2 nights in Miami
Back again in Miami (not that it's been a long time since we've been here, but it's been a long time since I've written) and we tried 2 new and/or new to us restaurants.
First was Oak Tavern. Loved the space, gorgeous courtyard with those great brick arches out front and the trees inside. Mr Cookie really enjoys small plates and lots of them - so we started there with:
Deviled eggs - creamy and topped with caviar (not sure what sort).
Fois gras mousse topped with strawberry jam - rich and creamy, delicious.
Country rabbit pate with cornichons, coarse mustard and onion - quite possible the best country pate ever, it wasn't as coarse as many with a lovely spice - great with the mustard. The bread it was served with was fine, but some sort of oil or butter had been poured over it and it got on my hands and then my knife, making it a bit slippery.
Bison carpaccio - fantastic.
Tuscan fennel salami with all the fixings from the charcuterie - mustard and delicious picked green beans, cauliflower and fennel
We split the Tavern seasonal salad - loved the crunch of the kale, apple and pomegranate seeds.
The baked gnocchi for me - omg was this rich. Tender, tender gnocchi in a fabulous rich creamy sauce with slices of rabbit sausage and a hint of truffle. Delicious.
Mr Cookie had the Grass-fed cheese burger with bacon - a big (literally) success. I had a bite too, loved the bacon, burger was juicy with wonderful flavor.
We'll definitely come back here.
Last night was possibly one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
We went to Michy's.
I've been wanting to go for a long time - well since I found out she had left Azul and later opened Michy's - but plans hadn't worked out. Last night they finally did and oh am I a happy camper.
We did the family style tasting dinner. I love tasting menus, we've done tons of them, but NONE like this. Fantastic. What a dinner.
Started with the white gazpacho - white grapes, a few pretty peas, tiny cubes of gelee (though I didn't catch what they were), dill, lovely creamy broth.
Next - tuna tartar with the thinnest potato chips and a ceviche made from three local fish (I only caught cohiba) with corn chips - I liked the tuna tartar but I loved the ceviche. So fresh tasting with the lemon and the avocado underneath. Delicious!
Next was 3 dishes: Foie gras over a tiny apple tartine and braised ox tail, Peruvian street food (explain later), and Korean fried sweetbreads.
Okay, the foie was amazing - not a single vein to distract me, perfectly cooked and so delicate. I would have never thought to serve it with braised ox tail, but I loved it. This was a fabulous dish. The Peruvian street food - Papas Rellena? Little balls of mashed potato stuffed with tender beef, fried and set over a marvelous slightly spicy yellow pepper sauce (this was so good, when Mr Cookie left the table for a minute, I polished off the sauce on 'his' side of the plate). Loved 'em! The Korean fried sweetbreads were also great, served in a lettuce wrap! Nice kick of heat from the kimchi too.
Next, another 3 dishes: Fettuccine carbonara topped with a poached egg, sauteed cod with whipped celery root, chanterelle mushrooms, and short ribs with cauliflower, carrots, mashed parsnips and pomegranate seeds. The fettuccine - so rich, so good. Loved the peas with it and the tomatoes added a nice hit of acid in all that creamy goodness. If we hadn't done the tasting dinner, I had planned on ordering the cod. I was so happy to see it was part of the dinner! It was everything I hoped for, tender fish, I love mashed/whipped celery root and the mushrooms added such a great earthy-ness to the dish. Wonderful! The short ribs were awesome. By this time, I'm getting full. That did not stop me from eating my share of these. They were great.
Lastly, 2 desserts: bread pudding and coconut panna cotta. Chocolate. In the Brioche (nothing so mundane as plain ole bread!) pudding. Vanilla ice cream. Ridiculously good. Seriously good. The coconut panna cotta with little slices of oranges and candied Rice Krispies, a lovely light dessert. I really liked the orange with it, but the candied Rice Krispies? Uh, yes please. Those are like crack.
We went back to the hotel, changed and went on a long walk. Probably not long enough.
Fantastic dinner. We will definitely do that again.
Thanks for listening!
