Miami Food Blog

via urbanite bistro

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• Course I - Woodpecker Pear Cider with Wild Mushroom Empanadas  (vegan-white truffle gravy)
• Course II - Ayinger Hefe Weizen with Wild Mussels (lemon grass broth with a touch of Thai red curry)
• Course III - Victory Pilsner with Alligator Egg Rolls (roasted mango and jalapeno crème)
• Course IV - Victory Smoking King Stout with Moroccan Lamb Sliders (tomato, harissa mayo and tabbouleh)
• Course V - Rogue Chocolate Stout with Natural Short Rib (braised vegetables and roasted garlic mashed potatoes)
• Dessert - Seadog Wild Blueberry with Pear Cobbler

www.smilinggums.com

Come along for the journey

​Simple food made with love meets music of a similar persuasion, as local band Smiling Gums resumes its residence at downtown Italian hideaway Soya e Pomodoro.

Soya is tucked away in a vaulted arcade, like an old trattoria upon which you might stumble on a side street in Rome.  It's a seductive setting for red-sauced and rustic Italian fare, and Smiling Gums' natural mix of rock n roll and afro-Cuban rhythms.  The band will play two sets each last Friday of the month, at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m.

"The nostalgic feeling of the abandoned bank lobby and old book shelves makes me feel like I am in some decayed grandiose old city.  Something like Havana," explains vocalist and guitarist Ruben Millares.  "It keeps our music rich and really captures our sound. Not to mention the authentic Italian food!"

 
Whether taken or single, the dinner date can be a perilous affair if not done right. Go to Hooters, and you'll be distracted/upstaged by the lovely boobies on display, the crew at Johnny Rockets will disrupt your dinner with some "Bob-bob-bob-bob-bobburran" bullshit, and Taco Bell - well let's just say that the "runs" is never and will never be considered an enticing addition to the game of foreplay. But, Brickell's River Oyster Bar, on the other hand, is a great place for a first or last date. The lights are pleasantly low, and the dining room chatter is at kept at a light din making it a great place to trade double entendres, oyster-style.

Unless you've been living underneath some sea crag, you probably know that oysters have long been considered an aphrodisiac - for reasons to be disputed in waterfront strip clubs from here to New England. Some say it's the O's high zinc content, others claim it's the slurp factor that is involved in their consumption, and lovers of mythology say that as soon as Aphrodite coasted into their world on an oyster shell, the sea fruit was sea sexy. River Oyster GM Michale Hidalgo says that most patrons "share or order their own platters, it just depends on how many oysters you can get through. But we definitely go through tons of oysters here daily." How many shelled, sex-inducing, little guys make up Hidalgo's "ton"? "On the low end, 40 to 50 thousand. But we've gotten up to one hundred thousand in a day, flown in from all around the world."