Gio Gutierrez

Pubbelly Sushi Review

// Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 09:48 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

From the guys (Andreas Schreiner, Jose Mendin, Sergio Navarro) that brought you Pubbelly, comes its new little piggy – Pubbelly Sushi!

The place is trendy without being obnoxious, fantastically friendly service and kick ass food! Here’s what we devoured and our favorites!

Snacks:
Tostones de Pana – hamachi ceviche, crispy breadfruit, cilantro & ginger soy (top fav)
Shishito Peppers – raita, pine nuts, roasted red peppers, cumin salt
Rockshrimp Tempura – buffalo aioli, blue cheese, pickled carrots, ao nori (top fav)

Rolls:
Yellowtail – green soy paper, truffle yuzu, snow crab, nori flakes

Sashimi:
Hamachi Jalapeño – lemon soy, cilantro, roasted poblanos (top fav)

New England Style Buns:
Spicy Tuna – frites & scallions
Fried Clams – coleslaw & lemon (top fav)

Dessert:
Asian Style Creme Brûlée – (can’t remember the ingredients, sorry!)

Overall Success… another great reason to leave the main land and venture into the beach.

PS Drool over the pics!

Haven Review

// Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 09:48 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

This is the ultimate cool lounge to bring in your out-of-town guests for the South Beach experience yet also cool enough and hip for locals.

Decor is all neon lights (but not cheesy) with hundreds of little lights on the ceiling, one panoramic screen surrounding the club alternating scenes and gorgeous looking people.

Tasted all of the following cocktails, each one unique and clever: Quiver, Pop Drop, Fever, Haven

Food is from a charming  and southern Chef Todd Erickson. Ate half the menu and it was all delicious: Lobster Scallop Crudo, Sea Monster Crudo , Water Salad, Maki Peru Roll, BBQ Eel Roll, Vegetarian Slider, Day Boat Slider, Crab Cake Slider, Tater Tots and last but not least, Captain Crunch Nitro Ice Cream.

Harry’s Pizzeria Review

// Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 09:47 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

Amazing… What else can you expect from  Michael Schwartz? Everything was perfect…

Funny enough, half the stuff I’ve made from his cooking book and I ordered them just to compare it with my homemade versions and of course it was 10x better lol Example: his homemade ricotta, polenta fries and even his pizza dough (with a little bit of honey). Speaking of which, had two pies. Check out the pics.

Braised Fennel – trugole, basil, caramelized onion and green olives

Pesto – homemade ricotta, mozzarella, pecorino and fresh tomatoes

Congrats to Miami’s finest pizzeria!

Top 10 Favorite Food Experiences in Miami

// Friday, August 12th, 2011 10:32 am GMT -5 // 2 Comments » // Food

NeMesis Urban Bistro

// Thursday, July 7th, 2011 10:17 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

NeMesis Urban Bistro is Micah Edelstein’s (Season 3 “Top Chef” contestant) new place w/ partner Harald Oechsner in downtown around the corner from Space. Below an art gallery, NeMesis is full of artsy installation beyond the really cool portraits of artsy people. You’ll find an array of vividly different colored umbrellas hanging from the roof, a horizontal sculpture made up of 100′s of men’s neck ties and even an Indian inspired wall light hand made by Micah herself from stabbing aluminum w/ a needle. Needless to say the place’s decor is fantastically cool.

The food itself  is what Micah calls – “eclectic world cuisine” with dishes from all over the world from her many travels as you can see in these dishes we devoured:

Baked Veggie Samoosa – Melon Chutney
Mini Caprese – Ricotta Salsa, Cashew Pesto
Kira Inspired Scallop – Grilled Bread, Tomato Saffron Sauce, Currants
Chamomile Horseradish Glazed Salmon – Cold Quinoa Salad, Grilled Apple
Warm Malva Pudding – Cool Amarula Sauce
Coffee – Grated Nutmeg Brewed On The Table

Everything was perfected to a T and it was only their soft opening! Presentation, tastes, uniqueness, so many adjectives… just look at the pics and drool.

I chatted after w/ Micah and she said it perfectly – “I want it to be like sex in your mouth…” Thanks for taking my belly on a trip across the globe… to many more orgasms :P

List Of All The Miami Food Trucks

// Friday, May 6th, 2011 01:57 pm GMT -5 // 1 Comment » // Food

Links to all the  Food Trucks roaming around Miami as of May, 2011

Aaron’s Catering Express, Big Kahuna, Caza Crepes, CheeseMe, Chef on Wheels, Chef on 4 Wheels,  ChurroMania,  Daddy’s Grill, Dim Ssam a Gogo, Divan Bakery & Coffee, Dolci Peccati, Esther’s Caribbean Grill, The Flying Saucer, Frita Man, gastroPod, Grillmaster Café, Guisseppe’s Italian Sausage, Kona Ice, The Fish Box, Latin Burger, Latin House Grill, The MexZican Gourmet, Mobile Cigars, Mr. Good Stuff,  Ms. Cheezious, Muscle Truck, Nacho Mama’s, Papa’s Tapas, Purple People Eatery, Red Koi, Red Truck, Rincon Del Coqui, The Rolling Stove, Sir Pizza, Sugar Rush, Sugar Yummy Mama, Tango Grill, and Wing Commander

Sustain Review

// Thursday, May 5th, 2011 11:46 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

How can a 2 star restaurant change to a 5?

Easy really, just fix everything wrong which is what Sustain has done since my previous visit.

We were introduced this time by a really cute looking hostess with thick chunky glasses and a little fro with a smile that shined. Ambience was fantastic, still playing great music perfectly fitted with its decor of branches/roots and upside-down mangroves.

Our waiter Marco, was so vastly better in everything than last time’s waitress whose answer to everything was “I dunno”… Marco was very polite, extremely patient, honest about everything, knowledgeable on every item on the menu while explaining the concepts behind the restaurant and the food. For example – Sustain does not serve bottled water (a trend I’d like to see more and more) and everything is made in house except for mustard and vinegar.

We started with a refreshing cocktail called The Elixir – vodka, st. germain, chartreuse, strawberry, black pepper – a perfect start to what was to become a great meal.

The food was completely different in a good way. Everything came out perfectly cooked, beautifully presented (check out the pics I uploaded) and tasted great. We had the fried chickpeas in herb oil, grilled octopus w/ cannellini beans and pickled onions and radish, home-made pretzel bites w/ whole grain mustard, their very popular 50 mile salad which as the name suggests – everything is local, the “still” amazing corn bisque, the unique boniato (think sweet potato) gnocchi was too die for, fried chicken w/ mac n cheese and one of the most amazing pieces of grilled yellow eye snapper I’ve ever had served on two grilled beefsteak tomato slices in an ocean broth.

Wether it was a rough beginning or cleaned up their act, Sustain has turned this frown upside down and I could not recommend it more.

Crumb On Parchment Review

// Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 05:00 pm GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

Another brainchild from Michelle Bernstein, this is a lovely cafe/bakery hidden inside the atrium of the building at 3950. The decor is homey with different chairs and drink cups for example and sofas, couches and long tables (think Martha Stewart).

Everything is baked daily and you can definitely taste it, some items are even baked by Michelle’s mother Martha. The food menu changes daily and is SUPER affordable; like our $5 Southern Tomato Salad w/ red onions, corn, arugula, avocado, tomatoes and blue cheese. I also had the Seared Rare Tuna Sandwich w/ spicy pickled cucumbers and kim chee aioli with some chips for $10.50 (the most expensive thing on the menu believe it or not). We ended with a slice of pear and fig cake that was too die for! If I had more cash, I would have bought the whole cake and bring it back to work (it’s cash only – hopefully it’s short term).

Crumb will definitely become a hot spot for breakfast, lunch and meetings with its affordable prices, ambience, great tasting menu options and free wi-fi.

Peacock Garden Café Review

// Friday, April 8th, 2011 02:36 pm GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

Peacock Garden Café is a new venture from the same owners of Jaguar in the Grove and Talavera off of Miracle Mile. This new addition to The Grove is a dream come true. You need to be sitting in this beautiful garden listening to it’s ultra lounge background sound of classic covers while drinking their amazing Basil Sangria (Red wine, triple sec, simple syrup, brandy, fresh basil, lime juice and a splash of peach schnapps) to appreciate this place.

Peacock Garden Cafe is one of the nicest atmosphere’s, taking advantage of our beautiful Miami weather.

On to the food. Great menu. Great prices. Different soup everyday and salads w/ or w/out protein of your choice. Here’s what we had and make sure to check out the pics.

• Picnic Board – Prosciutto, Chorizo, Cantimpalo, Brie, Parmesan, Olives, Cornichones, Fig Jelly & Sliced Bread
• Marinated and grilled Artichoke served with blue cheese lemon dip
• Fish Sandwich from The Keys – with Jamaican Jerk, fresh home-made tartar sauce on a toasted brioche bun
• Yellow Fin Tuna w/ Baby mixed greens with dry cherries, rich blue cheese & walnuts

The only thing we didn’t try was dessert but that just gives us another reason to come back.

PS. Please start doing brunches!!!

Route 9 Review

// Thursday, February 10th, 2011 10:50 am GMT -5 // No Comments » // Food

Route 9 is the love child of Paola and Jeremy Goldberg, some Miami locals that have been in the food industry managing some of South Florida’s favorite restaurants including Timo, Johnny V Las Olas, and one my favorite’s, Escopazzo.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Paola (whose of Mexican descent) because she was busy in the kitchen but we met Jeremy upon entering the premises. He was so welcoming to the point of giving us quarters for parking our cars on the street as we didn’t have any change. That’s A+ service right there in my book…

We started off with the Ceviche Of The Day (Escolar) which was spectacular followed by a Focaccia With Caramelized Onions, Apples and Blue Cheese which was just as delicious. And from here on is where things went a little south… the French Lentil and Vegetable Soup was so flavorless that we returned it. Jeremy was nice enough to bring us in exchange their Cream of tomato soup with grilled sharp cheddar cheese toast which tasted just as bland (reminded me of Campbell’s canned tomato soup). The Grilled Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Cucumbers w/ a Shallot Oregano Vinegar was also upsetting as neither did it look grilled (marks???) nor did it taste grilled. Maybe if the description didn’t say that, it wouldn’t have been that disappointing because it was a simple good-tasting salad. My friend ordered the Sticky Chicken Wings which he said had “Great glaze flavor but the chicken meat, not so tasty”. The Fresh Pasta with Chiles, Peas and Almonds was something just as flavorless as the previous dishes. The Fish Tacos w/ House Made Guacamole and Scallion Sour Cream however were very satisfying and more upbeat and the two sides we had were great:Truffled Cauliflower Gratin and Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts. (see pics)

And they don’t make dessert in house (as of yet at least) we skimped on that. I actually sat with Jeremy and mentioned most of this face-to-face and he was very receptive and I appreciative about the feedback. I really think they’ll grow the kinks out and wish them the best in the long run. But 3 stars for now…