We took another mini-vacation last week – this time to
Miami as an early anniversary celebration since Lance & I will have been
together 4 years May 1st! We headed there Monday night after
work and came back Wednesday, so it was a pretty short trip. Unfortunately
it was pretty rainy those days, so our original plan of snorkeling off the
beach didn’t happen, but we did find plenty of other things to do (and lots of
food!)
We stayed at the Daddy O Hotel (not sure how
it got its name, but it was a great deal for a pretty nice hotel). My
only complaint was that the complimentary breakfast was pretty pathetic – plain
stale bagels, bananas that were either overripe or underripe, and packaged
oatmeal. We could have skipped the free food and just gone out to
breakfast since there were so many options nearby, but we didn’t want to dine
out for 3 meals a day.
After breakfast the first day, we wandered South Pointe
Park, and then checked out the Art Deco District along Ocean Drive.
My favorite part area of town by far through was Wynwood – an incredible arts
district where nearly every wall you see is covered in graffiti murals. There
are literally hundreds of paintings – you could spend the entire day trying to
see them all.
We found a nearby restaurant for lunch – Kush by Lokal. There were so many
highly rated restaurants in the Wynwood area, but I’m so happy we picked this
place. The people were unbelievably friendly and the food was
delicious! They had a great selection of craft beers and their
bartenders were very knowledgeable. The menu reminded me a lot of Datz – which is probably why I liked
it so much.
Lance enjoyed the Grandpa Joe’s Pastrami Reuben with
sweet potato fries and I had the Chicken n Waffles (which were apparently voted
the best in Miami). I’ve had a lot of chicken and waffles, and I’ve
got to say this was the best I’ve had by far. They take free-range
chicken and fry it perfectly in a homemade batter – they did a great job of
making it juicy on the inside while crispy on the outside without being greasy.
The waffles are dusted with powdered sugar and topped with crumbled
bacon. And their maple syrup is made in house with a bit of
spice. WOW!
Lance tried out a beer from their reserve list called Bad
Hipster – an imperial pilsner brewed in Switzerland. We talked with
our bartender, Benny, about all the breweries we’ve been visiting in the Tampa
Bay area. He used to live in Orlando so he excitedly wrote us a list
of all the best restaurants, bars, and breweries in that area! We’ve
actually only been to one of the fifteen places, so we have lots to check out
next time we take a day trip to Orlando.
From there we headed to Wynwood Brewing, Miami’s first craft
production brewery. I was a bit surprised that having Wynwood in the
name that the interior wasn’t covered in graffiti like the rest of that area of
town, but they did subtly reference the art scene with tap handles shaped liked
spray paint cans. It’s was founded by the Brignoni family – their
porter style is named after the patriarch of the family “Pops”.
We played some board games while Lance drank their
Wynwood IPA and I sampled a flight. I especially liked their Flagler
Saison. The Pops Porter was very good as well, but the Grand Pops
(imperial version) was much too strong for me (9.8% alcohol!)
For those of you who live in Miami (or will be there
mid-May), there is an all you can eat and drink event sponsored by Harry’s
Pizzeria & Wynwood Brewing called BBQ Night in Pizzaland. I
probably wouldn’t eat/drink enough to make it worth the $68 ticket price
though.
My cousin, Chris, told me that the best beer he’s had
in a long time was the Hazelnut Porter at J. Wakefield Brewing. It
was right down the road from Wynwood, so we walked there afterwards.
Unfortunately, the hazelnut porter is seasonal and
wasn’t available, but this place is one of my new favorite breweries. Not
only was the beer variety great, but what we didn’t expect was the
fantastically nerdy décor.
As soon as you enter, you’re greeted with the words “No
Droids Allowed” (if you aren’t a nerd…the bartender kicks R2D2 and C3PO out of
the Cantina in Star Wars Episode IV because he "doesn't serve their kind").
Murals on the wall depict Darth Vader, Yoda, and other
Star Wars characters enjoying JWB beers, and another piece of art depicts a
stormtrooper and an ewok toasting to eachother. You would think that
with all the geeky paraphernalia that it would look like a teenage boy’s
bedroom, but they somehow managed to keep it from looking tacky.
The beers have all sorts of pop culture references,
like Hop for Teacher IPA, Have You Seen My Stapler? Belgian Tripel, Weird
Science Belgian Style Imperial Stout, and Symbiote Black IPA.
I wanted to order everything on the menu – it all
sounded fantastic. It changes daily depending on what is in season
and what they can locally source. We decided on the crispy sweet
& spicy pork belly, duck confit, and the barrelfish & shrimp
ceviche.
They make their own homemade soda, so Lance had the
sarsaparilla with Wild Turkey. It was pretty strong, so I couldn’t
really taste the homemade soda, but Lance likes the taste of bourbon so he didn’t
mind.
The pork belly came out first – I love anything with an
Asian influence, so I was excited that it was served with kimchi, crushed
peanuts, and cilantro. This is the dish that Southern Living had
recommended and I can see why.
The duck confit was topped with kumquat chutney and
spiced pumpkin seeds and served over frisée (curly endive leaves). The
combination of flavors was delicious.
They actually forgot about our ceviche, but as soon as
we reminded them they went ahead and prepared it. We probably should
have skipped it altogether since we planned to have dessert and were already getting full, but I’m glad we
tried it. The fish and shrimp were combined with coconut, papaya,
Serrano peppers, red onion, and Thai basil. It was tropical and
light – with just a bit of spice from the pepper.
We finished with the homebrew sundae – with malted
caramel, homebrew ice cream, toasted marshmallows, and pretzels. The
sweet and salty ice cream reminded me a bit of our
popcorn sundae dessert at Canoe in Atlanta, and although it was very good,
it was a bit pricey for a small mason jar filled with ice cream. The
marshmallow chunks throughout were great though.
Michael’s Genuine was right in the middle of the Miami
Design District, so after dinner, we walked off our food while window shopping
at the high-end clothing and furniture shops. The stores were still all
lit up inside, so it was fun to peek in and check out the fancy designs.
The next day (after another unimpressive breakfast), we
went to the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). The
modern building has gorgeous hanging garden suspended from the perforated
canopy. There were a few questionable exhibits (a chair covered in
laundry in the middle of a room – is that considered art?), but there were
plenty of really cool pieces as well.
Unfortunately since it’s a long drive back, we couldn’t
stay in Miami long that day. But before heading out, we grabbed
lunch at Huahua’s Taqueria –
and scored some free chips and queso for checking in on Yelp! They had all
sorts of exciting taco varieties to pick from. I chose the chili
rubbed shrimp, fried chicken, and grilled steak.
The free chips and queso were great – the chips were
warm and tasted very fresh – and we devoured the whole container of
queso.
The spicy mayo on the shrimp taco was pretty hot! (I
had some coconut water to cool down). I loved the fried chicken taco
– with jalapeño cornbread, cabbage, ancho ranch, and cilantro. It
was interesting having a southern-inspired taco. And the steak was
great – topped with large chunks of avocado. Definitely worth
checking out if you want a more interesting take on the classic taco.
We stopped at one of the overlooks at Alligator Alley
on the drive home, and sure enough we saw some gators. Wish we had
more time to spend in Miami since there’s lots more we wanted to see, but we’ll
have to save that for another trip!
Kush
is located at 2003
N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33127 and is open 12pm – 11pm Sunday – Tuesday,
12pm – 12am Wednesday – Thursday, and 12pm – 1am Friday – Saturday.
J.
Wakefield Brewing is located at 120
NW 24th St, Miami, FL 33127 and is open 2pm – 10pm Tuesday – Thursday,
2pm – 12am on Fridays, and closed Saturday – Monday.
Michael’s
Genuine Food & Drink is located at 130
NE 40th St, Miami, FL 33137 and is open 11:30am – 11pm Monday –
Thursday, 11:30am – 12am Friday – Saturday, and 11am – 3pm then 5:30pm – 10pm
on Sunday.
