Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sugarcane Raw Bar and Grill (Miami)


waffle2
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
What I did on my summer vacation! Flew down to Ft Lauderdale with the family and met up with a friend (Mike) and his family that I haven't seen in person since 1986.

25 years later

Despite this and thanks to Facebook I felt like I knew his wife and family. We had previously planned on a grand meal... and for heaven's sake we had one. Mike drove us down to Miami and we ate at Sugarcane Raw Bar and Grill. We had reservations for 8, 4 adults and 4 teens. We were promptly seated and mike proceeded to order the entire freaking menu in multiples of 4. We had other diners stopping by and ogling our spread, it was decadent and spectacular with the teens feasting as only teens can do. Here are most of the dishes.
We started with fried pig ears

Pig Ears

pig ears

crunchy and delicious, followed closely by edamame and fried shisito peppers

edameme and shisito

Food began arriving in rapid succesion after this, croquetas and bacon wrapped figs

bacon wrapped figs

a seafood tower, multiple views!

seafood tower

tower

tower2

Then steamed pork buns (delicious) and ceviche

pork buns and ceviche

Cured meat plates

meat plate

more meat

beef tartare with a quail egg

beef tartare

Wagyu beef sliders with a fried quail egg on top (also spectacular)

wagyu sliders

Bone marrow with veal stew trimmings

bone marrow

marrow

marrow

grilled squid and octopus

squid and octopus

mike and the octopus

chinese barbecue spare ribs

short ribs

Duck confit on a waffle, topped with a fried duck egg

waffle2

duck confit, waffle and duck egg

and finally dessert, torrejas, rhubarb pie, ice cream

dessert

apple and rhubarb pie

dessert

The whole affair was monumental and incredibly fun. Every dish was outstanding and the company supreme.

dinner at SugarCane

Hope not to go 25 years before the next get together.


Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill on Urbanspoon

Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday, August 15, 2011

Sensi


crab cakes
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
I went to Sensi with a large group of people and we had a tremendous meal, and a great time. I tried to document most peoples dishes but didn't succeed with some, here are some of the great dishes we had.

They offered us a mixed appetizer dish (for parties of 7 or more) which included fried calamari

calamari

very thick not gummi or hard, perfectly cooked.
Seared tuna with onions

seared tuna

Mini crabcakes

crab cake appetizer

all where excellent (I may have missed some)
On the mains we had:
Lamb chops

lamb chops

Risotto with seared tuna

Risotto

crab cakes

crab cakes

Fetuccini with pesto (for the vegetarian in the group)

fetucini

and the ribeye

Rib Eye

The food was tremendous, and the ambiance great. We put down a couple of bottles of wine and brought home a ton of food. a great place to eat as a group, but also one for couples as they seated us away from the 2 people tables.


Sensi on Urbanspoon

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Acacia Midtown - Wines of New Zealand


agave honey
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
I went to dinner with some partners from work, we went to Acacia at one of their wine dinners.
I have been to Acacia before and really like it.

This time around we had Seafood Sausage as the first course.

seafood sausage

paired with a 2011 Lawson Hill's Pinot Gris
The dish went very well with the wine, which most of us liked the most (the wine)

This was followed by a cucumber and melon salad

melon salad

Served with a 2009 Lawson Hill's Gewurztraminer wine. The wine was shockingly fragrant and bold, but actually went very well with the melon

I went with the Porchetta main over the tuna

porchetta

Nicely marbled cut of pork, it could have had a more crispy skin but it was still delicious. It was paired with a 2009 Momo Sauvignon blanc, that also went very well with the dish.

I had the cheese plate with agave honey for dessert

agave honey

cheese plate

I was very happy with the food and wine pairings and as a group we had a great time.


Acacia Mid-town on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Empress


Roasted Vegetables
Originally uploaded by EatingVideo
I ate lunch at The Empress today. The menu is interesting with breakfast and lunch options available till 5pm. I ordered the vichyssoise soup and the Roasted Vegetable Plate.
The vichyssoise was had great flavor and was nicely cold on a hot day.

vichyssoise

The Roasted Vegetables where outstanding. I think this is the best bunch of vegetables I have ever eaten, seriously. I have had great menestras de verduras in spain but those have ham in them, this was straight up tasty veg.

Roasted Vegetables

The hummus was garlicky, and paired well with the well seasoned vegetables. I had a great lunch, attentive service in a nice place.


The Empress on Urbanspoon