Top Tasting Menus In South Florida
Many customers passing by restaurants in Brickell, Miami Beach or the Design District look at the menu and the ambiance and think "The food in their must be so good." Then they look at the price and continue walking because it may be more than they could afford. The following restaurants have tasting menus that make it worth entering their establishments, eating their delicious dishes and enjoying beautiful vantage points around the South Florida area.
See our previous Best Tasting Menus in Miami article here.
Tuyo Restaurant
415 N.E. 2nd Ave.
Miami, FL 33132
(305) 237-3200
www.tuyomiami.com
Sitting atop the Miami Culinary Institute with beautiful views of Downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay is Tuyo Restaurant. Customers can really feel like the restaurant is individually theirs with a price-fixed tasting menu from chef Norman Van Aken. The chef's own tasting menu is a six-course meal at $85 with dishes that fill the belly simply upon a customer's gaze – Brazilian creamy cracked conch chowder, yuca-stuffed crispy shrimp, pan-cooked filet of Key West yellowtail, pork "Havana" with 21st century mole, smokey plantain crema and a Spanish sherry wine reduction.
2426 N.E. 2nd Ave.
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 573-7373
www.jeanpaulshouse.comA great place to see and spend time in is the Design District in the Wynwood area of Miami. Here, Jean Paul's House restaurant, an actual 1920's cottage, has a fixed pre-theatre menu at $30 per person. It is a three-course meal which includes dishes such as pears and blue cheese salad, veal meatballs, a vegan dish called tagliatelle and creme brulee. The restaurant is also a market and specializes in Peruvian-style dishes. The restaurant has a monthly blog where it advises about events at the restaurant. Some have included daily lunch specials and wine nights.
Palme D'Or
1200 Anastasia Ave.
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 913-3201
www.biltmorehotel.com
Palme D'Or gives residents, tourists and history buffs a chance to sit and enjoy a tasting menu at the wondrous Biltmore Hotel. The restaurant features a tasting menu on its regular dinner menu at $100 featuring a five-course meal of dishes such as French toast with a caramelized pear, lamb tenderloin and chocolate souffle. A wine pairing is an additional $60 dollars.
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Hot & Soul
3045 N. Federal Highway, Suite 60B
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33306
(754) 206-2155
www.hotandsoul.com
International food with soul is advertised on the restaurant's website and chefs Mike Hampton and Christy Samoy bring a great menu for customers with healthy appetites. The "Chef's choice" tasting menu is priced at $30 per person for a six-course meal and $40 per person for an eight-course meal. The entire party must order the tasting menu on busy nights which may be every night at this restaurant. Customers can "eat with their eyes" and think about what awaits them on the chef's choice menu just by looking at some of the regular menu selections -- "Vegan Yum Bowl" (coconut polenta with mushroom gravy topped with crispy onions and micro greens), chicken adobo, "gnaughty gnocchi" (san marazano tomatoes, oxtail, pecorino and basil) and mushroom toast with sherry cream.
Market 17
1850 S.E. 17th St.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 835-5507
www.market17.net
Market 17 focuses on serving fresh ingredients direct from the farm to the table. It is located along the water in the Harbourdale neighborhood of Ft. Lauderdale. The chef's choice tasting menu is a six-course meal priced at $85 per person or $125 with a wine pairing. The restaurant requests that each person in the arriving party select the tasting menu to benefit from the fixed-price promotion. The managing partners of Market 17 are brother and sister Krista and Aaron Grauberger. They have each had extensive experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry since 2004 working at prestigious locations. The executive chef is Lauren Deshields, a native Floridian.
Eric L Labrador is a freelance writer covering all things Miami. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
