Saturday, January 22, 2011

Lox-smith

Weekends in a Jewish home = bagels, lox, high-octane coffee and listening to NPR and then arguing about their portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Okay, maybe that's not all Jewish homes. But that's my home.
[smoked salmon breakfast at Hyatt, Key West.]

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Brunch @ Mercadito

The cocktails here are creative and strong, the wild creations of mad-scientist drink-ologists The Tippling Bros. And Sunday mornings – for $30 a person – brunch goers can sip to their hearts content. Unlimited cocktails include the Misty Sleeve (blanco tequila with ginger liqueur, Gran Marnier, citrus, hibiscus concentrate and a splash of El Yucateca hot sauce) and the grassy cucumber margarita.

The tequila-soaked feast includes a choice of three dishes served family-style. Mexican pancakes (thin and chewy). Platters of home-made corn tortillas topped with beer battered mahi mahi, shrimp, wild mushrooms, rosemary marinated skirt steak. Huevos ahogados – poached eggs, crispy corn bread, covered in a chipotle-hollandaise sauce. The place buzzes with everyone from scruffy artists to young families.
Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30-3pm, 3252 NE 1st Ave, 786-369-0430.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Cecconi's, Miami Beach

Is it wildly expensive? Yes, it can be.
Will a formally-dressed waiter serve you tuna tartar (mixed with chili and mint) tableside? Yep.
Will you run into Rod Stewart or Marc Jacobs having lunch? Probably.
Is the goat cheese and black truffle pizza worth $40? No. But it's tasty.

Burrata mozzarella and truffles are peppered throughout the menu as are rich bowls of Maine lobster spaghetti. The entire restaurant is outdoors, (there’s a retractable roof in case it rains) allowing for easy dinners under the stars, surrounded by salty ocean breezes.
Sergio Sigala, the former chef of Casa Tua is in the kitchen, and while his food is overwhelmingly straightforward, he does a fine job toiling away in the kitchen feeding the priveleged and pretty.
It's a lazy kind of place. Everyone there always seems to be able to spend two hours on lunch. And even though it's at the Soho House the restaurant is open to non-members, and it’s got a relaxed elegance, meaning it’s not too stuffy for lunch time meetings with clients over thin-crusted pizzas topped with prosciutto and arugula. And it’s still classy enough for a romantic date spent sipping Barolos under mason jar lanterns that hang from wood beams.

At the Soho Beach House
4385 Collins Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33140
786-507-7900