A Kentucky Derby party, Brickell pick for Peruvian and Nikkei cuisine, terrific lunch deal at La Centrale, restaurant closings and openings including the new St.Roch Miami Market in Eating News for April.
A Kentucky Derby party in Miami complete with frosty mint juleps, wild hats, bets on the horses and great raffle prices. Yes, it’s May 5 and sponsored by Les Dames d’Escoffier South Florida,Les Dames South Florida, an invitational organization of women leaders in food, beverage and hospitality. Enjoy it all from 4:30 to 7:00 at No. 3 Social, Wynwood Arcade, 50 NW 24th St., Wynwood, Miami 33127. No. 3 Social is the rooftop bar of Norman Van Aken’s restaurant Three. Places are limited so RSVP asap. Email Les Dames South Florida Co-Event Chairs Robyn Webb, robynwebbms@gmail.com and Irene Moore, irenemoore305@gmail.com. The price: $55 for members of Les Dames; $65 for non members.
A solid pick for fresh, tasty modern Peruvian cuisine in the Brickell area is 1111 Peruvian Bistro, 1111 SW 1st Avenue (T.786-283-3128).The casual decor belies the fine Peruvian with high quality ingredients. And now it’s also featuring the increasingly popular Nikkei dishes. Nikkei is what emerged from the mix of Japanese cuisine brought to Peru by immigrants with traditional Peruvian cooking. New dishes include ceviche salmon chifero, nigiri chalaco and nigiri carretillero and steak Nigiri.Look soon for lunch specials. For an earlier review, click here.
Deals!!!!!! One of the best lunch deals in town for quality and value is at the premium restaurants at Italian food hall La Centrale in the Brickell City Center. Pesce, the fish restaurant, and Carne, for meat, offer a two course $20 prix fixe menu (tax and tip extra). The food is delicious, and the portion size is what it should be. There’s a choice of four dishes both for the antipasti and secondi. At Pesce I had the warm artichoke salad with frisee, cooked arugula, Moscato vinegar and shavings of percorino. Liked it so much, I had it when I returned. Other choices include steamed mussels, minestrone and ceviche. For secondi there’s grilled salmon, octopus and a choice of two pasta dishes. My companion, a highly pedigreed foodie, gave high marks to the tagliolini neri with squid ink pasta, crab, leek and fish eggs. At Carne, antipasti include beef meatballs with Pomodoro, asparagus, minestrone and arugula, radicchio, endive and frisee salad. Secondi are grilled chicken breast with arugula, hamburger with fontina and Tuscan fries or pastas including Bolognese or amatriciana. The service at lunch was very good, tables are spacious, and it’s quiet for relaxed conversation. I haven’t ordered a la carte yet, but judging from the oh so fresh looking display of lobster and prawns, they’re on my list for next time.
Closings and openings: Sorry to see Proof Pizza & Pasta in Midtown closed along with all locations of cold pressed juice outpost Jugofresh…….. Recent openings in Aventura Mall include Shake Shack and Brussels based European style café Le Pain Quotidien. Rosetta Bakery, the first of several in Miami, opened right off of Lincoln Road at 1666 Collins Avenue. From croissants, berry tarts, and Nutella-filled cookies to caprese- or prosciutto-filled sandwiches, everything at Rosetta is made by Italian chefs, who are brought to the United States to work at the bakery.
The newest of what is supposed to be 11 food halls opening in Miami (I’ve reported earlier on 1-800-LUCKY which I’m told is super tough to get in now) is St.Roch Market in the Design District, 140 N.E.39th Street, Suite 241. It’s now serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It’s a branch of its namesake in New Orleans (to me it’s more of a food court than an upscale food hall). Twelve vendors offer everything from Southern cooking, tacos and ceviche, to Middle Eastern, Asian and Italian food. There’s also a large center bar and a coffee bar. Don’t miss Chef Chloe baked goods (it’s also a vegan cafe). Besides yummy peanut butter cookies, small fruit tarts and cupcakes, there’s an Instagrammable sprinkle white layer cake with cream cheese icing that’s a WOW. You can buy it by the slice, $6.50.
