Oye! Got some pretty kickass news for ya today! Local Miamians may recall Chef Alberto Cabrera and the badass Cobaya dinner he took us underground for back in November of last year. Check out his resume. The dude gets around and has worked with some great chefs throughout his career. We chatted via text today and he let me know that he was leaving The Local, his gastropub concept in Coral Gables, and launching a new endeavor this summer... Frita Shop!
Oh hell yeah!
I can imagine the Burger Beast fainting from the thought of getting his hands on frita at a brand new certified frita joint. Alberto revealed minimal details. What I can tell you is that he will be offering up these classic Cuban burgers along with liquid nitrogen shakes and that there will be originally be locations in Kendall and Westchester. I imagine there will be other bites of awesomeness on the menu too.
Currently the website, www.fritashop.com, is in the final development stages and soon there will be Facebook and Twitter pages to follow to get the latest updates on Cabrera's new joint. Alberto also let me know that inquiring minds and bellies can get a taste of Frita Shop next month inside the Grand Tasting tent at South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Locations hope to open sometime in July. Stay tuned for more info.
Burger lover and all-around good guy, Sef Gonzalez, aka The Burger Beast got quite a crew together for the 3rd Annual Burgie Awards this past Saturday at Magic City Casino. The event was huge! There were 40 food trucks and 12 restaurants set up in the parking lot, creating an enormous outdoor food court of sorts. The Beastman reached out to me and asked if I'd help him by being a judge for the best burger category. I was one of 7 judges on the panel selected to taste 22 different burgers (12 restaurants, 10 food trucks) LIVE in a blind tasting. The rest of the panel was made up of The Chowfather, 954 Burger Boi, Carlos Acosta aka "Certified Ill", a couple of people from Copperpot's, and Short Order writer and Chowfather arch nemesis, Laine Doss. A motley crew indeed.
At 5pm the burgers started floating into the VIP tent to the judges table and the carnage began. Having attended the Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival last year, I knew that I had to pace myself in the beginning stages in order to make it to the end. With 22 burgers to sample, any overindulgence would be sure to bury me. I stuck to that plan and survived. The Chowfather did not have a game plan and, against my warning, went heavy on the first burger. By burger #9 he wasn't looking too good. By burger 15 he was banged up bad. After burger 22 let's just say some Magic City palms got some angus-filled fertilizer.
The quality of burgers ranged from awful to awesome. My qualifications for a great burger start with the patty. It's gotta be fresh and seasoned. That Sysco crap doesn't cut it. Matter of fact, it's pretty disgusting. After that, the bun has gotta be solid. If the bottom bun can't handle the juicy burger and becomes soggy, that's a partial fail in my book. With patty and bun out of the way, it's all about the toppings. If the toppings provide good flavor enhancement without getting too crazy and/or sloppy, we've got a winner.
Here's a look at the contestants. First up, the restaurant entries:
Burger & Beer Joint - Judges' Choice for Restaurant Best Burger
Charm City Burgers
Cheeseburger Baby
Georgie's Alibi
Gilbert's 17th Street Grill
JR's
The Local - Judges' Choice Runner Up for Restaurant Best Burger
Tobacco Road
Quickie's
Sakaya Kitchen
Pincho Factory
La Camaronera's Lobster Burger was a waste of time and lobster. It was a burger competition.
Here are the food truck entries:
Bite Gastrotruck
Dim Ssam a Gogo
Jefe's Original - Runner Up for Judges' Choice Food Truck Best Burger
gastroPod - Judges' Choice for Food Truck Best Burger
Latin Burger was DQ'd for delivering their own burgers. Don't worry, they didn't go to waste. I hooked up some homeless folks on my ride home.
Miso Hungry
Latin House Grill
El Rincon del Coqui
Purple People Eatery
The Rolling Stove
My top burgers in the restaurant category went like this:
Burger & Beer Joint - burger patty seasoned beautifully. Worthy bun. Bacon, pickle, and just a touch of bbq enhance the flavor. This is the one to beat. The Local - tender patty cooked to a nice medium-rare with bacon flavor present. Nice bun. Went a little overboard with the mustard but not too bad. Cheese and onion added nice flavor. Side of crunchy fries flecked with salt were fantastic but did not factor into the scoring plus I only had two to save room. Sakaya Kitchen - toppings rule this one with green onion, tots, cheese, and ssamjang (a thick, Korean spicy dressing) combining for an interesting flavor combo. Just wish the patty wasn't lost in all of that. Gilbert's 17th St Grill - this one was huge. Patty had a great char on it but wasn't seasoned enough to survive without the nice slab of bacon on top. English muffin was an interesting choice for a bun but worked for me. Egg and cheese rounded out the flavors
My top burgers in the food truck category were:
gastroPod - perfect size, seasoned patty, perfect med-rare. Runny egg, spicy mayo sauce, and thin sliced homemade pickles had this mouth party rockin'. Potato bun held it all together. Kickass burger. Jefe's Original - All-American burger with decent patty flavor. A replica In-N-Out burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and secret sauce. Clean fresh flavors here. The Rolling Stove - nice char makes the bun nice and crisp. Equal char on the patty provided good flavor and seasoned well too. Sauce a little strange, slightly sweet but not bad. Onions were a little strong here but overall a standout burger. Purple People Eatery - great med-rare temp on this one. I disagreed with some judges who didn't like the blue cheese. I liked it and on my burger it wasn't overdone but added nicely to the sprouts and tomato. Seemed to have a sweetness there which after further inspection may have been onion jam but can't be sure. Dim Ssam a Gogo - Kinda dumb to have this one again as it's the same as Sakaya Kitchen but regardless where they make the burger it's still a pretty good one.
I will admit it was rough getting bites from all of these burgers down the hatch and after the competition was over it was even harder to stand amongst the food court smelling nothing but burgers. Luckily, a buddy had brought some Maker's Mark which aided the digestion process. In the end, I was happy to have participated in my 3rd consecutive Burgie Awards ceremony (2nd straight live). It was a great event and much congrats due to the Beast himself for putting it all together. Another victory in his battle to raise more awareness to the American food that he loves best - the burger.
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival took place again this past weekend on Miami Beach and this year I snagged a ticket to go to the Burger Bash for the first time. Unlike last year where I purchased a ticket to this event and then booked a business trip that overlapped it, I was in Miami and ready to find some burgers and scarf 'em down!
For those not familiar with the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SBWFF), it is an annual event held on Miami Beach that glorifies all that is gluttonous and able to be imbibed. Food Network is a sponsor so there's lots of famous chefs from that station doing cooking demos and signing boobs and stuff. Pretty cool but not really. Luckily there are lots of other chefs who descend on South Beach without the need for bodyguards (seriously??). Well, anyways, one of the events that is part of the festival is the Burger Bash where 26 culinary competitors man a booth underneath a giant tent on the sand, fire up their grills, and serve crazy amounts of burger awesomeness to a packed house. Amstel Light is a sponsor as well so there are also plenty of beers to fill you up even more. It was hot under the tent so it didn't take long to get a nice meat sweat going before being covered with smoke billowing from the grills. Let's just say I left there smelling like awesome topped with awesome and extra awesome sauce.
Burger Bash Menu & Map (Click to enlarge)
With 26 burgers to eat, there is no way you're gonna hit them all (effectively). My strategy was to eliminate some as soon as I saw the preview menu the day before. I eliminated 7 that I didn't want to try because I'd already had them, they're local and I can get them whenever, and/or they sound lame:
-Shake Shack (local)
-Burger & Beer Joint (local)
-BLT Steak (local)
-Town Kitchen & Bar (how the hell were they in this thing????)
Charm City Burger Co's "Kurabuta Cowboy" (photo: Paula Nino)
That left me with 19 left to try and a sincere doubt I could handle that. After all, I'm no Burger Beast. To make a long story short (for once), I started feeling a little full after about the fourth burger I tried. They are served cut into fours or as mini-burgers and I was a little hungry so I almost finished 3 out of 4 instead of just taking a few bites and moving on. The tent was hot and choosing to drink a beer didn't help either. The best thing I did was bring a little Evan Williams Single Barrel in a flask so I sipped that instead of beer and told myself that the bourbon would help the digestive process. In the end, I had 12 burgers and a bite of a 13th. I was on a ground beef high.
Frita from El Mago de la Frita (photo: Paula Nino)
One of my favorite local Miami spots got a booth this year - El Mago de la Frita!! El Mago was there himself working his magic on the flat top, busting out fritas for the crowd. Everyone in the El Mago booth was friendly and energetic. They gave away bottle openers and beer coozies with the El Mago logo on it and I even scored a cigar! I was proud of them for really making an effort to maximize their exposure. If you haven't been to see El Mago, I demand that you do so soon. There you can get your frita with a fried egg and a little cheese if you're a gringo like me. Plus you can meet El Mago himself, the frita magician. I was pumped when I saw El Mago walking back to his booth after the winners were announced and got to shake his hand and say "good job". He didn't win but I'm not sure there were any other burger contestants who've cooked for the President!
The Schlow Burger from Radius (photo: Paula Nino)
My favorite burger overall was Michael Symon's "YO!" burger. It was topped with provolone and the chef's "ShaSha sauce" and had a thin slice of fried salami and a basil leaf that combined with the burger patty to form a really unique flavor. I finished that entire burger and it got my vote. I also enjoyed the burger from Radius, a Boston spot that had won a few years prior, and the burger from Charm City Burger Co who are a local SoFlo burger joint. Biggest disappointment was Morimoto's burger. The sauce overpowered the meat and it just tasted bland. Same with the one from Ritz Bistro One LR. It boasted of bacon and foie gras but somehow had no distinct flavor whatsoever which floored me. Also disappointing was how loud the goddamn music was. I couldn't hear anyone when they were trying to speak to me and most of the time me and whomever I was talking to would have to repeat ourselves 2-5 times before we finally understood each other.
B Spot's winning "YO!" Burger (photo: Paula Nino)
Michael Symon's burger ended up winning the People's Choice Award while Marc Murphy of Landmarc (which I wasn't able to try) won the Judge's Award. Chef Symon also won the award for "Best Dressed" Burger because of the ShaSha sauce.
You hear stories of SBWFF events with booths that run out of food/drink and/or get oversold but the Burger Bash seemed to get it right. It's always a good time hangin' with my great friends Paula, David, and Jackie at these events too. It was a fun night and I met a lot of great people and will most likely do it again next year.
I think it was about a year ago that I received an email from the Burger Beast inviting me to join up with him and a few other people for lunch at El Mago de la Frita. I work further North and don't really have much of a lunch break, so I had to decline. Well, it just so happened that the night before that day, I came down with a 24-hour cold that was bad enough to keep me home from work feeling like crap the following morning. As a kid, sometimes when I stayed home sick from school my Dad would come home on his lunch break with a burger and fries from McDonald's. I'm not sure if it was the grease from the food or just the spiritual boost a kid gets from Dad bringing home some McD's but it always made me feel better. So, I decided that a burger would get me back on track and went out to meet the Burger Beast and his band of merry men and women at El Mago.
I'd never been to El Mago before. Actually, I'd never even heard of it. I certainly didn't know what the hell a "frita" was either but I remembered "Best Frita" being a category at last year's "Burgie Awards" so I figured it was something I'd have to try. El Mago de la Frita is located just West of Red Road on Calle Ocho. I arrived on that first visit to find a counter lined with friends: Paula, Jackie, Gagit, and The Beast himself were ready to scarf down some fritas. An older Cuban gentleman dressed in a white shirt and apron paced behind the counter cooking fritas to order. This was El Mago "the magician" himself and he was in the zone, flipping patties with his magical spatula. A frita, I learned, is a Cuban burger where the patty contains some ground beef, a little onion, and a bit of ground chorizo. Sounds kinda awesome, right? It is topped with crispy shoestring potatoes, some magical sauce which I believe is ketchup, and you can add can add a slice of cheese too which I'm told is "for the gringos". Using Paula as my translator, I placed my order gringo style and added a fried egg for good measure. Yeah, this gringo came to party. Once the patty has been grilled on the flat top, it is placed on top of a bun made from Cuban bread and then the toppings are added. The frita then heads to the panini press for a few minutes to toast the bun and warm the awesomeness inside it.
My frita arrived and I quickly dug in. To my surprise, I really liked the Cuban bread bun. Normally I am not a fan of Cuban bread but this worked and held the frita together without getting soggy. The flavor of the patty was awesome. The chorizo adds a nice savory flavor with a little spice. The fried egg was also a winner of a decision, it's yolk adding a creamy texture to each bite. I think my favorite part was the shoestring potatoes though. They were so tiny and crispy and added nice crunch to each bite. I think my frita lasted about four minutes on my plate. It was so good that I immediately forgot about my cold and started feeling better.
There was a frita from El Mago here but it magically disappeared
into my belly faster than my iPhone's shutter speed could capture it
I sat at the counter and chatted for a bit before saying "adios" and heading back to my place to veg out on the couch and get some rest. Since then, I've been back to El Mago a few times and even visited El Rey de la Frita for a comparison. What I learned is that El Mago es El Rey!!
See footage of the Burger Beast annihilating some fritas at multiple locations but declaring El Mago the best here.
Check it out:
El Mago de la Frita 5828 Southwest 8th Street West Miami, FL 33144 (305) 266-8486 ()
This week I returned to the South on business, knocking off another state I'd never been to - Alabama. I flew into Birmingham on American Airlines' inaugural MIA-BHM direct flight and they had a nice reception waiting in Birmingham which was pretty cool. After an afternoon of meetings, my sales rep, Bobby, and I were pretty hungry. He lives in the Birmingham area and knows I love to eat so he took me to a place called Cajun Steamer. Apparently the owners are originally from Louisiana and had moved to Alabama, missed the flavor of N'Awlins, and opened a restaurant. I, for one, am thankful they did.
It was a perfect day for sitting outside so we did just that. We started out with a full order of freshly boiled crawfish. These little buggers were meaty and nice and spicy. Sucking the heads really gave you a blast of flavor. I think I've got my crawfish technique down to a dominant form of art now. After the crawfish, we split an appetizer of fried green tomatoes that came topped with crab, corn, and a remoulade sauce. This was a great dish. The tomatoes were lightly fried in a cornmeal batter and the combination of the crab, corn, and sauce really worked well.
I was ready to tap out and call it quits, full on beer, crawfish, and the fried tomato app but Bobby suggested we finish off with an oyster po' boy. I didn't think I could handle it but my manhood was questioned and I knew it would be 16 hours before I ate again so I ordered one. It was a good call. The oysters were lightly fried and flavorful and the bread was ultra soft. Tomatoes and lettuce and a little remoulade made for a refreshingly filling sandwich.
The following day we had a couple of really good meetings with a stop at Hamburger Heaven thrown in between. I was pumped when I saw a giant New England Patriots flag flying over the registers! Bobby said the burgers tasted like you cooked 'em yourself on a grill in your backyard and he was right. I had a nice and juicy bacon cheeseburger, its flavor enhanced by a "secret sauce" that had a nice spice to it. The fries were kind of a whiff though and were dry and not crisp.
At the end of the day we ended up by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Bobby recommended we go for some BBQ. "Hell yeah!" was my reply.
The UAB area was a pretty cool looking college town with tons of shops, bars, and restaurants. "See the smoke?", Bobby asked, "That's where we're eating." Smoke billowed from the building that housed Dreamland Bar-B-Que, a small chain that originated in Tuscaloosa and had made its' way down to Birmingham. The restaurant was filled with the charm of license plates from all over the country, some with funny vanity tags like "HI OFCR".
Crappy iPhone pic of the barbecue pit @ Dreamland Bar-B-Que
A large wood-fired barbecue pit manned by two dudes is where the action went down. Above the pit was a large neon sign that read, "No Farting". Awesome! I bet that request has been ignored often. We decided to split a full rack o' ribs and a basket of fries.
Soft white bread and spicy bbq sauce "amuse bouche" lol
Rack o' Ribs @ Dreamland Bar-B-Que
While we waited we were served some soft white bread along wtih some barbecue sauce for dipping. The sauce was similar to a vinegar based North Carolina sauce but thickened a bit with a nice spicy heat to it. The ribs and fries arrived a few minutes later. These were spare ribs, not baby backs, with the rib tips and cartilage intact. The meat was a bit more toothsome than the baby backs I'd had in Charlotte and Memphis on my last trip to the South and held strong to the bone. Nevertheless, the sauce helped enhance the flavor of the smokey meat. I'm really particular about my fries and these fries were awesome. They came to the table piping hot and lightly seasoned. The fries had a nicely crisped outside and tasted like they were cut fresh. The basket was a big mutha of a basket and sadly we left a nice pile of them behind because we were too full. The way I've been eating lately, that was probably a good thing.
I was really happy with my first trip to Alabama. I met with a good group of customers that have a lot of potential and I got to chow down on some Cajun crawfish and good ol' fashioned barbecue. You can't go wrong with that. I also learned of the Robert Trent Jones Trail, a smattering of 19 or so golf courses spread throughout Alabama, most of which are no more than an hour and a half outside of Birmingham. That's going on the "To Do" list for next trip.
Sunday night, I participated in the inaugural Burger Beast Miami Burger Tour, organized by the big guy himself. It was a gluttonously good time. When I got home, I posted a hilarious video of what the tour reminded me of, a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time - Hamburger: the Motion Picture. Today I'm getting a little more serious and providing my commentary on the restaurants that participated and the burgers themselves.
But first, a song to get you in the mood. Hamburgers for America!
If you aren't familiar with the Burger Beast, take a minute and check out his blog where he writes about burgers 'round the clock. I first met the Beast a few weeks ago at the Latin Burger & Taco Truck. I had purchased a ticket to the Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Fest but then booked a business trip that overlapped, rendering my ticket useless. I knew if anyone would be able to help me sell my ticket it was the Burger Beast himself. He took the ticket off of my hands as a surprise gift to his wife, Marcela. Yup, he's a real Softee. We chatted while I beasted a Latin Macho Burger and I asked if he really eats burgers every day. Much to my surprise, he doesn't actually eat burgers every day. Ok, so it wasn't a big surprise and I commented that had he answered, "yes", my follow up question was going to be, "So, are you and your plumber on a first name basis?" The Beast told me he was in the process of organizing a Miami Street Food Fest, inspired by all the mobile eats that had popped up all of the city as of late and later on he informed me that there was a lone seat left on the Burger Tour he had organized and asked if I wanted in. Luckily, I was in between business trips and was able to attend.
The lineup for the Burger Beast Miami Burger Tour consisted of The Taurus in the Grove, The Filling Station in downtown Miami, and Burger & Beer Joint on Miami Beach. Transportation to and from each stop on the tour was provided by Gus and Michelle of the Miami Tour Company who also run the blog, Miami Beach 411. I was happy to finally meet Gus in person as he and I have exchanged comments on a few blog topics in the SoFL blogosphere and I've always thought he was a standup guy. I was right. Both he and Michelle are great and it's no surprise that their tour business is booming.
I met the group at The Taurus in the Grove, a mere couple of blocks from my home in Coconut Grove. I had had tried their burger previously and recommended it to the Burger Beast while noting that the fries are the best I'd ever had. The Taurus did a great job as leadoff hitter for the Burger Tour, setting each of us up with a 1/2 portion of their burger and a bunch of baskets of their truffle fries. The burger was cooked medium without being too dry. I usually don't like toppings on my burger but they didn't overdo it by piling toppings on too high so I scarfed down the burger, tomato, lettuce, and all. It was a good burger but nothing to rant and rave about. The fries, however, were a huge hit. Fried super crispy and coated with truffle oil and a blend of seasonings, these fries were not long for this world. Jen, from Dine Magazine, made the mistake of sharing a little basket with me. I think she maybe got 4 fries. I inhaled the rest.
We loaded the tour bus and began our trek to the next stop - The Filling Station. It was pretty cool that the bus had the tour audio going, dropping little nuggets of Miami history on us as it chugged through Coconut Grove and into downtown. I was surprised to see that the Filling Station was located right around the corner from where I used to work when I had a job downtown. We walked in and were greeted by a very friendly staff and this sign.
This burger was obviously gonna be awesome based on name alone
Once again, we boarded the tour bus and traversed over the causeway to Miami Beach to the last stop on the Burger Tour - Burger & Beer Joint. I was already a huge fan of B&BJ, with my first experience detailed here. Because of that, I wasn't too worried about the fact that I was already pretty full after 1.5 burgers, tots, and truffle fries. I had been there, done that. Burger & Beer Joint served up a slider version of what we thought was supposed to be their Thunder Road burger (burger, cheese, bacon, bbq sauce) along with some gigantic onion rings. The burger was not the Thunder Road and instead was just a tiny patty with a little lettuce on top. It was also cold which sucked. If I wasn't already full and if this burger wasn't magnificently seasoned, I'd have been majorly disappointed. But, even cold and sad looking, it was still pretty good. The burger was cooked to a perfectly pink medium and the meat tasted fantastic and melted on the tongue. The onion ring was impressive in size but just ok in taste.
Jacob Katel, from the Miami New Times Short Order blog, asked me what I thought about the tour and if I'd do it again. I said that it was a great time and that they were probably going to have to wheel me outta there because I was so full! I think I would definitely do the Burger Tour again but I think it would be better if it started a little earlier. We got delayed a bit at the first stop which resulted in the last burger being consumed at 10pm at night, not very conducive to the whole digestive process. All in all though, I thought the Burger Beast Miami Burger Tour was planned properly and executed well. The Beast did a great job making sure everyone was set up for a good time and the value for the dollar was phenomenal. Big thanks to the Burger Beast and the Miami Tour Company!
Just finished up the Inaugural Burger Beast Burger Tour and thought I'd share some exclusive footage of our last stop on the tour while I take a few days to compile my thoughts on the tour stops and burgers themselves. Enjoy!
I'm usually good for about a handful of dumb mistakes each year so I guess it's fitting that I made my first one yesterday, a mere 18 days into the new year. I was working on scheduling a business trip around a big meeting in NJ on February 23rd. I usually do a Boston trip at this time of the year so I booked a flight into NJ and then on to Boston, returning on Friday, February 27th. I wasn't too happy that I had to book the flight on JetBlue out of Ft. Lauderdale because I prefer to fly American Airlines out of Miami but the fares weren't even in the same solar system so I went with JetBlue. Plus, I'd be getting back at a reasonable time on Friday night so it worked out...or so I thought.
Sitting at my desk today, I decided to take a little break and surf the internet for a few minutes. I can't quite recall what made me think of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival but that is when my dumb move dawned on me - I had booked this business trip at the same time as SBWFF and now wouldn't be in Miami for the Amstel Light Burger Bash! "Dammit!" was all that could be heard from my office at that moment. It was such a bonehead move. I tried checking flights to get me back into Ft. Lauderdale around 5pm but no dice. My proverbial goose was cooked.
So now a ticket I purchased about 4 months ago is useless since I won't even be in Miami. I would like to sell the ticket to someone who is eager to stuff their face with burgers and beer on the sands of South Beach. If you or someone you know would like to buy my ticket, please comment and we can work something out.
She was an elusive one, always busy when I spontaneously popped into the neighborhood. A real Miss Popular type and although I had grown tired of competing for her attention on previous attempts to meet her, I was willing to give it one last shot. Besides, my friends thought she was sexy as hell.
I planned to meet her at the bar. A friend of hers told me that the game would be on there so it was a perfect scenario for me. I watched as she moved around the bar, each patron sizing her up and dreaming about their favorite ways to dress her. She is hot after all. Most people get caught up in her her appearance and dress but not me. I like her with as little makeup as possible with plenty of exposed flesh and minimal accessories, though sometimes I like when she gets all dolled up in something sexy. I motioned to the bartender who sidled up and asked how he could assist me. Some intimate quality time with her was all I needed. It had been a long day and I was drained. She would help me find my inner peace again.
I sipped a bottle of suds to take the edge off while I waited for my chance to romance her. When one didn't cut it I popped a second while peeking at the game on TV, still waiting, growing more hungry to be with her. It was then that I saw her floating gracefully across the bar. She was advancing towards me, her chest slightly exposed to give everyone a view at what they would be missing while she was with me. To top it off, she was wearing one of those sexy signature outfits - a silky scarf of American cheese covered the prime angus flesh left exposed by her open sesame top, bacon dangling across her chest, with a bourbon bbq sauce by her side. I had heard that she called this outfit, "Thunder Road", and it was apparent that she came to bring the thunder.
With her now in front of me, I wasted no time on foreplay and chose to ignore her skinny fries. Instead, we just went at it. Right there. At the bar. In front of everybody. She squealed with pleasure as I devoured her, each bite into her flesh releasing her seasoned juices, sending them dripping down my chin. Her bacon was a perfect balance of crisp and chew, making me lust for her even more while the bourbon bbq sauce kept things sensually sweet. At one point she submitted herself to a sprinkling of Tabasco, letting me know she was there to please. And damn did she wear it well. She shuddered as I finished her off, leaving nothing but a trail of bbq sauce dripping over her exhausted skinny fries.
Our passionate affair ended almost as quickly as it had began. A wink of a last bite of her sesame buns and she was gone. I tossed the bartender a fifty and told him to keep the change. She had been worth waiting for. I grabbed my beer, took a final swig, and then headed for the door. I'm not sure when I'll have the chance to see her again, or if she'll even be available, but I know that there will be a "next time"...
Many, many more.
The Thunder Road burger can found at: Burger & Beer Joint
1766 Bay Rd
Miami Beach, FL 33139-1414
(305) 672-3287
I woke up Wednesday morning still feeling full from the final round of the Pizza Crawl and wondering if Id even be able to eat anything all day. I tallied 8 slices consumed by me the night before (4 full slices at Fratelli la Buffala and 8 half slices at Casale), not to mention about 4 beers and then a few bourbons afterwards. That's a lot of 'za.
After another long day at work and only eating a cup of soup for lunch, I headed home with the intention of giving up my quest for 7 meals in 7 nights. I was just too full and it was clouding my brain and preventing me from figuring out where I would eat that night. Just as I got on 95, my friend/neighbor gave me a buzz. I hadn't seen her in awhile so when she said, "I'm running some errands then wanted to see if you wanted to meet up at Jaguar later?", I was happy to oblige. The quest was back on!
I eat at Jaguar a lot. To me, its the best spot in the Grove for good food on a consistent basis. I have a few options that I order depending on my mood. If I'm really hungry, I get the ceviche spoon sampler (2 nuevo, 2 black market, 2 oriental is the way to go) and then follow up with the Shrimp Casserole*. If I'm in a simple mood, I go with the burger which comes topped with chorizo for a nice hearty touch. The Mexican Lasagna has also been on my radar but I haven't taken the plunge yet. If I want a light meal, I go with the ceviche sampler on its own or I start with the ceviche sampler and then move on to a 1/2 Caesar salad with chicken. The Caesar at Jaguar is one of the best Ive ever had as they use just the right amount of creamy Caesar dressing and the lettuce is always crisp. The 1/2 portion option with chicken is a steal at $8 too.
Being that I was still full from the night before, I just went with the ceviche sampler and a Woodford Reserve on the rocks. They serve up some great chips and spicy salsa while you wait for your meal, so I really didn't need more than the ceviche. If you go to Jaguar, be sure to ask for the "Salsa de la Muerte" or "Death Sauce". Its very spicy but it tastes awesome with the chips or you can kick up your ceviche with a few drops. Trust me, you'll have a sweat going in no time. The Oriental ceviche pairs tuna, ginger, avocado, lime, sesame, jalapeno, and cilantro and is usually the first spoon I eat. The Nuevo comes with choice of shrimp or calamari, aji amarillo, ginger, soy, and lime. I like the texture of the calamari best with this spoon so that's how I always order it. The Black Market has white fish, shrimp, calamari, aji amarillo sauce, and corn. I think my favorite is the Nuevo overall though the Black Market is a pretty close 2nd.
I really like the dining space at Jaguar. They have a nice, long bar with plenty of stools along with about 4 leaf-shaped hightops and 2 lowtops. There is also a little seating area just past the bar where many sit for their "Thirsty Thursday" wine tastings. The wine tastings are from 7p - 830p and offer samples of 6 different wines plus steak/chicken skewers and assorted ceviche spoons for $15 plus tax/tip. Its a pretty good deal and a good way to meet people too. The only negative I noticed on the few nights Ive participated is how selfish people in Miami can be. Only a certain amount of skewers and spoons were coming out and rather than take one so everyone had a chance to eat, people were loading up like inconsiderate pigs. Last time I went was over 6 months ago so hopefully things have changed by now. The main dining area has plenty of tables and I also really like the high ceilings. Jaguar has a nice vibe, really mellow, non-intrusive music, and an effective layout for groups or dining solo.
With my 3rd meal in 3 nights under my belt, I headed home to enjoy a few more bourbons outside in my courtyard, strum the guitar, and catch up on some blog reading. Before long it was time for bed and I was already getting excited for my meal at Naomi's Grill in Sunday Isles. Stay tuned for more on that...
*The Shrimp Casserole offers 4 shrimp with aji amarillo and 4 with salsa negra along with white rice. This replaced my favorite dish on the menu and also what I considered the best offering on the menu: the Shrimp Trio. Shrimp Trio had 3 grilled blackened shrimp with salsa negra, 3 fried shrimp with a sweet mango(not sure if Im remembering this sauce correctly) sauce, and 3 sauteed shrimp with an aji amarillo sauce plus the rice in the middle. Id eat all 3 groups and then mix up all the sauce with the rice. It was awesome and it hurt me to see it go. I havent tried the Shrimp Casserole yet mostly because nothing will ever replace my Shrimp Trio... :(
Last week, I noticed early on that my motivation for cooking anything was way low. Epically low, as in no-way-do-I-feel-like-cooking-eating-cleaning-even-once-this-week-finances-be-damned low. I had just gotten off of back to back trips out of town, the first being a week in Vegas for work and the second being a long weekend up in Rockport, MA sitting on the beach. Both trips came with an 18 hour stint in Miami between them. Gotta love workin those airline miles... I also had already had such a great time on both trips that I wanted to keep the good times rollin and that meant no toiling away at home. With a few planned events for that week on the horizon, I decided that I was going to eat out every night, Monday thru Sunday, and thats exactly what I did.
Im going to do posts on each experience on their own but here is a rundown of my week:
Monday - The Taurus, Coconut Grove Tuesday - Pizza Crawl - Round 4, Fratelli la Buffala & Casale, Miami Beach Wednesday - Jaguar, Coconut Grove Thursday - Calafate Grill & Naomi's Grill, Sunny Isles Friday - Casale (AGAIN!), Miami Beach Saturday - Palm Beach Grill, West Palm Beach Sunday - The Breakers (lunch), West Palm Beach; Hakkasan (dinner), Miami Beach
This past Wednesday, I headed up to Aventura to check out Bourbon Steak's "Bourbon & Blues" night where they offer 25% off all bourbons, 1/2 price on select cocktails, live blues, and a new bar menu that offers small bites and custom burgers. For a guy like me, anything involving discounted bourbon and live blues is a huge winner but the burger did a good job of adding to the good time.
After sipping a few bourbons and listening to some kickass country style blues from the "Nouveaux Honkies", I decided that I would give their new burger menu a shot. For anywhere from about $12-$18 you have your choice of beef, lamb, falafel, turkey, and/or salmon as the base of your burger. Bacon is an additional $3 and seared foie gras is an additional $18. A fried egg is an additional $2 but, hey, its organic...
Once youre done selecting the base flavor, you are allowed to select up to 6 items to add to the burger from the following catagories: cheese, veggies, greens, and sauces. I went with the beef burger ($14) with bacon ($3), bourbon caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, shaved jalapenos, mesclun greens, and the "special sauce" that had been recommended to me. The result was a pretty kickass burger with lots of flavor. The combo of the shaved jalapenos and the special sauce was awesome and probably made the burger for me. I loved the crunch of the jalapenos and their heat combined with the flavors of the special sauce. The onions were a nice complement too. The only buzzkill was that they forgot my bacon... The bartender gave me a side and didnt charge me the $3 but it kinda sucked because I ate the bacon AFTER the already killer burger. With bacon added to each bite, Id have been in burger Xanadu. The only complaint outside of the bacon incident would be the bun. Restaurants need to realize that the bun is a key part of the burger and a weak bun base can cause much discomfort. In this case, the bottom of the bun was super hot and kinda moist. Being trained in burger CPR, I knew to flip the burger onto its thicker top bun to let the bottom cool and salvage it. I didnt like having to do that but Ive become accustomed to it.
I also chose to add a trio of duck fat fries to my burger just because it seemed like the right thing to do. It kinda sucked that it was an extra $5 to do so, but hey, youre in Aventura. Gotta pay the tax... The fries were pretty frickin good though. My favorite was the garlic fries paired with onion sauce. The fries paired with the spicy ketchup were a close second. The paprika fries paired with bbq sauce didnt really do anything for me though.
The 3 different bourbons I sampled were all great brands but all overpriced. Then again, youre in Aventura and the prices werent that far off what you would see elsewhere. Add that to the burger and fries plus tax and tip and I was at about $70. I didnt feel bad about it though. Sure, there wasnt a sole in there within 20 years of my age, but I had a great time listening to the band, chatting with the bartenders, and chowing down on a pretty tasty burger paired with a nice bourbon selection. I hear that they have a different band that also plays there so I'll probably go back again on another Wednesday to check it out.
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