Note from Karen, June 22, 2020: Call before you go as days open change in this time of COVID 19.

The Deck at Island Gardens was always one of my favorite places to dine well, enjoy a signature view of Miami’s skyline, and soak in a “buzzy”, glamorous atmosphere. So I was notably disappointed when it closed . It reopened two months ago and I had been dying to go back. It’s hard to believe, but I’d go out on a limb and say the “new” Deck is even better. My Parisian woman friend with very high standards and I were seriously impressed.

First, the owners brought in Alfio Longo, former executive chef of Le Cirque New York and in Casa de Campo. Alfio brought in Marco Maccioni, the son of Sirio who owned and ran Le Cirque in New York, one of “the” places to see and be seen and eat well for many years. Marco joined after running  Le Cirque in New York with his family  and a stint with Andrea Bocelli at their beach restaurant in tony resort area Forte dei Marmi.

 
The cuisine is European Mediterranean, the kind Maccioni describes that you’d find at watering holes for owners of pricey yachts in  the French and Italian Rivieras and Spain. Ingredients were top notch. We began the dinner toasting the night that was in store with a glass of Taittinger followed by the Seafood Tower ($50 during happy hour).

Next up was an evening standout, the Tossed Arugula Salad in Cheese Wheel ($39), an arugula salad prepared tableside in a wheel of 24 month aged parmigiano. Tender green leaves were combined with red and yellow endive, radicchio, olives, sweet cherry tomatoes and niçoise olives, all mixed numerous times with the crumbled parmigiano to seamlessly blend everything together.

 
Though it was a tough act to follow, they rose to the occasion with a refined Tuna Tartare ($25) on a bed of avocado with mandarin oranges, mango, chives and coconut, that was an exciting variety of texture and tastes. I opted for the Smoked Mozzarella Tortelli ($29) one of the day’s specials, house made tortelli filled with smoked mozzarella and topped with basil pesto, aged balsamic vinegar and garnished with bites of prosciutto and caramelized baby figs. It was a perfect combination of sweet, smokey and salty.

 
We ended the meal with the Chocolate Nemesis ($12), a flourless dark chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato.