My Week in Instagram

1.  Been searching for these all over!  Still looking for the canvas version as well.

2.  Really good chocolate discovery!

3.  Can you believe these are from Costco?  They're unbelievably good!

4.  More flats.

5.  Haircut!  His hair is finally not uneven anymore!

6.  Limited editions.

A Toy Love Story

I saw this on Chuvaness.com and had to share. It made me smile and tear-up at the same time.

It's nominated for best online commercial in the Webby Awards, and you can vote for it here.  Online voting will decide the People's Voice Webby winners.

Havana 1957

Havana 1957 was enthusiastically recommended by the concierge at our hotel when I asked for places that served Cuban food.  He said this place was way better than the ones recommended in our guidebook, so of course we had to go try it.

The guidebooks made it a point to emphasize that Miami is known for its fresh juices, so it was surprising that I hardly saw any during our trip.  I asked at several restaurants and the only fresh juice they had was orange. What happened to guava, pineapple, or other choices?  Here I decided to just try their canned pineapple juice (boohoo) and Hao tried a Cuban soda.



Harvey loved the plantain chip appetizers and had to wrangle with Hao to see who could eat more.  Okay, I'm sure Hao gave more to Harvey, but it was fun watching them both eat.

Especialidad de la Casa - A family traditional roasted chicken in our delicious Cuban gravy, served with white rice, black beans, salad, and sweet plantain.  They had me at sweet plantain. This dish was awesome!  I wasn't planning to finish it, but I couldn't help just eating spoonful after spoonful -- it was that good!  the chicken was juicy and flavorful, and the gravy soaked rice was drool-worthy.

Before we even looked at the menu, Hao said all he wanted was pork.  So of course we had to order the Lechon Asado, and no it's not the same as Filipino lechon asado.  Their version is slow roasted pork leg with Cuban mojo, served with more rice and yuca.  I was too satisfied with my own dish to even bother with his!

And lastly, dessert was tres leches cake.  Ever since I had really delicious tres leches in Puerto Rico, I've been hoping to find one as good anywhere, and sadly, this was not it.  It was extremely sweet and I only managed two spoonfuls before I gave up.

Despite the disappointing dessert, this was one of the best meals of the entire trip.  The tagliolini from Scarpetta is still the best dish, but this was overall more satisfying.

Havana 1957
405 Española Way
Miami Beach, FL 33139
305.503.3828

Art Deco Miami

I can't say that all these buildings are art deco, but I can say they're all gorgeous!  Walking along Ocean Drive in South Beach was very visually stimulating and was one of the highlights of our quick trip. I just wanted to share these with you in case you haven't been to Miami Beach yet.

Scarpetta @ Fontainebleau

One of the advantages of staying in such a huge resort like the Fontainebleau is that there are so many food choices.  I was excited to see that Scarpetta had an outpost there as I'd been wanting to try the one in New York and hadn't had the chance.

We were quite early and were seated in the outer terrace area, where all the diners with kids were placed, haha.

The eggplant dip in the middle was delicious! And the bread was all kinds of warm and crusty.

The tuna bresaola with melon, baby basil, and focaccia croutons was light and refreshing.

Hao's jumbo stone crabs with truffled aioli and dijon also tasted delicious but I only had a bite.

Ahh...the star of the evening.  Or even of the entire trip.  This black tagliolini with dungeness crab, cauiflower, and smoked tomatoes was a revelation. Subtle, delicate, and perfectly balanced, I found myself grabbing forkful after forkful (from Hao's plate!) and just being utterly satisfied.

After the black tagliolini, this duck and foie gras ravioli was a bit of a let down. it was tasty enough, but next to the tagliolini , it was a bit overwhelming.  The flavors were good but a bit too much.

Dessert was a coconut pannacotta with guava sauce.  I almost skipped dessert until I heard coconut and guava.  Mmm...I couldn't resist, and it was as good as I expected.

Scarpetta
Fontainebleau Miami Beach
4441 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33140
877.326.7412

J. Crew Shiny Ponies

"And some of them I actually realize I haven't worn, but I like the look of them". Ah, Jenna Lyons, a shoeaholic after my own heart.

6/100

As of March 30, 2013, I will have been to 6 of Opinionated About Dining's 2013 Top 100 US Restaurants.  And wow, that's surprisingly fewer than I expected! So, what's on March 30?  Alinea!  I'm so excited that J managed to get us a reservation, and I promised her if she did I would fly to Chicago to join her, so Chicago, here we come!