If you are new to this website and don’t know much about what it is that I do or who I am, then I will assume you do not know that I am from Miami. I wasn’t born in Miami, but by the time I moved away 6 months after Hurricane Andrew in early 1993, I had spent over 15 of my 25 years in Miami. So Miami is home. Most of my family is there. The other half is in and around New York City.
If you aren’t new to Eat It and Like It, please forgive that last 8-10 second refresher course. Of course, it’s that background that set me off on this journey.
I don’t get to Miami as often as I would like. Not for pleasure, at any rate. The last few times I was there it was a two day quick trip for family. The Miami Dolphins have been catastrophically bad for the better part of the last decade, so there’s been no motivation there. The Miami Heat have been winning big, but there are so many games, I’ve found I’m just as happy watching on television as I would be driving 8 hours for a “Heat Weekend” only to be met with absurd prices, hundreds of wanna be’s and huge crowds. I guess I am getting old, huh?
I do keep up with Miami’s food scene. Quite a bit. I could rattle off a list of places I know about and would like to visit but that isn’t what this time is about. I got a few days in Miami last month. We watched the Dolphins lose to the New York Giants live during Monday Night Football, but otherwise it was my time for some family visits and fun with food.
Since I’ve been gone, ground zero for seemingly everything in Miami has become South Beach. That gives us a chuckle because we know there is a whole lot more to South Beach than expensive drinks and topless sun bathers. Truthfully, if you are from Miami or spent any decent amount of time there, you just don’t notice. Well, yes, we do. We just aren’t really phased by it like my friend Eddie was once upon a time where he was trying really hard not to stare. If he could have figured out a way to look through his ear, he would have.
What I did notice this time around in Miami, and all of South Florida was the traffic. Yes, of course, I expected traffic, but the Miami I remember was never like Los Angeles. The kind of place where you have to almost expect, and be ready for, traffic at any given time. A trip across the metropolitan area can easily take you two hours if you aren’t careful. And yes, sometimes even if you are careful. I was calculating in the choices for my food fix. The first night I walked to dinner. Everything else I ate was planned out based on location, time and budget. I had to sneak in some Cuban food, some old watering holes for food and beverages, and of course, a cortadito. It’s only my favorite of all coffee drinks on the planet.
For all of the shots you see of ‘South Beach’ on ESPN during football games every fall, you would never envision a pretty real Irish Pub about 100 yards away from the Atlantic shore. Yet, that’s what Finnegan’s is. Clearly if you use a magnifying glass and try to hold it up against anything you might find in Europe, you are going to be disappointed. There is a wide selection of draft beer, although not a ton of craft beers. Miami doesn’t necessarily cater to that demographic. It’s far more of an international crowd, obviously. Don’t ask for Red Hook or Yazoo. Not happening. You might get lucky to have Sweetwater. All of that said, there are tons of televisions for sports and a great GREAT juke box. I had to laugh when nearly everyone in this open air spot broke into song during Bill Wither’s ‘Lovely Day.‘ It was indeed.
A few $11 beers later, I cleaned up and headed out on a 1 mile walk to dinner. I could have driven, but when you start doing the math: 3 block walk to my car in a parking garage only to park blocks away from a restaurant, your savings are, what? 4 blocks? No thanks. I will walk and I did. It was the first time I’d walked South Beach in a while. Stopped in at another spot to catch the 4th quarter of Miami Heat on TV, and continued on for dinner.
My dinner at Red Steakhouse, believe it or not, was about 5-6 years in the making. In February of 2010 I tried to eat there, but didn’t make it. That night we ended up at BLT Steak inside the Betsy Hotel. A quality meal, for sure. However, you know that feeling you get when you have to settle for chocolate ice cream because they were out of butter pecan? You very much enjoy the chocolate, but really wanted that other flavor. It will drive you nuts until you get that butter pecan. It did. And I did. It only took half a decade.
The space was as beautiful as I thought it would be. I am a huge fan of the old school steakhouses in America like Keen’s, Old Homestead or St. Elmo’s, but given the choice, I will choose the modern feel almost every time. Red is every bit of that and more. A television at the bar, a decent (if not pricey) wine list by the glass and I was good to go.
I was eating for one. I tend to not overdue it. Not usually at any rate. Sometimes I can fly off the handle and surround myself with enough food for the cast and crew of Lord of the Rings, but not this time. I kept it simple. Why? I was at a fantastic steakhouse. I wanted to enjoy a steak. A simple appetizer of White Shrimp with crushed garlic, lemon, white wine and crostini and I was good. Truth be told, after that thing, I could have easily cashed out and headed back to my hotel. It was that good. When you are at Disney World you ride Space Mountain. That’s how I see it anyway. You don’t go to a steakhouse and have just shrimp. You can do that in anyone of a million spots. Especially in Miami. The New York Strip was on it’s way.
The cuts at Red are standard fare. Filets, Ribeyes, Kansas City Strips, Tomahawk cuts. Beyond that you will find veal, chicken, lamb, pastas and seafood. It all looked fantastic. Chef Peter Vauthy has developed a phenomenal following in South Florida. I’m told he’s become something of an unofficial spokesperson for the beef he uses. It is exceptional.
Don’t laugh, I ordered the steak. No sides. Some of them looked incredibly intriguing, but that appetizer did me in. A great starter. A good well prepared strip and I would be more than happy.
When my steak arrived it had the signature sizzle you will find at any great steakhouse. The charred crust, perfect. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked for a steak ‘char-medium’ only to get something that was closer to medium rare. Yes, even in some steakhouses. Char-medium is a skill not all grill guys get. This guy got it. Big time. My steak was one of the top 2-3 most perfectly cooked steaks I have ever had. To say nothing of the amazing flavor. There were no sauces. No potatoes. Nothing. It was me and a perfect steak. It had been a while since I had something that good. That perfectly cooked. I took to Twitter immediately and shared a photo. Yeah, the gastro-geek in me sneaks out sometimes. There was enough food to make me more than happy. When I turned to leave, I was more than happy to have a one mile walk back to my hotel. And yes, the next day, I had a reply on Twitter from chef. Gotta love the modern-day culinary maestro. Making time for everything.
On my way back, I walked by the ever popular Prime One Twelve Steakhouse, Miami Beach’s “see and be seen” place. It was a Sunday night, 9:30 and a mob scene outside trying to get in. I’ve never eaten there, so I can’t tell you much about the food. I do know that you can find any number of attention seeking celebrities there on many nights. The photos show up everywhere. Fair enough. I’m sure there was a decent wait for a table, if you could get in at all. Maybe one day I will. At the rate I’m going, though, it might take me 5 more years.
Flanigan’s Laughing Loggerhead
I could tell you about 2 million stories about ‘Loggerhead’ as we call it. It’s the kind of place that is packed during dinner hours, then again late night after all the people in the service industry get out of work. It’s a restaurant with about 75 televisions, so it’s popular on game days as well, but the draw is the food. You’d be hard pressed to find better BBQ ribs anywhere in South Florida. Oh, and the fact that they close at 5am. Flanigan’s is a South Florida chain. Multiple locations across the area, but my spot is in Coconut Grove.
Las Vegas is new to me. I’d been hearing about it from a number of different friends in South Florida for a little bit. Whenever I was home and had time for one Cuban meal, I’d end up at Sergio’s Cuban Cuisine. This time I decided to try Las Vegas. It was excellent. The sandwiches we tried, the mariquitas con mojo (plantain chips with garlic sauce), the rice, the beans, the whole enchilada. Excellent. Of course, Cubans don’t typically make or eat enchiladas. That’s just not how we roll.
I have to admit, it made me laugh to actually be able to google this spot and get a result. Mary’s isn’t the type of place that you google. It’s just there. Mary’s is a coin laundromat in my old neighborhood in Southwest Miami near Coral Gables and Coconut Grove. Follow along here because it’s tricky. Up front there is a coin laundry. Inside of the laundromat there is a cafeteria. Good food, not great. Good enough to satisfy you if you are running a few loads of whites and need a quick sandwich. Here is where it gets tricky. Along the side of the laundry and toward the back is another window. Five or six stools are lined up in front of it. Six nights a week (they are closed on Tuesdays) you can find some of the best chinese food in the City of Miami. Seriously. It’s popular with cab drivers, police and anyone else that knows where to go. A classic example of ‘Unless you know, then you just don’t know.’ Remember, there are two different cafes in this laundromat. Cuban up front, Chinese to the back. It gets so confusing that the Cuban spot will ask you if you are calling the Chinese or the Cubans. Yeah, they are that popular.
Of course, I found out the hard way that the Chinese restaurant at Mary’s was closed on Tuesdays because I was trying to get some take out to bring back to my room on my final night in South Florida. The phone call for take out broke my heart, but now I’m craving Chinese, no? Of course. A quick google turned me on to some other spots in the downtown Miami area that I figured had to be good or frankly they wouldn’t be in business. One of them was Confucio. They call themselves “express gourmet” which can be asking for trouble in the first place. I make the call.
The guy that answered the phone clearly only spoke Spanish. Welcome to Miami. Then again, maybe he did speak English, but if you spend enough time down here and you are able to speak Spanish? You just do it. Saves everyone a lot of time and aggravation. Unless of course it’s a salesperson. Then you can drop a nice ‘um, no comprendo’ on them.
My order was pretty simple. Again it was just me. Pork Fried Rice would do me just fine for a meal, or two for that matter. “So you want to Special Fried Rice?” he asks. “No, just pork.” “Ok, One Special Fried Rice. Anything else?” “No, I’m good.” You’ve got to know when to cut your losses.
I pull up to a drive-thru looking place with a tiny, tiny space up front for purchases. This is clearly the kind of place that thrives on deliveries to the area. But you can pick up. I did.
How was it? One of the best orders of Fried Rice I had ever had. Shrimp the size of plums, roast pork chunks, diced ham, all of it. I dream about that rice. I wish I had a photo. I did find this photo on-line. Not great, but a very good shot of someone else’s special fried rice. It sure was. Even if it was almost $16.
No joke, unless someone tells me otherwise, this might be my first stop next time I’m in Miami. It was that good.
Driving home, I gave it all some thought. I always see Miami in a different light. A dear friend once told me ‘home is home.’ They may dress it up in neon and Art Deco, toss a few dozen skyscapers across the skyline and a couple of million more cars on the highway, but it always feels different when you can drive confidently through any neighborhood, know the short cuts and feel just as comfortable at 7am or 11pm. Like any big city, Miami can be intimidating. That’s ok. Just take your time and enjoy what you see, because you will never see it all.
Even if you do know where to look.
See you on TV,
Jesse
