese on chargrilled flat bread like a pizza easily enough as an entrée so delicious very attentive service not sure they know about the food though as when questioning the waiters they seemed a bit lost.  Saving the best for last was the Meyer lemon tart on a deconstructed shortbread biscuit and olive oil gelato and italian meringue blobs on the side.

Three Fold Cafe  is a great Australian owned cafe in Coral Gables.  The only day it rained on our trip and we ended up reading the New York Times for 3 hours in this cafe, we progressed from breakfast with more panther coffee to more coffee and then finally lunch.  Highlights were the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon with dill and onions.  Really good service and very friendly.

 

Another good all day breakfast and coffee place is Dirt which again sources food locally and organically.  It is set up a like a fast food place with counter service and then taking a number to a table.  Again the bread was by Zak the baker who is the baker in Miami.  This link to info on

Zak the Baker

 

On our very last night in Miami we went to Fooq it has been described as one of the most romantic restaurants in Miami and I can understand why.  It is a gorgeous little restaurant and is candle light and has cushions scattered around to sit on.  It serves a mixture of French and Persian food.  The flavours are delicious I had a starter of soft goats cheese and walnuts and apples all very fresh and small portions which is great for America,  There I had a mix of vegetables flavoured with Za’tar on a bed of rice that was all crispy and soaked up the juices of the vegetables perfectly.  The waiters were very knowledgeable about the food and very tempting in their descriptions of the food.  Would highly recommend and I will certainly return,

Overall Miami from a foodie perspective really surprised me, it was packed with small boutique restaurants and cafes all trying to cook organically and seasonally and locally.  If you get away from the central stripe and the glitz of South Beach and go to the neighbour hoods you will find a great foodie scene.