Triumphant Triumvirate

A second look at three Miami restaurants confirms they’ve earned their popularity   

By Danny Brody

Michael’s Pork Belly. Photo by Simon Hare.

While it’s important to look at restaurants when they first open, and to review them after two or three months, sometimes it’s good to take a second look at places that have been open for a while.

When a restaurant is new and exciting, sometimes the rapture of the moment leads to breathless rhapsodizing about dishes, service and décor that might seem old and tired a year or two later. Do well-reviewed, crowded places maintain their high standards and delicious food after the reviewers and national press move on to other hot spots? Often we forget that a restaurant famous for its atmosphere and local importance actually can have good food. Two of the former I’d like to re-examine are Sardinia on South Beach and Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District. And for the latter, no place fits that description more than Little Havana’s Versailles. Here are my second looks.

Sardinia sits on a corner in what used to be considered the Siberia of South Beach, Purdy Avenue.  Somehow, the restaurant has transformed this spot into a busy focal point of the neighborhood, at both lunch and dinner, by offering a serene indoor/outdoor space, coupled with great service, and by serving authentic Sardinian dishes and Sardinian wines, made from obscure grapes, such as the Vermentino ($12/glass). This luxuriously golden white wine is strong and stiff, and holds up remarkably well for a white when paired with Malloreddos in Lamb Ragù ($12), homemade pasta that resembles tiny ridged conch shells.

Although the lunch menu called for ground veal and sage, the server suggested the lamb version from the dinner menu as a tastier option, and it was served in an American style with lots of meaty sauce. The chewy little dumplings, made from corn flour, soak up the rich, slow-cooked lamb and tomato sauce, and the portion was more than enough for one person.

Another lunch favorite is the Pappardelle with Zucchini and Mint Ragù ($10), an unexpected vegetarian option that sizzles with subtle tastes and textures. The pasta is chewy and, combined with small half-moons of crunchy zucchini and mint leaves, sits in a shallow pool of a buttery sauce, enhanced by a light sprinkling of freshly grated cheese. A salad of bietole (chard), beets, cherry tomatoes, romaine hearts, shaved parmesan and chestnut honey was both light and fresh, dressed at the table with some great Figs and Spices balsamic vinegar from Terres Rouges. I would also recommend upgrading to the Terra di Bari Puglia olive oil from Castel Del Monte, peppery oil that adds nice nuances to any dish. And while the fresh bread is crusty and hearty, the real treat of the bread basket is the carasatu, a cracker-like flat bread imported from Sardinia. 

Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink has garnered so many accolades that there was bound to be a backlash. Chef Michael Schwartz has been called unsmiling, sullen and a serial F-bomb dropper (well, that part may be true), and some people are questioning his No. 4 ranking in the New York Times’ Top 10 New Restaurants.

After being open for a full year and undergoing a mid-year mini-expansion, the place is still packed every night. But is a reassessment going to find many flaws to justify this inevitable backlash against its success? I’m afraid not, naysayers. At a recent dinner, I sat at the kitchen bar in front of the wood-burning stove and watched the kitchen smoothly send out such great dishes as Black Grouper Ceviche ($10) and Triggerfish Carpaccio ($15), both made with locally caught fish. The ceviche was as satisfying as the triggerfish was mystifying, its almost octopus-like texture a revelation on the tongue. And while the ceviche contained papaya, Thai coconut and avocado in a citrus marinade, the carpaccio was served with Florida kumquats, garlic chives, shaved carrot and radish, fleur de sel and extra virgin olive oil. Two local fish dishes, two completely differing flavors and textures, and both went well with a glass of Dr. H. Thanisch Riesling ($7), a bargain on a wine list known for featuring many modest bargains.

The Crispy Grouper Cheek ($16), served with creamy fregola, preserved Meyer lemons and a watermelon radish salad (radishes being a minor chef-fetish here), is a more recent addition that, along with the Crispy Sweet & Spicy Pork Belly, has become a popular classic, both in its unusual preparation, unexpected richness (it is a cheek after all) and its oddity-made-delicious factor. A Banana Split for dessert was completely over the top in its luxuriousness; and Chimay on tap and a bartender who knows how to mix drinks are also big pluses. The chef was not in the kitchen on one of my most recent visits, and the food was still excellent. Maybe the New York Times should have moved him up a notch or two.

Versailles is so often mentioned as the go-to Cuban joint in Miami, even if its over-the-top faux-fancy Greek diner ambiance and extremely crowded dining room often cause locals to roll their eyes.

On a recent visit, though, the service was cheery, even though the restaurant was completely filled for lunch at 12:15 p.m., and the Lechón Asado ($9.95), or roast pork, was moist and tender in its garlicky mojo. The accompanying onions were crunchy, the yucca was homey and the pork itself was topped with a nice piece of crunchy cracklin’ (skin). The beans and rice were fresh, not really trying to be anything more than part of a good, filling Cuban lunch almost enough for two people.  The Little Cuban Sandwich ($4.95) was a nice opener, crunchy and filled with the proper ratio of ham, pork, pickles, etc. On my way out, I passed the usual tables of dignitaries with their police escorts and families with children, and stopped for a Café Cubano outside. There were the usual suspects, drinking coffee and arguing politics. But on this visit, standing in the blazing heat of the parking lot, it didn’t induce eye-rolling at all. In fact, it seemed almost reassuring. Perhaps a third look may be in order.