Located in a residential enclave of Sunset Harbor, this sensible local brasserie offers a exotic dinner destination without the fuss and fluff of modern South Beach designer restaurants. This restaurant could be in any American city, featuring a dimly lit dining room with banquette seating and raw natural-wood tabletops surrounded by not-so-comfy rounded-back chairs. A floor-to-ceiling wine rack is the focal point of an adjacent lounge area, decorated with low-flung lounge seating and banquet wall for more-casual dining. A separate bar area attracts single-diners looking to lie low as well as a weekend wine crowd of in-the-know visitors and area residents.
The Food
A young and mostly-Italian staff is knowledgeable of traditional menu dishes and not entirely bad on the eyes. Once you get past the flirtatious wine list presented by the sommelier with popsicle-red lips, a starter menu unfolds of assorted roasted vegetables from the wood-burning oven or heartier charcuterie platter with house-made salume, aged parmasshinken and dark-green olives. The pasta course includes several cheese-stuffed raviolis as well as a top-notch orecchiette with wild boar sausage. Entrees are a bit more exotic with slow-cooked osso bucco, suckling pig and salt-crusted branzino de-boned at the table.
Last Word
What seems like a casual neighborhood eatery is actually one of Miami’s most ambitious kitchens serving-up cutting edge Italian cuisine with a hearty twist.
