Flavors Of Italian Coast Line Come To Life In Heart Of Midtown
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- There's a coastline area of Italy known as Liguria - home to Genoa and Portofino - that is as well-known for its natural beauty as it is for its wonderful and unique cuisine.
Welcome to Riviera Focacceria Italiana, a hidden gem in Midtown, now known as one of the few places in the U.S. that makes a traditional dish originated from Liguria.
"We have a special dish that's originated from a small village close to Genoa where they created Focaccia al Formaggio. The trick is it's a particular cheese we import every week by air from Italy," said owner Fabio Domenichini.
Two very thin, yeast-free layers of dough covers these precious lumps of strachinno cheese that can only be bought in Italy.
"It's a little piece of heaven on your plate. It is! Think it's light crispy and the cheese is to die for," said Petrillo after biting in.
Another key component to Ligurian cuisine is pesto, which means "to pound or crush." It's all about the special ingredients that's pounded into the pesto sauce. That pesto sauce is served over the handmade mandilli pasta, known as the silk handkerchief pasta.
"At the end, the dishes are easy, just simple ingredients and good recipes mostly recipes of grandmothers," Fabio said.
"It's like a warm hug. The handkerchief mandilli pasta is thin and envelopes your mouth the pesto is not too strong. It's super soft," Petrillo said.
Every pasta, dessert, everything on the menu is made from scratch, like the final tasting dish - the Tuna Verde. It'slightly seared sushi-grade tuna with fennel and olives, pesto, basil and lemon and oil dressing.
"This puts any tuna tartar away. There's lemon, basil, pesto and tuna is fresh. It's like a dessert tuna tartar dish," Petrillo said
Riviera Focacceria Italiana -where the flavors of the Italian coast line come to life in the heart of midtown.
Riviera Focacceria Italiana is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Click here for more info.
CBS4's Lisa Petrillo would love to hear from you. Please send us a suggestion for your #HiddenGems spot at tasteofthetown@cbs.com. You can also contact Lisa through Twitter or Facebook.
