Forget the South Beach diet. The latest foodie destination in Miami is the Design District.
Once a place better known to decorators and building contractors, the 18-block area is now a magnet for the city's best chefs and galleries. The Etra Fine Art gallery, for instance, is filled with fascinating pieces, such as Pelaez Ricardo's interpretations of Gustav Klimt using both furniture and paintings. But the real news in the Design District is the explosion of fine dining. Lee Klein, a restaurant reviewer for Miami New Times, summed it up best when he recently called the area "a white-hot dining scene."
The city's top chefs, Michael Schwartz, Jonathan Eismann and Michelle Bernstein, all regularly nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award, have opened eateries within blocks from each other in an area of town only recently better known for businesses that sold flooring and furniture.
And there are exciting eateries to come.
Jonathan Eismann is set to open Pizza Volante - a pizza and mozzarella bar - any day now. And word is that the owners of Da Caino, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Monte Merano, Tuscany, will soon open Vino e Olio by Caino, offering the same recipes as the original.
A genuine start
It all began with Michael Schwartz, who opened his upscale eatery Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in early 2007. Schwartz, whose restaurant, Nemo, has been a local favourite, especially for Sunday brunch, wanted a new location with plenty of space - both indoor and al fresco - in which to offer his food.
Dishes are arranged into small, medium, large and extra-large portions, making it easy to sample big tastes in small portions of dishes, such as tuna tartar and ceviche, while sharing large entrées such as Schwartz's signature wood-oven pizza and fish. Go for the wood-fire-roasted items, including whole local snapper and chicken with raisins, pine nuts and arugula.
Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, 130 NE 40th St.; 305-573-5550; www.michaelsgenuine.com.
Pacific Time reborn
Jonathan Eismann, chef/owner of the critically acclaimed Pacific Time, the first Mobil four-star eatery in Miami Beach, broke the hearts of food lovers just over a year ago when word spread that a skyrocketing lease on Lincoln Road would force him to close. Hope was restored with news that Pacific Time would be reborn in the Design District. And reborn it was with a vengeance. It was named one of 20 best new restaurants in 2008 by Esquire magazine last November. Sit outside and take in the South Florida weather or enjoy the indoors with its gleaming open kitchen, a wood-burning oven and amber-lit bar.
Pacific Time offers the best of Eismann's modern pan-Asian dishes, along with a range of contemporary comfort foods such as braised beef short ribs. A long-time Lincoln Road favourite, the sublime tuna tartar with avocado and house-made potato chips is large enough to share. The same goes for the new gnudi with ricotta and artichoke ragu. Any sampling of Eismann's offerings should include grilled wild salmon yaki and asparagus grilled with butter and preserved lemon.
Pacific Time, 35 NE 40 St.; 305-722-7369; www.pacifictimerestaurant.com.
Italian flavour
The ultramodern café Fratelli Lyon offers the best ingredients from local purveyors along with the cream of the crop from Italy, such as protected-designation-of-origin cheeses, artisanal olive oils, heirloom legumes from Puglia and grass-fed meats. Be prepared to take time sorting through the long menu full of antipasti: soups such as pappa al pomodoro con porri - bread soup with tomatoes and leeks - pizzas and pastas such as ravioli with herbed ricotta, asparagus and brown butter.
While my husband and I contemplated the offerings, we munched on irresistible Parmesan and sea salt-coated breadsticks. But it was the torta di melanzane, alla napoletana - layered eggplant, tomato, ricotta and pecorino - that caused a real problem as my husband tried to inconspicuously lick the plate clean.
Fratelli Lyon, 4141 N.E. 2nd Ave.; 305-573-2901; www.fratellilyon.com Greek treats
Brosia offers a culinary tour of the Mediterranean in a breathtaking 4,000-square-foot terrace surrounded by a handcrafted aqua mosaic mural. Here, you can sit under the magnificent 200-year-old oak trees sipping sangria or in a special loggia area with drop-down dividers for privacy.
Enjoy your drink with a Mediterranean meze platter, an empanada of the day or sample the vibrant salads - a North African tabouli or the refreshing Greek-style fattoush salad, combining romaine greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, fresh parsley and mint, drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette.
We shared the Spanish-influenced seared ahi tuna with a white-bean purée and escalivada sauce, a yummy pepper-and-garlic combo.
Brosia, 163 NE 39th St.; 305-572-1400; www.brosiamiami.com.
Tapas to go
Sra. Martinez, a tapas restaurant, was the latest eatery to open in the Design District late last year.
Chef Michelle Bernstein - winner of the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Best Chef in the South award and co-owner of Miami's popular Michy's with husband David Martinez - is at the helm. When asked why she moved to the Design District, she simply stated, "I want to be close to my chef friends." The restaurant has been packed since day one.
Most plates are small and are served tapas style for sharing. Choose from the frio (cold) or caliente (hot) items, letting your server group the best dishes together. Munch on the tortilla Espanola with a garlic aoli paired with an heirloom-tomato salad with caper berries and Murcia al Vino cheese. Then go on to the crispy artichokes with a lemon-coriander dipping sauce and turbot filet with cranberry beans, molasses and fried okra.
Sra. Martinez, 4000 NE 2nd Ave.; 305-573-5474.
