One of the “hottest” new restaurants in town is undeniably La Petite Maison Miami. I’ve gone there twice for dinner on a Monday night and each time it was not only full, but they were turning over the tables twice in many cases. It was a monied crowd ((“older” money by Miami standards, as opposed to new money). I saw executives in financial services, lawyers, board members of art museums – you get the picture. And the first time when I was seated in a corner round table with a well starched, immaculate tablecloth illuminated by candlelight and surrounded by works of art, I had a flashback to the glamour days of New York in the 80’s, albeit with patrons dressed more casually as we do here circa 2017.
Once again it’s the Midas touch of Arjun Waney of celebrated Zuma and Coya concepts along with new partners. The original La Petite Maison was founded in Nice, France in 1988 and has attracted a “who’s who” ever since. It was a favorite of Waney when visiting his summer home, so he bought the rights to the brand and decided to expand it outside of France. Thus begat La Petite Maison in London, then Dubai and now Miami.
The kitchen is headed up by Chef Duntoye who has a three Michelin star pedigree. The large menu features a combination of original menu items from Nice, others he has reinterpreted,and several new and lighter dishes following the principles of what he calls Nicoise micro cuisine. Not surprisingly, the dishes that shine are seafood. My favorites were the large, tender, warm prawns in a divine Sicilian olive oil garnished with slivers of basil ($22.50) — had this dish both times. Also getting high marks was the scallop carpaccio, a work of culinary art with capers, almonds, currants and cranberries ( $25) —one of my highest viewed images on Instagram. Another special dish was the endive salad – wedges of endive, with apple slices and caramelized walnuts. Delicious and different.
Again in the fish department, a Spanish friend who knows her fish gave high marks to the whole sea bream baked en papillote with lemon, herbs and olive oil. Pastas are another strong point here – my house made gnocchi with cherry tomato garlic and parmesan transported me to Italy ($19.50). Mr. W weighed in with a big thumbs up for the homemade pappardelle with a rich tomato based veal ragu. ($22.50)
You’ll also find traditional dishes including a rack of lamb given a twist with spiced couscous ($130), duck a l’orange ($30), and a whole roast heritage green circle chicken with foie gras . About four years ago I was in Bresse, the land of France’s famed chicken and we had what we referred to many times later, as the $100 chicken. Well now, the $100 or more chicken has arrived on leading restaurant menus in the USA (here it’s $140 and only subject to availability).
There’s a selection of classic French desserts and also very fine dessert wines.
The décor is handsome — sophisticated and casually elegant. You enter and find a bar that could have been plucked from France, and see the open kitchen with its oh so shiny copper pots and glass jars brimming with whole fruits. The soaring 25 foot high ceilings add a welcome drama, and the wooden louvered windows add intimacy. There’s also outdoor seating.
Service is mixed based on my experience and that of some friends. Given Waney’s track record of very professional service with his other restaurants, it’s probably a question of growing pains here.
What they call hors’doeuvre are actually more starters, and average in the high teens, with seafood more.Portions are for one person. Entrees range from $19.50 to over $100 for rack of lamb and the chicken specialty. Desserts are $13.50.
A glass of wine (5 Ounce pour) starts at $9.00 and bottles at $40.00. Classic cocktails are priced at $12 ( for a Wine/Prosecco based cocktail) and $13 for others.
La Petite Maison Miami, 1300 Brickell Bay Drive (Brickell House), T.305-403-9133. It’s open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. There’s valet parking.
5 Responses
Really, Miami is the greatest place to spend a pleasant trip. Love the place. I shall try to visit this one of the best restaurants in Miami on my next Florida trip. Thanks for sharing!
We were celebrating our anniversary and toward the end the manager comes to us to set that if we need more time we came go to the bar and finish our drink because they had people waiting . Worse experiece
ever and we had table next to us that were there before us. We’ll never go back and the food was ok for the over price, better places like Pied a Terre in Miami beach.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree that that is unacceptable, especially at the price point of the restaurant. One of the big problems in Miami too is inconsistency. When I went there the food was very good, but sounds like the quality has dropped. Pied a Terre has maintained its quality/value over time.
We visit Miami twice a year and stay for about 3 to 4 weeks each time, just about every night we go to a high end Resturant and spend about 3 hours or so. We are 3 adults and 2 teens. We normally order 4 to six appetizers to start and a few of the place’s signature drinks Then we order one or two bottles of good wine (normally have it decanted) and the main course. After that we order most of the desert on the menu ( as that is my favourite part of dinner)
Our bill is usually around the $1000 . We went LPM for the first time this week and we were told at the door we have to leave in 2 hours because the table is rebooked .
We never felt so rushed, of course we were not going to order expensive wine and chug it down, so we just ordered a couple of appetizers (yellowtail carpaccio, fried calamari and escargot (and were told we need to order our mains at the same time) so we ordered the sea bass, gnocchi and rigatoni, risotto and grilled prawns and a couple of sides. We did not order any desert.
Of course what we would have loved to order was the rack of lamb and the steak, however, we would have had to order wine as well, given that we were told we have a time limit of 2 hours, it really made no sense to order all that and rush it.
We left disappointed that we waisted the night going to a place like that. We are sure they have their clients, however this place is not for everyone. I do not know about the rest of the food however what we had (except of the yellowtail which was great) was average.
Since COVID I’ve seen that several of the top restaurants have started to do that and they often don’t make it clear that’s their policy before diners book. Though I understand that restaurants have had a really tough time during COVID and they’re trying to make up for lost revenue, I also agree that the policy is unacceptable. At the least, if that will be their policy, they should make it clear in advance so diners can decide if they want to go to that restaurant or not. The worst is to go there and then find out what the policy is which was your case. In terms of the quality of the food, as a general rule, unlike in New York (my home for many years) where the food, service and quality of the top restaurants tends to be consistent, unfortunately in Miami, one could go to a restaurant for a few weeks and then, all of a sudden it deteriorates. I attribute that to the transient workforce. With restaurants having lost a lot of staff during COVID, and with hiring being a problem now, I’m finding that the inconsistency is more pronounced now.