The History of Cobaya

This month marks the 3rd anniversary of Cobaya.  What started as a conversation on a valet doorstep has ended up as three years of truly awesome "experiments".  I decided to take a look back at all of our past dinners, the recaps, the photos, and the attendee lists.  It was a mental meal remembering all my favorite dishes and the good conversation at the tables.  There were some spectacular highs, some tests (eating half a goat's head was one), and tons of really fun times.

Here's some stats compiled over three years so far:

Number of Cobaya experiments: 25¹
Number of diners served: 881
Average dinner size: 35
Number of "off campus" experiments: 9 (36%)
Number of outdoor Cobaya experiments: 4
Number of offal dishes: 25
Most courses: 22 (Cobaya Carmellini)
Number of wipeouts: 2 (Chef Galiano & Chowfather @ Cobaya Gras)
Number of injuries from wipeouts: 0 (thankfully)
Number of disclaimers added to Cobaya to protect from wipeouts: 1
Ratio of male/female Cobaya hosts: 22:4
Chefs hosting 2+ Cobayas: 4 (Bullfrog, Hales, Galiano, Jantz)

I really enjoyed looking back, re-reading just at Cobaya Central, reading the comments, thinking about the many, many, many highs and the very few not-so-highs. Just looking back on the response from each announcement was cool.  I loved sifting through all the attendee lists, watching Frod's meticulous attendee methodology adapt from meal to meal - the time stamps, the X-outs, the yellow highlighting, the transition from first-come-first-serve to the introduction of the current lottery system.  As time went on it got way easier to read and cut & paste into the main spreadsheet I created to gather history stats. It was cool seeing a few times when we really tried to max out attendance, if only to figure out that it didn't really work, at least in a formal environment. At more casual events, it totally worked and provided a chance to meet lots of new faces for great food and a lot of fun.  It's interesting to see how happy people are when enjoying great food, especially if it's in an unconventional way. 

It's awesome that this gig has formed friendships too.  Hell, we hardly knew each other when we first got this thing going.  The three of us send a TON of emails back and forth each month talking about Cobaya.  It's probably not healthy.  It was cool to think back on those emails back and forth.  All the ideas shared and either accepted or rejected always with the greater good of Cobaya in front of mind. We have stayed true to our core mission, tried different stuff, and always challenge each other with thoughts on how to make it better.  Any criticism received from others is valued whether positive or negative.  We've rejected media requests simply because we didn't want the publicity.  We wanted to keep this thing as "underground" (a term we use very loosely) as possible and let it grow organically.  I like to think we've succeeded at that.  We didn't mind when blurbs appeared on websites like UrbanDaddy or Eater as they were merely reports that echoed our announcements.  Looking through the archives I was also reminded of Frodnesor's spectacular beatdown of a post when another local food blog decided it would be fun to write a negative article about Cobaya dinners...only they had never dined at one before.  Of course, when an opportunity rose up to have Cobaya featured on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, we went with it.  You know what?  It was an over-the-top spectacular meal and one helluva night.
 
I think the concept makes it easy for chefs to enjoy being involved too. We have stayed away from the "we have a big group, give us a ton of food for next to no money" mentality.  Instead we work with the chef and give him full creative control to cook anything and everything.  At the end of the day, all the chefs that have participated in Cobaya are experts in their craft.  They aren't going to serve anything "bad". That, I am 100% confident of.  It's been fun watching how the chef participants have also evolved. Each has pushed the envelope in a different manner whether it be flavors, textures, cuts, science, simpleness, history.  They size up whats been done and how they can raise the bar.  And boy has that bar been raised!  I see chefs getting more people involved with Cobaya dinners now whether that be a somellier pairing wine, a bartender/mixologist creating cocktails, or a pastry chef plating multiple desserts.  There's always something new to be digested, mentally as well as physically.  I have always thought that the best takeaway, the one that separates Cobaya dinners from a regular coursed meal.  It is that knowledge, the ability to have a chef talk about why they've done what they've done and how they've done it. You can't put a price on that.

The Cobaya Bus has some serious tread on its tires

Lastly, there's the diners or "guinea pigs" themselves.  People come to a Cobaya dinner to have an interesting dining experience.  Discussion at the table ensues and covers what's liked and disliked, what a dish reminds them of, or what their favorite of the night is.  On top of the meal, most leave with additional info to use later, like a place to find great Korean BBQ or what spot has the best chicarrones.  They bring nice bottles of wine and share with others at the table, most of whom are total strangers.  Their common bond is the meal and things develop from there.  We've had people of all types at Cobaya dinners - lawyers, deckhands, medical professionals, bartenders, college students, even chefs and other industry folks in the Miami area.  We even had one person design the infamous Cobaya Bus pictured above!  The attendees all contribute to the fun at each event and their spirit is what keeps this whole thing going.  We are always humbled by the response when the next "experiment" is announced.

As this post is being typed up, the lottery for our next experiment is being conducted.  We'd love to see you at a future event.  To get involved, hit up our website aka Cobaya Central to learn more about becoming a guinea pig and then sign up to our Google Group to receive emails when each new experiment is announced.  From there you're an email for seat requests and a lucky ping pong ball away from joining us "underground".



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1 Upon further review, we have decided that Paradigm Redux was not a true Cobaya and thus was eliminated from the ranks, leaving the count at 25.

Experiment #25 - Cobaya Edge

Wow, our 25th Cobaya "experiment".  It's been nearly three years since the inaugural Cobaya dinner and boy has it been a lot of fun.  The fun and great food continued to rock n' roll with Chef Aaron Brooks of Edge Steak & Bar taking the reigns for another impressive meal.

I met Chef Brooks via Twitter.  He called me out to come in and try his take on a lobster roll.  After seeing some fried razor clams on his menu one day for lunch and learning he'd spent time in my home city of Boston, I decided it was time to head in and see what I could see.  I enjoyed an incredibly flavorful dinner on my first visit and I liked the atmosphere of the restaurant space a lot.  Great staff too.  There wasn't any lobster roll to be had on the dinner menu but a lunch visit at a later date proved that although it was somewhat an un-traditional lobster roll (lettuce, tomato jam, sliced avocado) it was still tasty.  I have made lots of visits since and have tried a good portion of the menu.  I've also attended a few of the specialty dinners held at Edge, namely the Bourbon & Beer dinner and a visit to the darkside at a scotch dinner.  I think the thing that impresses me most about Chef Brooks' cooking style is his ability to provide distinct, true flavor while also combining various textures to round out a dish and keep it interesting. 

As fun as Cobaya can be for the diners, we also encourage the chefs to have fun and cook what they love cooking.  Chef Brooks really embraced this concept.  Manning the helm of a restaurant within the Four Seasons has him restricted to certain concepts.  In this case it's steakhouse with an occasional Latin twist with instructions that Asian dishes are not within the concept.  Chef Brooks is originally from Australia and has a passion for Southeast Asian cuisine.  He treated this meal like he was cooking for a group of friends at home and went to town with it.

Fried Clams

Our meal was held in a private corridor surrounded by large glass windows with views of the massive hotel waterfall on one side and overlooking Biscayne Bay on the other.  A late lightning storm over the bay made for some nice fireworks during the meal.  The fireworks had already begun with this first dish, a not-so-Southeast-Asian but beautifully presented plate of fried clams.  This dish touched on the chef's time spent in Boston.  The fry on these bad boys was spot on perfect with what I grew up eating.  They sat in their shells atop a tartar-like crema that had nice flavor.  I could've eaten a whole box of these.  Actually, I plan to request that Chef Brooks do that sometime because I think it would be a hit (and if not I'll happily eat any and all leftovers).

George's Bank Scallops, soft tofu, fried egg, pickled shallot, baby cucumber (photo: Melissa Thrasher)

The next dish, fresh George's Bank scallops, showcased the chef's aforementioned skill with texture.  Soft, sweet scallops worked with a soft tofu and were counterbalanced by the crisp of some fried scrambled egg and crunch of baby cucumber.  A little heat in this dish as well from what I believe were pepper flakes worked well too.  Fantastic dish.

Chilled mussel salad, young lotus root, fire roasted peanuts, mint, cured pig's face, chili jam

Another beautiful presentation brought forth a chilled mussel salad that I thought would be my favorite dish of the night.  It had it all - briny flavor from the mussels, crunchy peanuts, fragrant nasturtium, a little heat from the chili jam counterbalanced with the cooling of mint leaves.  Chef's cured pig's face was phenomenal.  The tender little rolls with a fantastic flavor tucked into the dish and were treated like treasure as I made my way thru each bite.  This was another dish I'd love to see again and again.

Hot & Sour Soup, squid noodles, fragrant herbs, Thai sausage, shrimp, shrimp cake

Surprising as I felt to say it, this Hot & Sour soup was the dish that, for me, was the standout of the night.  Everything about this dish worked incredibly well and it all started with a perfect broth that I wasn't afraid to drink at our fancy dining table.  The Thai sausage had a wonderful texture to it and I really liked the creativity of using thin ribbons of squid as noodles.  They were beautifully tender.  Kaffir lime leaves and cilantro provided some great aromatics as well.  Absolutely knock-down-drag-out phenomenal dish.

Short rib cooked in coconut, sweet potato, snake bean, basil (photo: Melissa Thrasher)

I gotta be honest...  I think my love for the previous dish caused a blackout because I don't remember much of this dish at all outside of the shortrib being very tender and the fresh basil sticking with the fragrant theme that had come with many of the night's dishes.  It could've also had to do with the fact that it was sandwiched between my favorite dish of the night and another favorite that came next...

Grilled duck, foie gras curry, heirloom potatoes, lychee, radish

When it comes to eating duck, to me temperature is everything.  As soon as I saw the pinkish flesh of this dish, I knew temperature was on point, so much so that I dove in before remembering to snap a photo.  The duck had a perfectly cooked texture to it.  After another bite or two, I noticed a richness to this dish coming from the sauce.  I looked at my Cobaya co-conspirator, The Chowfather, and said, "I think there is some foie in here."  He nodded and pointed out that I'd missed the menu description. Holy shit was this sauce good!!  I'm talkin' lick-your-plate good!  There was a little spice to it and that worked well with the spiciness from the radish and cool, sweet lychees that we love down here in South Florida.  I've never been a big fan of curry but I was a huge fan of this foie gras curry.

Orange Almond Cake, mango fluid gel, coconut sorbet, black sesame (photo: Melissa Thrasher)

A light, refreshing dessert of orange almond cake with tangy mango and pleasant coconut sorbet rounded out the night.

Having been a fan of Chef Brooks since my first dining experience at his restaurant, I had looked forward to seeing what he could do in the Cobaya kitchen.  He brought forth a fantastic meal that was creative, fresh, and delicious.  A huge thanks goes out to Chef Brooks, GM Peter Triolo, and all of the staff at the Four Seasons Brickell and Edge Steak & Bar who made for a memorable 25th Cobaya dinner.  If you haven't been to Edge yet, I strongly recommend checking them out, especially their specialty dinners towards the end of the month.

Next up, Cobaya brunch on 6/24!  Stay tuned...

Dinner In Paradise

My mother is a vegetable eater.  If she didn't like the occasional protein, I'm quite sure she would eat nothing but vegetables.  As a result, I grew up hearing, "eat your veggies" quite a bit.  So, when I first experienced Dinner In Paradise as part of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in 2009, I knew it would be a perfect gift to fly her down and take her to one.

On April 11th, my Mum and I made the drive from Coconut Grove down to Paradise Farms, an organic farm located in Homestead, Florida, far removed from the bright lights of the city.  The weather was not cooperative at first, with blinding rain pouring down on us as we drove South.  A recorded voicemail message let us know that the dinner area was under shelter and that the show would go on.  Luckily, the rain ceased just as we pulled in to park outside Paradise Farms.  A simple sign greets each visitor - Welcome to Paradise Farms - No Meat - No Cigarettes.

The concept of Dinner In Paradise is simple.  Chefs from the Miami area are called upon to create a six-course meal using local organic products.  Each course is paired with wine, courtesy of Shari Gherman, President of American Fine Wine Competiton & Gold Medal Wine Tour.  This dinner featured Jeff McInnis of The Dilido at Ritz Carlton South Beach, Marco Ferraro of Wish at The Hotel, and John Critchley of Area 31 at the Epic Hotel.  After a cocktail hour with passed hors d' ouevres, guests are treated to a tour of the farm.  Mum loved the tour and was happy to hear that all but one of the flowers that bloomed all over the farm were edible and could be plucked and tasted as we walked the grounds.

Oyster mushrooms growing @ Paradise Farms

The grounds @ Paradise Farms

At the end of the tour we were seated at communal tables of ten for dinner.  After exchanging hellos with the rest of our table, we sat silent as Gabrielle gave an introduction to the dinner and the first course made its way to the table.  Chef McInnis had prepared fried green tomatoes with local goat cheese cherry tomato jam, seared sheep's milk cheese with chilled watermelon, and farm cheese with roasted beets and honeycomb.  Chef McInnis talked of being raised in Florida and gave a shoutout to his brother who was in attendance and also sporting a kickass handlebar 'stache.  I love a good cheese course and this one was a great way to start a meal.  My favorite was the seared sheep's milk cheese with watermelon.  It was incredibly refreshing.

Chef McInnis introduces his first dish

C

Chef Ferraro's chilled corn soup being plated

Chef Ferraro provided the second dish, a chilled corn soup with corn hash, toasted pine nuts, corn shoots, basil oil, and lemongrass foam.  He explained that no cream was added to the soup.  Instead, the soup relied on the natural "milk" from the corn along with a minimal amount of butter.  The result was absolutely fantastic.  I could have devoured an entire swimming pool of this soup.  I loved how the textures of the corn and pine nuts worked in this dish.  A truly awesome soup.

Course three brought Chef McInnis back to provide us with a coconut crab salad with avocado, grapefruit ginger, and cashew oil (pictured at the beginning of this post).  I liked the flavor of this dish when I was able to get a bit of the grapefruit on my fork along with the crab.  Chef Critchley came out with the fourth course which was meant as a palate cleanser.  A lychee "sponge" with lychee, curry leaf, a farro crisp, and some bee pollen was plated before us.  The most interesting thing was the use of the curry leaf, something I'd never had before.  This dish was also paired with a 2009 Il Poggio Sangiovese that was my favorite wine of the night.

I think we were all a bit puzzled looking at the menu and not seeing any proteins listed.  That was a minor gaffe.  The fifth course wasn't just cherry tomato, easter egg radishes, charred green beans, baby carrots, and mixed herbs with tomato dressing.  Chef Ferraro informed us that there was also a nice piece of skate involved that somehow got left off of the menu description.  The skate was light and flaky and soaked up the flavor of the veggies and dressing nicely.  My favorite part of this dish, however, was the cherry tomato.  These tiny tomatoes grow on the farm and are so incredibly flavorful.  I remembered them from my last Dinner In Paradise and I hope to find out how I can obtain some for home use.

 Gabrielle presents the chefs with hats and knives

Chef Critchley finished the meal with a dessert consisting of a rich bittersweet chocolate seasoned with flecks of sea salt and local mango.  Wine flowed freely as things began to wind down and Gabrielle thanked everyone for attending and supporting the farm.  She also presented the chefs with a Paradise Farms hat and a knife that I forget what the brand was.  One lucky guest also won a knife.  Though the night got off to a rough start with some rain that had me shaking my fist towards the sky in frustration, it ended up being just perfect.  The skies ceased their crying and we got to experience all of what Paradise Farms' Dinner In Paradise has to offer.  The dishes were incredibly fresh and filling and the company was great too.  Best of all was that I got to spend some nice quality time with my Mum which is something I don't get to do too often (and kudos to her for all of the great pics!).  I recommend that anyone who is looking for a different kind of dinner experience to check out next year's Dinner In Paradise series.

An Evening at Altamare, Miami Beach

I have lived in Miami for almost nine years now and have always heard that "Altamar" was a great spot for fresh seafood that had a nice local following on Miami Beach.  Unfortunately, I never made it there before the temporarily closed down.  When the restaurant moved to a larger space on the west side of Lincoln Road and added Michael's Genuine alum, Simon Stojanovic, along with an "e" at the end of it's name, I figured it was high time I gave it a shot.  Friday night, I did just that.


Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by two hostesses and a man who I believe was the owner, Claudio Giordano.  The restaurant apparently has expanded though it's still somewhat small.  The main dining room off to the left of the door features many two and four tops, a long banquette against the westernmost wall, and an elevated section of seating that offers looks into an open kitchen.  To the right of the door there is a small bar with two hi-def TVs and a little dining room to the North that looked a little more private.  The restaurant also has outdoor seating on the sidewalk of Lincoln Road.  


It was a nice night out but a little on the chilly side so we opted for a table in the main dining room against the back wall.  Our server brought over some water and bread and gave us a few minutes to sift through the menu.  The menu is comprised of four sections, broken down into ceviches/crudos, starters, mains, and sides.  The raw selections and the starters had a lot of interesting options so we opted to share a bunch rather than go with main courses.  We started with a bay scallop ceviche and a local Spanish mackerel crudo.  Both dishes were delicious.  The crudo consisted of Spanish mackerel, bottarga, meyer lemon, maldon sea salt, and extra virgin olive oil.  The fish was silky smooth and brightened by the meyer lemon and sea salt.  The bay scallops arrived in a little bowl that also contained blood orange, chives, and tiny julienne red pepper.  I loved the flavor combos of this dish.  We were off to a refreshingly good start.

Our next round of plates were more hearty.  A large bowl arrived with homemade mushroom ravioli bathing in a cream sauce.  Our server, Jean Marco, took the time to serve a few ravioli on our plates. The ravioli had a velvety texture and the cream sauce was surprisingly light.  Shaved black truffles added another dynamic to the dish that I wasn't expecting.  This was our favorite dish of the night. Next up was a seared snapper topped with saffron aioli and served on top of warm farro spiked with bits of cured chorizo and grilled meyer lemon.  I imagine this dish was inspired by the chef's days at Michael's Genuine as I'd previously enjoyed this preparation there with both local kingfish and local snapper.  This dish came up a bit short.  The fish was bland and the aioli was somewhat flavorless and more like a glop of mayo.  The farro, however, was awesome.  The texture of the farro had a slight chew to it that I loved.  I was surprised at the use of cured chorizo rather than fresh grilled but it worked really well with the texture of the farro.  I feel like I could eat a gigantic bowl of this stuff.

On Jean Marco's recommendation, we ended our meal with Altamare's house salad which consisted of heirloom tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seed, shaved fennel, and a pear balsamic vinaigrette.  It was a nice ending to a nice meal.  I found the food on this first visit was impressive and the portion sizes were larger than I expected.  We had shared five "starters" between the two of us and both left pretty full.  The best part of the night, outside of the food, was the service.  Jean Marco was the man.  The guy made recommendations for wine, food, and the progress of the meal.  He came by often enough to make sure our wine glasses were always full and plates were cleared without being intrusive.  He even took the time to personally serve us a few of our dishes.  I know we always expect service to suck in Miami and then get excited when our waiter or waitress actually gets the order correct but this was phenomenal service in any city, any town.

I'm glad I finally made the effort to try Altamare.  The quality of the food and service was great and the value was there too.  It is a nice option to have in the Lincoln Road area and I look forward to future visits.

Killer Deal for Your Super Bowl Party

We all know a good deal when we see one but every once in awhile a killer deal comes around that makes the purchase decision a no brainer.  I happened to find out about a deal for a Super Bowl feast that very well may be the best food-related deal I've ever come across.  Ever.  I could go on and on about how incredible this deal is using words like sweet, rad, awesome, and other descriptive words of enjoyment I've held onto from the 80s but instead I'll just cut to the chase.

Check out this kickass menu that Chef Alan Hughes has created for you and your buds to scarf down on Super Bowl Sunday.  It feeds "10 hungry beasts" and there is enough food here to keep everyone satiated during pregame, midgame, and postgame beer drinking events.  And it's only $250.00!!  That's $25 a head!!  You will probably spend more on one case of beer that only you and one other dude will enjoy (if you're doing it right)!!  All you need to be able to do is fire up a grill and get your 'cue on.

Taken from Chef Alan Hughes' website:

Attention Football Fans

This superbowl you can shine and impress your friends! Order the Menu To-Go which includes uncooked marinated steaks and chicken for your grilling to be easier and improve your culinary profile.

Superbowl Menu To-Go

• 10 12oz Marinated Rib Eye Steaks
• 12 16oz Black Angus Burgers with complete set-up
• 10 lbs of Chipotle-barbecue Marinated Chicken Legs
• 12 Shrimp wrapped in Bacon skewers
• 3 Dips and assorted Chips
• Black Bean Salad
• Classic Caesar’s Salad
• Tequila-Lemon Bars with Maldon Salt

$ 250 Serves Ten hungry beasts!

Honestly, this is the deal of all deals for a total man feast of epic proportions.  Hit up the website to place an order!

You're welcome!

Blind Quail

Ok, by now you've read about my quail hunting experience but I still have yet to post about what was actually made with the bounty of little winged creatures.  Knowing that I had a bounty of birds to consume, I did what anyone who knows 2 kickass creative chefs would do - called them and said "let's close out the year with a quail BBQ!"  Unfortunately, I failed to take any pictures of the event but Ms. Jackie over at Kitchen Interviews managed to document the whole darn thing and did a great job of it (though she was off by 2 quail - we took down 32 on the hunt :)  ), so please venture on over to check out the highlights of the barbeque that we had featuring "Blind Quail", traditional Nawlins gumbo, green bean & laughing bird shrimp salad, potato salad, a bacon wrapped short rib, and some killer grilled onion dip for chips. 

It was a great night with great people that I'm proud to have met and developed friendships with over the past year.  We slugged down many a beer, sipped some Woodford Reserve bourbon, and raised our champagne glasses in a toast to a tough year that was made a little less tough thanks to some great meals and company to eat them with.

Joy to the World - Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog featured at Cobaya Dinner #2

Back in July, I became a part of the Cobaya Miami group, a group of adventurous diners acting as guinea pigs for local South Florida chefs. The group provides an opportunity for chefs to really get creative and cook what they want without restrictions or fear that diners may not enjoy their creations. In other words, this group will eat anything plated in front of us no matter what it is or how it is cooked. For me, the best part is that there is no menu, therefore no decision making. It's putting yourself in the hands of the chef, with the understanding that they love their craft and not only want to fill your belly but also open your mind to a new way of looking at food and the way it is prepared.

After a successful first dinner at Talula, courtesy of Chef Andrea Curto-Randazzo and Sous Chef Kyle Foster, I was eager to see what dinner #2 had in store for the Cobaya group. With both the Miami New Times' Short Order blog and UrbanDaddy broadcasting the formation of the Cobaya group and its mission, interest in our second dinner had peaked to the point where two separate nights were opened up to allow for 36 members of the group (24 night one, 12 night two) to partake. The chef for Cobaya Dinner #2 was none other than Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog, formerly of Bullfrog Eatz and currently personal chef to "The Boss" Rick Ross. I had been following Chef Jeremiah on Twitter, so I knew we were in the hands of a chef who was not afraid to experiment. His tweets leading up to the dinner sang of low n' slow shortribs and making his own cheese from scratch. Sweet.

Sick view, huh?  Thanks to Jason at The Factory Interactive for providing the host location for this dinner.  A genuinely cool guy too.  I forget how many floors we were up but I think it was about 35.  A nice balcony that wrapped around the penthouse provided views of the Miami Beach and downtown Miami skylines as well as the prairies of residential flatland to the west.  At one point, you could see it was pouring rain over Miami International Airport and only the airport.  Gotta love the weather in South Florida but boy was I glad to not be flying out as I can guarantee there were delays.  I also got a kick out of this poster that graced the walls of our dining room...

Another thing I learned about Chef Jeremiah thru his tweets was that he was a bourbon fan, so I wasnt surprised when he treated us all to a pre-dinner Old Fashioned made with Basil Hayden which happens to be my favorite everyday bourbon.  Good times!

This is the part where I apologize for not being great at this blogging thing and forgetting to take pictures of the majority of the dishes.  The pics I did get were taken with my iPhone, so its probably best that I only took a few anyways.  To see killer pics of the meal, check out Food For Thought where Mr. Frodnesor has also done a nice writeup of our meal as well as night #2. 

The meal got off to a great start when we were presented with an interesting take on a Greek Salad.  Compressed cucumbers and homemade feta stuffed olives sitting in a bath of tomato water and Hendrick's gin provided a nice, fresh flavor with the textures of the still crunchy cukes and the feta stuffed olives playing well together.  This was one of my favorite dishes of the night.

The second dish was a bite of local stone crab paired with a mustard emulsion, crab consomme, and Meyer lemon oil.  It was an ok dish that I thought couldve used a bit more of the mustard and a bit less of the lemon.

The third dish was an Ode to Autumn in the form of a pumpkin dumpling stuffed with homemade burrata.  Unfortunately, the burrata lacked the creaminess it is known for but I appreciated the effort as I'm sure making burrata is no easy task.  I also thought the truffle oil used overpowered the dish.  This one just didnt work for me.

 

If this meal were a boxing match, Chef Jeremiah spent the first 3 rounds taking a few jabs at us and toying with our taste buds.  In round 4, he really started working the body, wearing us down while still putting on a nice show for the crowd.  This dish was simply titled, "Bacon" (aka "Awesome"), and featured a hunk of pork belly paired with an egg cooked sous vide at 63 degrees.  A little maple syrup really made me want to take one of these puppies home for breakfast the following morning.  Being a huge fan of runny eggs and all things bacon-related, this dish was a home run for me.  My only regret was having used my spoon for the Greek Salad which left me using my fork to pile the few remains of my egg onto my knife in order to get every last drop in my mouth.  I have issues.

In round 5, Bullfrog threw a punch that I never saw coming with a dish that I found to be the most creative of the night..  I will admit that the name of this dish, "Halibut like a Reuben", frightened me a bit as the only component of a Reuben that I really like is the pastrami while I really dislike sauerkraut.  Lucky for me there was no sauerkraut to be found in this dish.  The halibut was cooked sous vide and topped with a rye streussel.  Once plates were set in front of us Cobaya diners, Chef Jeremiah came around with a pitcher of hot pastrami dashi which he poured into each bowl.  The end result was a piece of fish that was light in texture and tasted exactly like a hunk of pastrami.  This was another one of my favorite dishes of the night.

Round 6 gave us some quality time with our corner-man, icing down our palates with an interesting combination of red curry and white chocolate liquid in a shot glass filled with crushed ice.  I wish someone had answered when I asked what was floating in the liquid because I shot the whole thing back only to end up with a freezing mouthful of ice haha.  The red curry flavor hit me first as I worked on crunching all the ice in my mouth.  This was followed by an earthy mushroom-like flavor which a few Cobaya buds also noticed.  The finish was all chocolate though.  Surprisingly yummy.

Round 7 - 72 hour Shorties - the knockout punch.  Braised short ribs cooked sous vide for 72 hours, parsnip puree, and a big Zin redux.  Notice how I didnt remember to take a picture of this one before I began annihilating it?  As soon as I saw the size of this gargantuan short rib, I got excited and began my assault.  Actually, I'm kinda glad that I chose to do this because it really shows off the texture of the short rib.  I've had many a braised short rib but most tend to be so "fall off the bone" that they lose a lot of their composition and end up on the mushy side of things.  Not this bad boy.  This short rib was nearly fork tender while maintaining a meaty texture.  The parsnip puree was light and creamy and contained a slight celery flavor to it that I really enjoyed though I didn't follow up to determine where that came from.  Another huge winner of a dish for me.

Dessert was an experiment that involved turning Krispy Kreme donuts into flan.  Unfortunately, the flan didn't take form but the flavor was there.  Being the juvenile that I am, I dubbed this one "The Money Shot".  Of course that would be easier to understand if I had a picture...  Jean-Marc has one, as well as other pics of the dinner so be sure to check out his site as well.

The night ended with discussions of all things food in Miami out on the deck, sipping a scotch while some enjoyed cigars.  In the end, Cobaya Dinner #2 was another huge success.  I got to chat with new and old Cobaya buddies, meet Chef Jeremiah who is not only a great chef but a really personable guy, and have a delicious meal in a killer setting.  I also got to experience many dishes that featured the awesomeness that is sous vide cooking.  I mean, at this point I'm ready to name my firstborn daughter Sue Vide.  For more comments on the meal itself, check out the Cobaya blog where you can also read more about our first dinner and find out how to become part of the group.

Now a little Three Dog Night along with some candid animation from some Canadians to take us home...

7 Meals in 7 Nights: Friday - Zeke's & Casale (AGAIN!), Miami Beach

When I originally started these posts on 7 Meals in 7 Nights, I wanted to post every day for a week. Man, that was ambitious... For reasons that Ive noted before, plus some serious partying this weekend, I got a little behind. So, I'll pick up where I left off on Friday and report on my return to Casale after some Happy Happy time at Zeke's.

All day Friday I was hurtin. After consuming mass quantities of awesomeness at Naomi's, I just didnt want to eat. I woke up full again for the 2nd time this week. I could slowly feel the 11 pounds I'd lost recently coming back in one week-long eating binge. So, I skipped lunch and then decided to meet up with some friends at Zeke's to get happy after the work week ended. I effing love Zeke's. It's an oasis of $4 beer in the desert of getting raped by inflated prices that is Miami Beach. Every beer is $4. Guinness? $4. Bud Light? $4. Efes, my favorite Turkish beer? $4. They boast of having over 200 beers available by the bottle, all at $4 each. They also have some generic house wine for those that must bring their girlfriend/wife who wont drink beer. (Note: Im fully aware that my comment may come off as a tad sexist but in reality I just refuse to believe that a guy goes to a beer garden and orders wine without being severely beaten and covered in tampons.) Zeke's also serves up a few delicacies to snack on with your beer. They have bags of chips, microwave popcorn, and even one of those hot dog toaster machines for making hot dogs. They do not allow outside food to be consumed at their tables. In other words, youre here to drink beer and maybe have some popcorn with your beer.

While sippin suds with my friends, we got to talking about how I'd been eating out every night that week. I mentioned my visit to Casale for the Pizza Crawl and knew they would love the place. They got fired up to give it a shot and so we walked from Lincoln Road over to Casale for some Friday night pie and to sample the mozzarella bar. This time, we were seated in the main area by the windows, right in front of the pizza ovens. It wasnt hot but it was a tad uncomfortable. There was at least a 10 degree difference between this table and the one I'd sat at Tuesday night by the entrance. Much like my visit at Fratelli la Buffala though, it just helped the Morretti's go down easier. We started with the grand tasting from the mozzarella bar which came with 2 portions of bufala campana, burrata pugliese (the outer casing of burrata), stracciatella (the inside stuffing of burrata), treccione (a braided smoked mozzarella), and fior di latte (mozzarella made from fresh cow's milk). The dish also came with 2 sides so we chose bresaola and anchovies. The stracciatella was my favorite on its own but I kinda expected that since I love burrata so much. The best combo for me though was pairing the bufala campana and fior di latte with the anchovies. Those tiny fishies were loaded with flavor.

One of my friends is a vegetarian (or pescatarian as she does eat seafood), so I recommended that Funghetto pizza from the night before. This time they used regular white mushrooms and that robbed the dish of some flavor. The taleggio and sage didnt stand out as much as they had the first time Id had that pizza either. Not that it was a bad pizza but I doubt Id have been quick to order it again if this was the way the first one was made. The other pizza we ordered was the capriccioso which came topped with parma ham, artichokes, mushrooms, and arugula. It was a pretty good pie, no more, no less.

I left the Beach shortly after dinner and was in bed around midnight because I had planned to play golf early the next morning. It was a nice, light Friday night sippin suds, eatin pie, and catching up with good friends. I needed that because after golf I was planning to head up to West Palm Beach to visit some friends and family and things usually have a tendency to get outta control up in WPB...

7 Meals in 7 Nights: Wednesday - Jaguar, Coconut Grove

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... :(

Out and About for 7 Meals in 7 Nights

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

Up next: The Taurus, Coconut Grove

Bourbon & Blues @ Bourbon Steak

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.