Foam Crazy

By Mark Goldberg
Dining Critic 

When people learn I’m a dining critic their eyes light up and they invariably say, “What fun! All that food.” And, yes, it can be fun. But if the pleasure came just from the eating, I could probably spend my days in the buffet line on a cruise ship, piling slabs of dry roast beef on a plate.

The true fun is in the discovery. A new room, a new concept, the opportunity to savor something exotic for the first time. Tasting domestic sweetbreads or Caribbean grapefruit swordfish or Japanese shishito. Hearing a waiter ask if there’s anything you’re afraid of or allergic to before he suggests boguerones, carabineros and cigalas imported from Spain.

Speaking of Spain, there’s a new restaurant – the offspring of a two-star Michelin concept in Madrid – in The Mark on Brickell Bay Drive. La Broche is a culinary experiment; unique pairings of flavors, textures and temperatures that my dining squad and I have never experienced before. And the key word is foam.

Executive Chef Angel Palacios adds foams to many dishes as a way of combining ingredients that have never matched before. Some worked beautifully, like the chef’s cocktail: kiwi juice, a touch of whiskey and a passion fruit foam that leaves a mustache on your upper lip. Some didn’t, such as the Foamed Foie Gras ($24). That’s right, a light, whipped-creamy duck liver, apparently plated via a pastry gun. Actually this appetizer featured the duck liver in two textures. The seared foie gras was quite nice, sandwiched between crispy boards of caramelized corn. However the foamed foie gras – a decidedly acquired taste to begin with – topped a strip of artichoke sorbet that was muzzled by the infusion of the liver. On the other hand, the Liquid Potato Gnocchi ($15) – the soft stock centers were superb – were paired with baby mollusks in a seaweed sauce that made us forget most gnocchi arrive in a heavy white cream. Palacios paired Spanish Sardines ($16) with guava and fresh cheese and sandwiched them between layers of phyllo dough. The Asparagus ($18) were exceptional. Of course plating them with imported razor clams and serving them with Roquefort cheese and walnuts was a positive stroke in the flavors/textures combination concept.

La Broche is stunning in its predominantly white presentation. An entire wall is glass, through which you can watch the kitchen staff hustle. It’s an expensive meal, but it includes clever snacks like beet lollipops and screwdriver sorbet, various tapas such as a creamy cauliflower soup topped with a raspberry foam and mineral water, as well as closing petits fours. Servers are skilled in the dishes and attentive to your needs, although their wine skills need sharpening.

The tasty Rabbit ($30) entree combined thigh meat with a little onion and garlic sausage style, splashed with a sauce made from rabbit stock and cinnamon. Add to that mini squids and you have a combination more strange than unique, but that actually worked well. The Tuna Marmitako ($30), a simple Basque fisherman’s dish of white tuna, potatoes, onions and peppers, was a surprising disappointment. The tuna was a poor cut and the onions stuffed with vegetable bernoise were the only forthright flavor in the dish. In the same fashion, the Rice A Banda ($35) – a bowl with a small amount of imported lobster, shrimp and fresh fish of the day drizzled with a sabayon – had a risotto-style rice spooned onto it at table. It looked promising, but the rice leeched all the flavor from the seafood, which should have been foremost taste on our palates. The Lamb ($35) – thick-cut and rich with natural flavor – was heightened with the addition of fresh mushrooms and an orange nectar to the lamb jus. This was perfection.

Desserts ($12 each) include a Mango Carpaccio –thin sliced fresh mango topped with black sesame seeds, basil gelatin and tomato frappe – that was tasty but came across more like an appetizer than a dessert. However, the Rice With Milk, that we all thought would be a rice pudding, was actually a white cannoli stuffed with cream of rice foam and sake gelatin and served with caramel ice cream and caramelized rice. Sweet, soft and crunchy.

If you’re dining on a budget, La Broche is definitely not for you. But if you’re seeking something exotic – with a foam edge – La Broche will take you places you have never been.

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La Broche

ADDRESS: 1155 Brickell Bay Drive, Miami

PHONE: (305) 415-0070

HOURS: Lunch noon to 3pm; Dinner 7pm to 11:30pm Tuesday through Saturday

FOOD: Spanish influenced cuisine

SERVICE: Excellent overall but could use some lessons in wine stewardship

PRICES: Appetizers $12 to $24; Entrees $30 to $43

WINES: A wine catalog featuring Spanish and international selection

ATMOSPHERE: Stunning white on white with a glass wall enclosing the kitchen

RESERVATIONS: Suggested

SMOKING: Smoking Section

CREDIT CARDS: All accepted