Eating Around Miami: The Summer Edition

The weather just gets hotter and hotter these days in Southern Florida. However, one of the big consolations is that the traffic gets better allowing us all a chance to bop around more easily in a heavily urban metro with bummer-to-bummer traffic.

Starting with some of the lighter foods in town I finally found a decent Israeli restaurant. It’s more of a take-out spot called Itzik Etzel. They do have their way with the pickled cabbage and creamy tahini. They also turn out a mean, and crunchy Israeli salad—composed of mostly cucumber and tomatoes—and some delicious lamb and chicken.

The Social Club at the Surfcomber Hotel in South Beach is also doing a good job with lighter fare. I had one of the better Nicoise salads there as well as a crudo of palmitos—or hearts of palm so beloved in Argentina—that I might just call a great salad instead of trying to reinvent the term crudo.

The wine list at Social also has some fun choices like Sancerre and Albarino on it.

The Steakhouse Edition

A well-made steak is always delicious, even if you might need a lot of air conditioning to enjoy it properly in Miami. Two new places have hit high marks with me. The first is Lafayette Steakhouse, from the same restaurant group that runs Queen, located in Brickell.

The joint is swank, dark and elegant. The wine list, and the young sommelier who shepherds it, are something to be reckoned with. There are also some great, well-aged discoveries on list that pays respect to Old World classics. The sides, such as broccolini and creamed corn, are divine and each type of steak is sourced from a different producer like the veal chop which comes from Catelli Brothers.

Joey’s is right down the street from me near the Aventura Mall. It is located, in the often hard to find, Esplanade section. I loved the place the minute I walked in when the ladies handed me a glass of complementary Lambrusco. This astounding, dry red sparkler—from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy—a doesn’t get enough respect. It is in no-way an off-dry sparkling Shiraz which the Aussies used to market some years ago.

The Asian-infused salad with tuna tartare was delicious at Joey’s as were the steaks. I wish, as I always do, that they had Porterhouse as a girl raised on New York’s Peter Luger’s choice meat swimming in its own juices, but we made do with other cuts. NY Strip and Ribeye were great and you can add in a lobster tail as well!

I discovered two other fun drinks opportunities as well. The Hilton Aventura does half off on its, mostly, Latin wine list on Wednesday night. Also, J&C the seafood restaurant in Hallandale Beach is doing a great happy hour with raw and broiled oysters at great prices from 5 to 7pm.