In the 305

Lychees!

After a near-miss of my flight due to a predilection for Auntie Anne's pretzels, I am home in Miami, taking a long layover before my trip to Jamaica tomorrow. Although the tropical growing season is backwards from that of the Northern hemisphere, it does have its advantages: tomatoes and strawberries in January for example and lychees and mangoes in May/June. My parents had harvested the lychees from our backyard tree and spread them out on the kitchen table. One of their friends, Duque (truly a man with a green thumb), had also brought them a big basket of mangoes that I could smell as soon as I walked in the door. If you haven't tried a sun-ripened mango yet, I strongly urge braving the humidity, the thunderstorms and the mosquitoes to come down to the 305 and try them out. Deeeeelicious!!

Sun-ripened mangoes!


I'll try to post while in JA, but I can definitely promise pics upon return!

I'll have the carnival with a side salad

Fogovivo brings Brazilian Rodizio dining to Westchester. Located just past the Palmetto on Bird Road, this Brazilian steakhouse provides all you can eat meat served by gauchos wearing baggy pants and armed with sword-sized skewers. This was my first experience with Brazilian steakhouse eating, and I was quite impressed.

The service was excellent, if a bit rushed. The nearly empty restaurant seemed to be over staffed. As soon as we were seated and had served ourselves salad from the copious salad bar, the gauchos swarmed us with offers of beef ribs, pork ribs, roast duck, bacon-wrapped filet mignon and shishkebabs. The fresh salad greens wilted under the pile of meat that quickly accumulated on my plate, and then I remembered to turn my button over. Green means keep coming; red signals-- "My arteries need a break!" Other reviews of Fogovivo criticized the management as cold and uncaring, but the manager on during our meal came over personally to see that we were satisfied. The gauchos on the whole were personable with one comedian who quacked tableside, and one grouch, who refused to let diners handle the meat.

The plentiful salad bar offered more than just fresh greens; poached salmon, manchego and parmesan cheeses, and even sushi (not reccomended, this is a steakhouse after all!) tempted diners from their place beneath a decorative waterfall coming from the ceiling.

The plain decor and the restaurants unfortunate location beside the highway-- the vibrations provide a gentle massage during dining-- do dampen the experience, but the meat and salad bar more than make up for it. Skip dessert and coffee and indulge in the savory goodness of juicy tender meat served up on skewers, and you will be sure to enjoy the live fire of Fogovivo.

Miami Spice: Michael's Genuine Food and Drink

Ah, Miami Spice, my favorite time of year in Miami. The restaurants open their doors and lower their prices, making the most delicious, most elegant, and most unaffordable restaurants available for even a financially strapped graduate student like myself. This Sunday's back- to- school treat came from Chef Michael Schwartz at Michael's Genuine Food and Drink.

It was a sleepy Sunday night in the Design District. We met up with Lauren and Agu, our fellow foodies and sat down to enjoy a dynamic meal with many different flavors. To start we had the panzanella salad with heirloom tomatos and the hominy with chile and lime. The hominy makes a better bar snack than an appetizer, but was perfect for sharing. Pieces of corn are soaked in water, then spiced with chile and fried up in a pan and served with a wedge of lime. Deliciously crispy, I had everyone eating off of my plate.

The main course did not disappoint and everyone tried something different. The roasted pork shoulder won the prize for best tasting protein. Vince didn't even need a knife to slice through it. The half poulet rouge, lightly breaded and pan fried came a close second and tied with the locally caught black grouper. The wilted escarole that came with the poulet rouge was my favorite side dish, so buttery and salty I felt like I wasn't even eating a vegetable. The eggplant and chick pea curry accompanying the grouper provided a good balance to the mild flavor of the grouper. The cheesy grits filled out the pork plate.

Now on to dessert! Again I was the odd ball, ordering the lemon polenta cake instead of the decadent chocolate espresso combination. This road less traveled turned out to be a delight. The crumbly corn meal made for a dense flavorful cake that soaked up the fruity flavors of the macerated tomatoes and plums around it. A bit of creme fraiche gave the dish just enough creaminess to offset the drier polenta. The chocolate did not disappoint either. With just a bit of sea salt on a dollop of truffle filling, tasted like the very best chocolate dipped pretzel with out the pretzel dough getting in the way and the espresso ice cream provided lightness to the decadent chocolate.

Excellent service accentuated the casual and cozy ambiance. The sleek decor is homey and modern and the bar looks like the kind of place you can sidle up for a drink or three with a close friend.


Special Note: Miami Spice tastes best with friends, who let you taste from their plates.

Lan Pan-Asian Cafe

Put this unpretentious little bistro in the category of restaurants that you always see, but never seem to actually visit. Yesterday, I broke the pattern of arriving too late at this Asian fusion eatery located on the first floor of the Dadeland Center. Their lunch special is worth braving the crowds hurrying to Best Buy, Target, and Bed Bath and Beyond, even during college move in season. For 7.95-10.95, lunch customers enjoy miso soup, mesclun salad with a very nice lemony vinaigrette, wakame sunomo salad, AND a deliciously generous 8 piece California roll. The word and in the last sentence is in caps because this is not one of those either/or lunch specials; it is a fill-you-up-before-you-get-your-entree lunch special. After all this food, you couldn't be blamed for expecting an anemic portion of basil-chicken or teriyaki salmon, but you would be wrong. After the soup and salads and California roll were cleared, the waitress brought in a plate heaped with savory basil chicken. While not the best basil chicken I have ever eaten, it was flavorful and satisfying. Stay away from the chicken dumplings. They were doughy and under seasoned. I didn't try other sushi rolls, but if the California rolls are any indication they are probably quite good.