Wednesday, August 15, 2018

First Date - Obra Kitchen Table (Miami)




I'm sure my hard core followers are familiar with Chef Carlos Garcia and were equally as excited to welcome him to Miami.  But the rest of my Miami followers may not be familiar with him.  Well now you are and now you should head over to Obra Kitchen Table and enjoy his interesting and well executed menu.



It was refreshing to hear that Chef Garcia was opening a new restaurant in Miami.  Miami is a town of copy cats.  We can support one great food hall but we will soon have ten. One new ice cream spot opens and suddenly there are twelve.  We went through runs on Italian restaurants, burger and pizza joints and steakhouses too.  On the optimistic side, I suppose the more the merrier.  I just hope they are all good and we can support them.  Back to Obra.  I could be wrong but I believe this is Miami's only high end Venezuelan restaurant.  At least it is the only one with a recognizable name on the world stage.

Chef Garcia is from Venezuela but trained at the prestigious Spanish spots El Bulli, El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz before returning home.  In 2007 he opened Alto in Caracas, which was ranked as one of the best in Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants.

I usually order more food in one visit than most do in three.  I was also joined by my fellow food loving friend soflafoodie so we easily knocked off several dishes from the regular menu along with the special menu which consists of several dishes and changes weekly.

On my visit the specials menu featured truffle cole slaw; roasted prawns, seafood bollito, sweet plantain reduction; pork shank, criollo sauce, carrot, brown butter puree; short rib and avocado brioche; cacio e pepe clams and gorgonzola ravioli with roasted sweetbreads.  Yes, I could have ordered the entire specials menu but there were a lot of great dishes on the regular menu too.

I need to go back soon for the bone marrow and traditional chickpea stew;  black rice, mussels and mushrooms; yuca and bacon mille-feuille, sautéed foie gras; roasted rice sweetbread etc. etc.

Bottom line, the menu is interesting and the food is flavorful. The open kitchen surrounded by 25 or so seats is inviting and an enjoyable way to watch the chefs in action and interact with them. The food may be on the aggressive side to some but it's certainly not pretentious. These are dishes that you will crave and it's a welcoming spot that you will want to visit regularly.

This is not a one and done spot.  I look forward to many more "dates."  I suspect this will end up being a very popular spot and one of the better restaurants overall in town.






Hiramasa Tiradito, pineapple rum leche de tigre, sofrito paste, crispy kale.



Sea Urchin, fried egg and french fries.



Octopus Bucatini Carbonara.






Foie gras, snow peas, pineapple chile ancho vinaigrette.




Cacio e pepe clams.




Sirloin "a caballo", a/k/a steak and eggs.


MONDAY TO FRIDAY: 12:00PM TO 11:30PM
SATURDAY: 6:00PM TO 12:00AM
305 846 9363
1331 Brickell Bay Drive, 
Miami, FL, 33131

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