San Pellegrino and Restaurant Magazine’s 12th annual list of the the world’s top 50 restaurants has been released. The number one restaurant is Noma, the Copahagen restaurant helmed by Rene Redzepi, of the Nordic Food Lab. We are happy that there is a Chicago restaurant (Alinea) and a São Paulo restaurant (D.O.M.) in the top 10!
D.O.M. Restaurant in Sao Paulo by Wally Gobetz
Filed under Links
Within the past week, we have come across references to Povitica at least three times, which seems like quite a lot given the fact that until now we had NEVER heard of it at all. Povitica (aka Potica) is a sweet yeasted bread, rolled with fillings like sugar, poppyseeds, nuts and sometimes chocolate. You can see this especially when you get a swirly slice/cross-section of Povitica. It also known in the US simply, a perhaps a little boringly, as “nut roll.” The name Povitica comes from a Slovenian word, poviti, meaning “to wrap in,” though the bread or similar varieties are found throughout Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Croatia and Slovenia. Brownie Bites has a recipe for nutty Povitica, and Serious Eats has a recipe for Chocolate and Walnut Povitica, which seems especially delicious.
Povitica by Tina Marie
Filed under Links, Pastry Post-Poc, Recipes
I Love Paraguay
4316 Greenpoint Avenue
Sunnyside, NY 11104
Long has Paraguayan food eluded us. But the beautiful thing about New York City is how you can get any kind of food there. I Love Paraguay is one of the few Paraguayan spots in the whole country and we were excited to see the rave reviews. Located on bustling Greenpoint Avenue in Queens, I Love Paraguay seemed welcoming and popular, with a soccer game playing on a TV in the corner.
I Love Paraguay has a well-proportioned menu, featuring Paraguayan and American classics. We were greeted by a cheerful waitress who readily informed us that…sorry… they were out of pretty much everything. Seemingly every time we ordered, the waitress came back and stated – very apologetically – “Sorry we’re out…” Of salad, chipa cheese rolls, sopa paraguaya. We kept scanning the menu for things we could order, only to be shot down again and again. Wanting to try something typically Paraguayan, we also tried to order a traditional cold mate tea, but the waitress assured us that “Americans don’t usually like it.” Our pet peeve! Usually we would have been more insistent, but we didn’t want to be pushy. Sigh… Oh well.
Our two dining guests finally settled on a selection of empanadas: corn, beef, and cheese. All were excellent, and cheese was easily the favorite. We (L&M), owing to lack of options, were suggested one of the most popular dishes at the restaurant, the sandwich de lomito: grilled skirt steak in a sandwich, garnished with lettuce and tomato (and egg if you so desire). If only these dishes had been on the menu, we likely would have had a much better overall impression of I Love Paraguay. The empanadas were excellent, the steak sandwiches were well-seasoned and perfectly grilled, and you got a lot of food for the money. But hopefully we will be back to try the rest of the menu, and some of the more emblematic Paraguayan dishes, if they are available.
Filed under Reviews
Our friend Silvia recently posted about a James Beard-nominated video series with a global foodie bent, Thirsty For. The premise of Thirsty For, produced by Tastemade, is that each video introduces a new beverage from around the world. However, this goes above and beyond the recipe alone, and we love the visuals and the soundtrack. Now some of the featured drinks we have heard of, like the Mango Lassi and Atole. However, others are much lesser known, including a strawberry milk drink from Mauritius, Alouda (video below), the Portuguese coffee drink Mazagran, and something for the kid in all of us, the Milo Dinosaur. Check out the entire series here.
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We love macarons, but the similar-sounding coconut macaroons don’t get much press on this blog. We know they are often confused with each other, even among foodies, with macroons being a coconut cookie, and macarons being a more delicate French sandwich cookie made of almond flour. As you can see, the double O really makes a world of difference. During Passover there is a prohibition against foods made with leavened flours and sometimes even corn products, according to tradition, limiting dessert options somewhat, which turned our attention to both macarons/macaroons. Macaroons, made primarily with coconut, meet this Passover dietary requirement, and due to how easy they are to make, they are really popular – even iconic – at the American Passover table. When invited to bring a snack to an event during Passover, I have often turned to coconut macaroons myself. Dan Cohen opines on the coconutty treat (and provides a recipe) in his macaroon bible, and more recipes abound online.
However, due to my focus on macaroons, I overlooked an equally suitable option – the 1-O French macaron. Macarons are made with almond flour, and not wheat, which makes them appropriate for Passover, though almond flour is unusual enough to make it a little difficult to find. The New York Times has a recipe for Kosher-for-passover macarons here, and they sound delicious. Though the 2-O macaroons are more common in America, the 1-O variety would be perfectly at home at the Passover table as well. Why not try something different?
Filed under Holidays, Pastry Post-Poc
Happy Easter! Easter really crept up on us this year, though we had the chance to make bunny-shaped chocolate cupcakes (yum!). However, if you are in the mood for something a little different, how about Koulourakia, braided, buttery Greek Easter Cookies. These cookies are traditionally eaten around Easter, and sometimes around Christmas as well, and are often topped with sesame seeds. Kalo Pascha!
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Sultan’s Market
2521 N Clark
Chicago, IL
We recently came upon yet another ranking of Chicago’s top falafel spots, and this time Sultan’s Market came out on top. Why had we still not been there? So many friends raved about it, so we finally made the decision to go, trekking down to Sultan’s Market hoping for falafel paradise. The space is super tiny, with just a few tables a food counter and a salad bar. You order at the counter where your sandwich was prepared for you with freshly fried falafel and shewarma from the spit. The food is super quick and you pay after you eat (I guess they assume you are pretty honest!). There is shiny golden tin on the walls and ceiling which adds a cool ambiance, amplified by a few colorful glass lamps.
The value-ratio at Sultan’s Market simply cannot be beat. Matt ordered a lamb shawerma dinner ($7.00), expecting a light meal. He got a big plate of marintaed, spiced lamb, accompanied with pita, hummus, cucumber salad, and a *small* lentil soup ($2.00, which, as you can see from the photo below, was by no means small). Meanwhile, Lindsay ordered a falafel sandwich ($3.75) and another small lentil soup. Total bill was less than $20 for two people, and we had way more food than we needed – we ended up taking about half of the food home for lunch later. Everything was very good, especially on the falafel front. Lindsay enjoyed hers, very delicious, fresh, and it comes in regular or spicy versions. It also has the characteristic green tint, provided by fresh herbs, that we appreciate.
One brilliant aspect of their business model is how they seamlessly integrate self-service into a sit-down restaurant concept. Everything seems made-to-order, but they have a salad bar There is also a salad bar where you can fill up a container with tabbouleh, baba ghanouj and other Middle Eastern favorites (oh, and salads…), as well as mounds of take-home containers for those who inevitably cannot finish their meals. Keeps costs down and portions big! We are totally smitten with Sultan’s Market, and will certainly be back. The menu at Sultan’s Market is so cheap, it is just a bonus that it is so good!
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Wherein the Fearless and Intrepid Lindsay and Matt Consume Much Free Meats and Cheeses Before Purchasing Even More.
The Pastoral Artisan Producer Fest, an annual April tradition held in the Chicago French Market, serves up a crowd-pleasing recipe for disaster: free samples of meat, cheese, and alcohol to any hungry Chicagoan who wanders in the door. With nearly one-hundred locally-sourced, artisanal, and talented vendors, the Fest may be one of the city’s best opportunities to eat well at zero cost. When we arrived at 11am, no wonder the place was already packed to the gills.
Crowded. But worth it.
One can easily get overwhelmed in the crowds, and the many patrons cutting in line to get samples. Here’s the thing, though: there is enough for everybody. Really. As such we tried, as best we could, to take our time: wait in lines, sample everything we could, talk closely with the vendors and makers about their products, snap photos when we had the chance, and save our favorite selections for purchase at the Pastoral counter at the back of the market. So, we meandered amongst the fifty tables, each showcasing two of the nearly one hundred producers of fine meats, cheeses, wines, spirits, and other accompaniments from around the country. With this slow-going method, we sampled the offerings at about half the tables (snaking through the lines at all of them would have taken all day) and took special attention to spend time at the section devoted entirely to Wisconsin cheese makers.
Prosciutto, salame, mortadella, etc. from Smoking Goose Meatery.
Matt quickly made a bee-line for the charcuterie purveyors. Deservedly, much praise has been heaped upon West Loop Salumi right here in Chicago, and we did love their selections. At the end of the day, though, we could not escape the draw of the Stagberry Salame (pictured at center in the above photo) made by Smoking Goose Meatery in Indianapolis. Stagberry features ground elk – a meat neither of us had tried before – studded with blueberries and soaked in honey wine. A brilliant balance of bold flavors, this hiking-trip in a sausage was worth every penny of its $36.99/lb price. At the end of the day we purchased half a stick for a very reasonable eight dollars.
Little Napoleon (left) and Manchester (right) from Zingerman’s Creamery.
Cheese was everywhere at the fest, with over one third of the vendors dedicated specifically to cheese. Wisconsin, as we mentioned before, boasted its own section – including the amazing offering of a free map of Wisconsin cheesemakers, which now sits in our glove compartment in case of emergencies. We made a point, however, to venture outside the Dairy State this day: Zingerman’s Creamery in Ann Arbor, Michigan (above) served up samples of its aged, soft Manchester and Little Napoleon cheeses. We were also big fans of their burrata, a creamy mozzarella mixture, and went back for seconds. Our were won, however, by the Bijou produced by Vermont Creamery: a simple, French-inspirted, aged goat’s milk cheese that was perfect for spreading and reminded us of similar table offerings we often encountered in Portugal. At $10.99 for two, we took one and ate it for lunch (in addition to all the other samples we had).
Helpful assistance with choosing at Pear Tree Preserves.
Finally, while meat and cheese ruled the day, we can’t overlook the other offerings. Patrons had a seemingly endless choice of wine and spirits, dessert items, as well as other accompaniments. A great match for many of the cheese would have been one of the local, organic fruit spreads orpreserves from Pear Tree Preserves, based right here in Chicago. We had a cherry preserve that was delectable, great for pairing, eating alone, or thickening into a pie filling. You can check out their current flavors list.
While we were forced to make purchases – and we hope others did as well, as it seems sinful to wade through all these free samples of skilled labor and not buy anything – honestly, we didn’t dislike a single thing we tried. As such, don’t consider our list exhaustive or best-of-the-best by any means. Take a look at the Fest’s vendor list, and support these local makers even if you did not have a chance to attend!
Filed under Cheese
Today is the first day of Passover, and to celebrate we are bringing you a story about Lebanese food specially made for Passover in New York City. The story centers on chef Souad Nigri, and her 30-plus year tradition of making catered meals for Passover. Typical dishes include tabbouleh and other mezes, but made Kosher for Passover with no wheat or bulgur. The story is a few years old, but now you can find Nigri’s dishes at Prime Butcher in New York.
Lindsay and I were thrilled to receive an invitation to be judges at the Grand Champion round of the 2014 World-Wide Mustard Competition, held this year on the campus of Kendall College in Chicago. The competition is run by the National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin, and directed by amiable museum curator Barry Levenson (a.k.a. Mr. Mustard) and his wife, Patti Levenson (Mrs. Mustard). You can read all about Barry and Patti’s background, as well as everything else you ever wanted to know about mustard and the museum, on the NMM’s fantastic blog and website.
Mr. and Mrs. Mustard rocking mustard-themed apparel.
Due to a work conflict, Lindsay couldn’t go, so I represented the ETW team. As I quickly realized upon entering, mustard judging is serious business (especially obvious when Barry led us in singing the Poupon U fight song – Wisconsin version, of course). While the first two rounds of judging (held last month in Middleton) sorted through the winners in each of sixteen different mustard categories, our task was much more difficult: rank each of the sixteen category champions from best to worst, thereby establishing the overall winner. Barry described this as akin to judging the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: comparing a garlic mustard and mustard barbecue sauce is as tough as comparing a poodle to a greyhound. Yet we must do it! Barry and Patti encouraged me to conduct multiple rounds of tasting each of the sixteen entrants, ranking them by how well they exemplified each category (read the full list and descriptions here), as well as basic questions we always ask ourselves: would we use this on our food? Does it make our food better? Does it showcase the mustard well?
The official entry platter, with sixteen categories identified by number. One will emerge as Grand Champion!
I was presented with a plate of each of the sixteen mustards, identified only by their entry number and their category (no other labels, manufacturers, or information provided). I opted for a three-tier judging system. First, I took a sample of each for initial impressions and thoughts. They ranged from mild and incredibly hot, from mustard-centric to more balanced flavors, from grainy to silky smooth. I then went through a second round, separating them into categories: top, middle, and bottom. Finally, I went through them again to separate out the rankings, coming up with a final mustard ranking, from grand champion (1) to bottom (16). Just to confirm my choices, I then opted for another round of tasting in order to be sure I made no mistakes.
I took spoon-size samples of each entry to facilitate my judging. Here I’ve already finished tasting #1, “Sweet-Hot.”
While I can’t reveal my final rankings, I can provide some of my general thoughts on how I proceeded. Many of the mustards were fiery hot, and I while I always appreciate the boldness of heat in condiments, one must balance that heat against showcasing the flavor. This is true for even milder mustards: if I felt it was bland, or lacked real mustard flavor, I ranked these lower than mustards that utilized their flavors in complex and satisfying ways. Finally, many readers will be familiar with our love of Category 16: “Mustard-Based BBQ Sauces.” Our original BBQ love will always be South Carolina mustard sauce, so I knew beforehand it would take a lot to impress me in this category!
The three judges seated at my table took the opportunity to compare our rankings once we were finished, and occasionally there was significant divergence, but four or five of the mustard were near the top in all our sheets. Perhaps these mustards are in the running for the top awards! We won’t know until May, when the winners of the Grand Championship will be for available for tasting and sale at the NMM’s “Salute! to the Winners” event on May 3 and 4 from 10am to 5pm. Come by and see if you agree with the judges, and if the other judges agreed with me!
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Our friends at Eating Madison A to Z recently clued us into an awesome competition, the World-Wide Mustard Competition, run by the National Mustard Museum. Yes – this a world championship for mustard! We paid a visit to the museum many moons ago when it was located in Mt. Horeb (it is now located in Middleton, WI), and it is truly a mecca for all things mustard. M is going to be one of the judges at the competition today (this round of judging is being held at Kendall College in Chicago), so look for some photos and tweets in the future.
Filed under Links
We have a major obsession with macarons, and we ranked the macarons at Ladurée in Paris as our favorite. So how excited were we two weeks ago to be visiting friends in New York, home of a North American outpost of our favorite macaron purveyor. The Ladurée in NYC is on the upper east side (864 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10021), within a stone’s throw of the Whitney Museum. We went on Saturday afternoon expecting a line… and we got one. However, the crowd control was a bit more organized than the Paris location. Here in NYC, there was a bouncer to let only 20 people into the shop itself at a time. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the counter to order, and once we were there, it was only minutes until we were reunited with our macarons.
The store was just as picturesque as the original French outpost, all done up in pastels, with mirrored cabinets and little towers of macarons perched on ornate boxes. In addition to macarons, the store was jam packed with chocolates, jam, ice cream and even coffee. Of course, there was also a huge selection of food and trinkets emblazoned with the Ladurée logo. Yet as always, we were single minded in our mission.
After the bouncer let us pass, we swarmed the macaron counter, which boasted over a dozen varieties, including our perennial favorites chocolate and salted caramel. As in Paris, the flavors are displayed on a little graphic menu, as displayed at the bottom of the post. There were other classic flavors including pistachio, coffee, lemon, raspberry and strawberry, as well as some more esoteric varieties including orange blossom, black forest and the quixotically-named Marie Antoinette (Earl Grey tea, though the macaron itself is blue).
It was a steep $21 for six, but we felt it was worth every penny, as we indulged in our macarons on a bench in Central Park. The salted caramel and chocolate were also a big hit with our friends, and we are happy we brought over some new macaron addicts to the fold. Word on the streets is that there is now a Ladurée in Soho (398 W Broadway, New York, NY 10012) with a tea room. Maybe that will be our next macaron mission (if we can get past the bouncer).
Filed under Pastry Post-Poc
Greenbush Bar
914 Regent St
Madison, WI
Speakeasy. Tiny. Crowded. Delicious. That’s Greenbush Bar in a nutshell. One of our go-to places in Madison, we have been there countless times since Matt started graduate school in 2006. Serving Italian-American fare (though the website says “Sicilian“) with Midwestern charm, we have been so often, until two days ago we were not even sure if we had taken photos there or not, or even gotten started on a review. Perhaps that’s fitting for a place that is difficult to find for the uninitiated. Greenbush boasts no oversize, catchy sign advertising its existence; no large windows to let jealous passers-by gaze inside. Instead, Greenbush thrives on being a bit of a hidden gem, yet seemingly everybody knows about it.
Madison’s Italian Workmen’s Club (via Madison Trust for Historic Preservation)
More than any place else we have ever been, Greenbush feels like a speakeasy. You enter the front door of the old Italian Workmen’s Club, and descend down a small flight of stares to a wooden door that says simply, “Please wait to be seated.” Every time we open that door, without fail, we are shocked to find people on the other side. Yet we always do, and it is always full. Greenbush does not take reservations, and going after 6:30pm or so, especially on Friday or Saturday, virtually guarantees a long wait. We’ve learned to go around 5pm for the best shot at a table underneath Greenbush’s signature kitschy, yet surprisingly charming, year-round Christmas light ceiling display.
Every time we go to Greenbush, we order the same things. An order of the #1 crostini, topped with prosciutto, goat cheese, and tomatoes ($6.75). These are big pieces of bread, so do not expect small portions for an appetizer that could easily be an entree for some people. Savoring these, our entrees invariably arrive together, at the exact moment we finish our appetizer. Lindsay has ordered an 8-inch thick pizza, topped with nothing but mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Cut into four pieces, the constant assumption (but only occasional reality) is that we will split it equally. One of the best pizzas in Madison, this simple yet perfect preparation never disappoints for those seeking a high-quality version of the pizza we all known and love.
At the same time, Matt has ordered his go-to, the “Gorgonzola Cream Sauce,” a fettucine dish with smoked chicken, toasted walnuts, scallions, lemon, and mushrooms mixed its eponymous sauce. Again, like all good Italian cuisine, nothing sophisticated about this preparation: well-sourced ingredients (many from Wisconsin), balanced together. The heavy cream works wonderfully with the lemon and scallions, and the mushrooms add a distinct texture while absorbing the rest of the flavors from in the dish. Again, we are never disappointed – and we have never ordered anything else. We then spend the next hour or more eating back and forth off each others’ plates, switching when need be, until we slowly work our way through the pizza and pasta. Typically, if we still have room, we finish with one of Greenbush’s rotating dessert options. Frequently this is a cannoli – a real cannoli, filled with real ricotta, and real pistachios on the sides (not some other nut with green food coloring).
Greenbush may not be fancy, it may not be trendy, but remains romantic and comforting, just like the food it serves. We will be going back forever, ordering the same dishes every time, and always getting the same Italian Midwestern speakeasy experience. And we would not have it any other way.
Filed under Reviews
Las Americas Bolivian Restaurant
We visited: 700 South Royal Poinciana Boulevard, #120, Miami Springs
Now Located at 2772 8th St SE, Miami, FL
To say we had some difficulty in finding Las Americas would be something of an understatement. Yelp, you lie to us. The address you have on file is for their previous location, but Las Americas moved out from a busy, restaurant-filled strip of NW 7th Stret in Miami to the (correct) addressed listed above sometime last year. But their new location is definitely not where one would expect to find a restaurant: on a diagonal street in an office park, located on the ground floor of a nondescript mid-rise office building. If not for the Bolivian flag peeking out, we may never have found it. But we are glad we did.
See the Bolivian flag on the left? That’s how you know!
Las Americas is set up in a rather unusual way. It seems to serve partly as the go-to cafeteria for the office building, so there is a smaller interior space attached to a larger, partially open-air area with outdoor seating and a roof. It was a nice day (it’s Miami, after all), so we decided to sit out there, surrounded by a sprinkling of Bolivian artifacts and clothing on the walls. After a few minutes, the friendly owner came out and helpfully explained the menu to us. We were intrigued by a drink called mok’ochinchi, which we have never seen anywhere else, but the restaurant was out of it that day. Peruvian aficionados will also be familiar with chicha morada, and they make a good one at Las Americas.
On a recommendation both from the owner and from reviews, we started with a Bolivian-style empanada called a salteña (pictured above). Fantastic! Perfectly baked, its savory filling crossed with a sweet touch and a generous helping of olives. Pair with Las Americas’ signature spicy salsa (not for the faint of heart), and a few of these (only $2.50 each) are a meal in and of themselves.
The main entrees at Las Americas will remind patrons of Peruvian cuisine with less of a coastal influence: lots of starches, grilled meats, accented with vegetables, with a heavy emphasis on clean, simple flavors. We opted to split an order of grilled steak (bistec), which was served with the typical Andean starch accompaniments, potato and large-kernel corn. This was the first time we had ever actually seen the large kernels attached to the corn, so this was cool to see! The steak also came with a refreshing side salad of tomatoes, red onions, and a creamy cheese similar to feta. At $12.50, this was plenty for two people. Overall, Las Americas helped us check a new country off the list while satisfying our Andean food cravings. It’s definitely worth a try, and the office employees are lucky to have it for their lunch break!
Filed under Reviews
Pummarola
141 Aragon Ave.
Coral Gables FL 33134
Let’s be frank: we are total pizza snobs. When it comes to pizza, it takes a lot to impress us. Maybe it is because we had superlative pizza in Naples, and let’s be honest, there is nothing like pizza in Naples. Maybe it is because both of us come from Italian families. Or maybe (and this is probably the most important) it is because Matt’s grandmother has owned and operated her own pizza shop for the last fifty years. In any case, we were surprised to fall so quickly in love with Pummarola, a small restaurant serving up pizza that part Neapolitan, part northern Italian, and part pure Miami. Small with not even ten tables, the tiny space is dominated by a stone pizza oven and a red Fiat 500 car stuck into the wall as decoration. Love it. Maybe an allusion to the Neapolitan traffic?
Pummarola’s menu includes pasta and salads, but the main attraction is the pizza, which is made exactly like we had it in Naples – and thus exactly as we have come to expect it. The obvious reason for this? Everyone who works at Pummarola, from the owner to the pizzaolo, is Neapolitan. Everyone except the ebullient and witty manager, who hails from northern Italy: “I’m the only real Italian here!” he quipped with a wink, echoing the north / south Italian cultural divide. With a Neapolitan pizzaolo behind the counter, it is no surprise that we found the pizza to be purely Neapolitan. It was fun to watch the pizza being prepared and the white tiled pizza oven heating up. We went twice, and each time split a large pizza (which is really is enough for 3). The first was a perfectly-made margherita, with buffalo mozzarella and perfect tomato sauce. Other varieties included spicy salami, truffled mushrooms and pancetta.
On our second trip we had a prosciutto and arugula pizza, also fantastic. L, always one to explore further afield, tried the arancini, which was good, but nothing to write home about. Our quest for a respectable arancine in the US continues. Still, that pizza just blew us away. This was one of the best pizzas we’ve had in this country (not on this side of the Atlantic, though – we’re looking at you, São Paulo) and one of the few that approximated those we had in Naples. We liked both pizzas, but our hat tip goes to the margherita, for its clean flavors. If you are craving Neapolitan style pizza, do not think twice to head Pummarola. It is cheaper than a flight to Naples!
Our favorite April Fools’ tradition is the French Poisson d’Avril (April fish), where you are supposed to go around taping paper fish on the backs of friends and acquaintances. We learned that Italy has their own version of this holiday, Il Pesce d’Aprile! However, in both countries, the “fish” means the appearance of fish-shaped chocolate as well. Of course we approve of any holiday where chocolate eating is sanctioned.
Poisson D’Avril by ParisSharing
L’hai visto? (Have you seen him?)
Chi? (Who?)
Il pesce d’Aprile! (The April fish/fool!)
Filed under Holidays, World Eats
This Belorussian chocolate bar has the right idea! Happy weekend!
There’s a lot of info out there about how to season a cast iron pan: use canola oil, Crisco, lard, etc. But what’s REALLY the best oil to use? Sheryl Canter explores the science behind seasoning and explains why flaxseed oil may be ideal. We have a old family cast iron pan we have never really re-seasoned, but now we think we will try it.
Filed under Links
So obviously we are going to be obsessed with any ice cream store that is named in homage to Celia Cruz’s signature phrase and has seats made from guayabera shirts. Azucar Ice Cream (1503 SW 8th St., Miami, FL) is all that and more – and the ice cream is more than good! There is a huge list of flavors written on the chalkboard wall, but only a portion are usually on offer. The flavors that stand out are the tropical varieties: plantain, Cuban coffee and mango, etc., and of course Abuela Maria! This flavor consists of Maria sugar cookies (apparently found all over the world in various forms), cream cheese and a guava swirl. We instantly fell in love. It was just like eating a guava cheesecake; absolutely wonderful. This flavor in particular seemed to be so popular that we saw it on offer at several other restaurants throughout the city. If you are in Miami you have to try it!
Abuela Maria from Azucar Ice Cream
Filed under Pastry Post-Poc, World Eats
Los Pinarenos Fruteria
1334 SW 8th St
Miami, FL 33135
Los Pinarenos Fruteria is so atmospheric you would love to go there even if the food wasn’t any good (apparently Chase picked up on this as well). But the drinks are so delicious, it just makes us want to visit more. Right on Calle Ocho, Los Pinarenos is combination of a country farm a juice counter and fruit stand. This place made us think of all the juice bars in Brazil we used to love to visit, with their huge menus of flavor options.
Los Pinarenos has juice options in spades, and you can get everything from parsley to mamey along with more familiar fruits. You can order either a juice or a milkshake (batido) of any of the fruit flavors. There are also savory tidbits and cafe Cubano, but we never got past the fruit to try them. Every drink is made fresh to order, and from real fruit. Of course, as fun as it is to sit the counter, anyone who has ever been there will tell you the best place to sit is out back. There are a few tables out back populated usually by Cuban men in white shirts, however also holding court out back are a flock of chickens, some ornery roosters, and – the real reason to visit – the fattest pig we have ever seen.
So we first saw this pig on our first visit to Miami in January, and well…. we didn’t know if she’d still be around in February. Made into lechon, we assumed. We didn’t know if she was a pet or dinner! Turns out she is a pet, and her name is “Chucha,” and you can see her and her menagerie any day. It seems like she has a pretty content life. Case in point – we ordered two watermelon jugos one day, and Chucha got the entire watermelon rind, so we like to think we are contributing a little bit to her happiness. There is also a baby pig nearby, but you have to ask permission to see her. We’ll be back whenever we are in Miami – for the ambiance, the drinks, and to visit our favorite animals!
Filed under Reviews
Eating The World 