Miami Food Blog

Jackie Sayet

Stick a fork in me: a preparation of calamari that recalls, even may upstage, a lemony baby octopus dish once savored in the Portofino harbor.

​Welcome to October, y'all.  New fall menu items are rolling out today at Michelle Bernstein's South Florida restaurants.  Suckers that we are for nostalgia, it was time to relish some last bites of summer at Sra. Martinez last night, including the curtain call for her Miami Spice menu.  

Favorites included the Korean-style veal pinchos; calamari a la plancha with black rice and a pow from Peruvian mayonnaise; the smokey kick from lime-dazzled Homstead corn (choclo con chiles); and the one and only late summer vegetable salad with the crunchy creaminess of its barely blanched (some raw, some roasted) vegetables, including radish, snap peas, and fennel wading in a pool of perfectly pink, traditional 'red' gazpacho.

Here's the send-off in pictures...

​Ferragosto was around before the death of Jesus, but chances are that you have never celebrated this holiday.

This Saturday, the Setai plans to change this with their Ferragosto Italiano. From 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., guests of the Ferragosto will indulge in food, drinks, and a fashion show.

The food promises to be a smorgasbord of Asian cuisine, from Indian, Malaysian, and Singaporean to Thai and Chinese. But don't think that the Setai has abandoned the Italian roots of the Ferragosto -- pizzas, antipasto, and mozzarella alla Caprese will also be served.

If this isn't intriguing, then the fixed price definitely will catch your eye -- all that I can say is thank goodness for Miami Spice.

With all this food at a fixed price, you would think that they would raise the price of the drinks, right? Well, from 9 to 10 p.m., there will be complimentary Negroni cocktails. After all that Asian food, a sweet, citrus-based drink is the perfect dessert.

After being dined and drunk, indulge your other senses in a fashion show by a South Florida local, Shy Figaro, and music by "the lounge pioneer of South Beach," D.J. Luca. 

The Setai is located at 2001 Collins Avenue. To RSVP for this event, please call 305-520-6400 or e-mail SetaiDining@GHMamerica.com.

Image via New Times Archives - photo by Jonathan Postal

Dewey LoSasso with proteges

​North One 10 is the recipient of 4 consecutive Best Of Miami titles, 2 positive Lee Klein reviews, and the distinction of being among the best restaurants in Dade.

They are now offering a Friday and Saturday dinner special, the $25 "Not Miami Spice Menu." That's true recession friendly fine dining for the people. For that price you get a first course choice of

• Smoked salmon croquettas in damn hot guava sauce.
• Roasted tomato soup.
• Field greens in a citrus mustard dressing.

Entree choices are
 

• Grilled skirt steak with sauteed corn and pancetta and warm mushroom vinaigrette.
• Yuca crusted salmon, black bean broth, kimchee aioli, grilled arugula.
• Roasted duck, greens, gorgonzola, orange lavender sauce.
• Grilled chicken breast over penne pasta, tomatoes, basil, herbed ricotta cheese.

And Dessert

• Flourless chocolate torte
• Fresh berries

ILoveMiamiSpice.com

​​You know that during Miami Spice more than  100 restaurants have reduced fixed prices for lunch and dinner. You may not know clubs, spas, and even hotels have a special deal too.

image via ilovemiamispice.com

​Miami Spice is here, almost. From August 1st through September 31st over 100 Miami-Dade restaurants will be offering gourmet fare at fixed prices of $22 for lunch and $33 for dinner. Groups of 4 or more should call individual restaurants in advance to let them know they're coming.

Over 100 restaurants are participating including Loftin's at the Versace Mansion, Hakkasan at the Fontainbleau, Chef Allen's in Aventura, and Palme d'Or at the Biltmore. Click here for a full list of participating restaurants.

Miami Spice is brought to you by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. It was originally designed with tourists in mind, but Miamians have responded so strongly to the promotion that it has become a local fixture. Take the opportunity to try out some of the best Miami has to offer at a greatly reduced price.

Log on to ilovemiamispice.com for more info.

Be careful or you could end up with a meal like this.

Miami Spice started as a discount deal that was meant to promote dining out during the traditionally sluggish month of August. Then it was officially lengthened through September, and the following year restaurateurs unofficially jumped the gun and started the program in July. This year there were winter Spice programs aplenty, and now The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is introducing the first Spring Miami Spice, which will take place starting this Friday, May 1st, and run through the end of the month -- assuming it isn't extended through June.

We love a bargain as much as the next person, but maybe those participating restaurant owners who scatter Spice through as many months as possible should instead just permanently lower the price of their $15-to-$20 appetizers and $30-to-$45 entrees.

The deal remains the same: A special three-course menu for lunch ($23), and dinner ($36). The advice remains the same: After perusing the list of participating restaurants, and selecting those that are of interest (hint:only pick the most expensive spots), find out what each is offering for the dough. Some places will charge $36 (exclusive of wine or coffee, tax, tip, etc.) for a dinner of house salad, pasta with salmon chunks, and Jell-O. Other, wiser  proprietors will proffer plates of their restaurants' tastiest fare, the idea being that $36-plus in the pocket is fine and dandy, but it's more profitable to impress customers enough that they'll want to return even after the deal expires (if it ever does).

The effects of the economy are being felt in every industry imaginable, most of all the ones that entertain and nourish us. The restaurant industry, from celebrity chefs right on to busboys, dishwashers, and even food producers and farmers are more than feeling the pinch. Fine establishments in Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, and all over downtown and Miami Beach are finding themselves with empty tables and plates left cold from a lack of customers. Not from January 12 through February 12. That's when the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (with sponsorship from American Express) are presenting the first ever Winter Miami Spice. Yes, yes, y'all - the same specially discounted fiesta of food everyone eagerly anticipates in the summertime is making an early appearance. Let the feasting begin!

Over 30 of Miami's finest restaurants will offer $23 lunch and $36 dinner prix fixe menus, so you can decide where you want to eat by district. Feel like heading to chic SoBe? Hit up the restaurant at The Setai (2001 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-520-6400), or the ever-chic Table 8 (1458 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach; 305-695-4114). On the mainland there's Andu (141 SW 7th St., Miami; 786-871-7005), Christy's Steakhouse (3101 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables; 305.446.1400 ), and more than we have room or time to mention. Visit www.ilovemiamispice.com.

-- Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik

Table 8, the chic-Los Angeles import tucked into the Hotel De Soleil at the north tip of Ocean Drive, isn't too coy on its Miami Spice preview page about why you should pay a visit: the chef, Govind Armstrong, is "famous", the ambience is "trendy", and the "celebrity fan-base" includes "Ryan Seacrest, musicians Nas and Kelis, Bobby Flay and Adrian Grenie," the write-up gushes. Um, what about the food, guys?

Even if the restaurant's publicist is a little more concerned with celebrity sightings than taste, Table 8's food spoke for itself on a visit this weekend. Though Short Order is on record with some concerns about whether Table 8's Miami Spice menu was skimping on the good stuff, this weekend's options more than justified the $36 cost for three courses.

We were more than surprised when Michael's Genuine Food & Drink (130 NE 40th Street, Miami; 305-573-5550), located in Miami's Design District, was noticeably absent from the Miami Spice participating restaurants list. We wondered if all the accolades, including a mention in the New York Times' "Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count," had gone to its head.

But little did we know Michael's would be "spicing" up Miami alone with its own prix fixe lunch and dinner menus. We already think the place is well priced considered the quality of food, but it's always nice to save a bit of money, especially in the middle of a recession. The lunch is priced at $22 Monday through Thursday, while dinner is $35 Sunday through Thursday; both exclude tax and gratuity. The deal ends September 30.

I must admit that I've gone to Soyka countless times before, never considering it too expensive that a Miami Spice prix fixe menu is needed. But my friends decided to have dinner there Wednesday night and I took it as a perfect opportunity to try it out.

Soyka's food is contemporary American with plenty of Italian influences. I've always considered it the Cheesecake Factory of Miami restaurants, not because its a chain -- it's not -- but because the portions are generous and the menu is an inexplicable mish-mash of different items. Don't get me wrong, I like the restaurant; the food is good, the sweet potato fries are super crispy (crispiest in Miami, if I may say so myself), but it's not a place where the food leaves a lasting impression on me. And after previewing the Spice menu online, I didn't expect my Spice experience to change that.