A Taste Of The Bayou At The Federal In Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Here's a shout out to all crustacean-loving crowds. The Federal, off Biscayne Boulevard and 51st in Miami, is smack in the middle of their Crawfish Wednesday program.
This is the second year in a row that the restaurant has offered this seafood delicacy; fresh crawfish from the Gulf coast are flown in every Wednesday.
Chef Cesar Zapata and his wife Anience Meinhold came up with the crawfish concept.
"I used to go to the Bayou and went to different places and to different restaurants and found I love crawfish. I thought, I need to bring something like this to Miami," explained Chef Cesar.
Chef Cesar prepares a traditional crawfish boil that includes onions, lemon, garlic, parsley, bay leaves and more.
"We have corn potatoes, sausage," described Chef Cesar.
The décor of the restaurant, located in the Federal, is an American tavern with an updated edge.
"We wanted to do something American, so we thought The Federal and we have Federal Highway behind us. We thought that name and concept worked well," said Chef Cesar.
The good old American buttermilk biscuit is probably the most famous item on the menu. Food and Wine Magazine nominated it as one of the best in the country.
"You can't come to The Federal and not have biscuit," exclaimed Anience .
"That is a real classic biscuit but with a little more. There's something else to it," described CBS4's Lisa Petrillo while tasting the famous biscuit .
The Crawfish Boil is a bottomless plate of veggies and those critters people crave.
"So you just rip the head off, crack the shell and pull the meat out. It's brutal, but I like it," joked Petrillo.
Momo's NoLa Gumbo is legendary.
"It's seasoned perfectly. It's got that kick but not too much," Petrillo said.
Also on the menu, the ultimate decadent dinner: crawfish and grits.
"It's crawfish ragu with sausage, corn and we use grits with cream and cheese and butter. It's decadent," said Anience
"It's just like a dessert, creamy, yummy dessert!" said Petrillo.
Crawfish Wednesday is on every Wednesday night now through the end of May. For more information, go to www.thefederalmiami.com.
