Jan. 3, 2007
 
Eating Miami-Style Adds Spanish, Italian, Latin Flair
 
By Marlene Parrish
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
Miami, FL (SHNS) -- Cue the music. Change the lyric. "My kind of town, Miami is. My kind of razzmatazz."
 
I love Miami. The rest of Florida, not so much.
 
Miami is a crossroads of Latin America and the Caribbean, and you can hear it in the music, see it on the streets and taste it in the regional cuisine. Throw in the semi-tropical climate and the beach, and, well, why would a snowbird want to be anywhere else on vacation?
 
After an early December family wedding in Palm Beach, my husband and I extended our stay for several days in Miami, often called "Little Cuba." We would have a chance to play in the sun, see some pals and catch up with a rising-star chef, Michelle Bernstein.
 
We first met Michelle when she starred at a guest-cooking gig on Longboat Key several years ago. While course after course arrived from the kitchen, we became friends with our tablemates and Michelle's traveling fan club, her parents, David and Martha, he from Minnesota, she from Argentina. Michelle, they told us, wanted a career as a ballerina, and she studied with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York. The Big Apple just made her homesick, and she left the company to find her muse at cooking school.
 
Long story short, it was back to Miami where, for a bit, she was a recipe tester for cookbook author Steven Raichlen. A few years and a lot of experience later, she landed at South Beach's Azul Restaurant, which immediately garnered rave reviews. Smart and talented, with a wide-angle smile and a mass of curly hair, Michelle was scooped up by the Food Network. Her show, "The Melting Pot," focused on her mom's style of Latin home cooking. It was a hit.
 
She kept climbing the kitchen ladder. A gig in Cancun, thwarted by a hurricane wipe-out, and marriage to David Martinez brought her back home to Miami once again. Six months ago, the couple opened Michy's, after her childhood nickname. Michy's has been standing-room only every night since.
 
Michy's is a capsule-size Miami. Just like Michelle herself, the restaurant is sexy, high-energy, hip, stylish, mostly Latin and cosmopolitan. Even on a Tuesday night, the tables turn three times. But it's also a family affair. Husband David takes care of the front of the house, her sister Nicky designed the 60-seat room and her parents dine often.
 
Her menu is a mix of Spanish and Italian with Asian notes, all tempered by her training in classical French technique. Here's a sample: Crispy fingers of molten Blue Cheese and Jamon Croquetas with Fig Marmalade, Sweetbreads with Veal Cheek Ravioli and Grilled Quail with Chocolate Mole. One dessert stands out: Baked Alaska, a beehive-shaped mound of toasted meringue drifted over dulce de leche ice cream and pistachio cake.
 
Chef Bernstein is also consulting chef for Social Miami, the imaginative and edgy restaurant at the Sagamore Hotel in South Beach. We didn't know that when we booked our reservation at this hotel some months ago.
 
We also didn't know that the days we'd be in Miami were the run-up to a hemisphere-level art blowout known as Art Basel Miami Beach 2006. (Some unfathomable cosmic energy often blows us to the right place at the right time.) The Sagamore bills itself as an art hotel that specializes in video art installations, sculpture, photography and prints. We couldn't stay for the three-day event, but we had an opportunity to preview much of the work and chat with the 20-something techies whose job it was to pull the art projects together.
 
At Social Miami, Michele works with resident executive chef Sean Mohammed. The restaurant isn't a room, but rather a cluster of alcoves and banquettes and a covered patio, all designed with minimalist and industrial design motifs done in dove whites and steel grays. The menu is best described as worldly. Old-timer Miami travelers wonder where the old-fashioned entrees (a meat and three) are, because the menu is designed as a collection of small plates meant to be shared: Jerk Spiny Lobster Skewers, Moroccan Crab Cakes, Bluefin Tuna Tartare.
 
That fancy food is OK for a meal or two, max. Day-to-day, we prefer simpler fare, and since the soul of Miami is Cuban, we always spend time searching out small eateries in Little Havana.
 
That's where we indulge in succulent pork dishes. This is not the wussified pork we get in the supermarkets back here at home. Cuban pork comes from hogs that are so fatty and deep-flavored, they must have swum from Cuba across the Straits of Florida to Miami.
 
Those Cuban treats are probably some of my last indulgences at the table before I pay the piper with a spartan eating regimen, starting in January. I won't have to wonder where those extra pounds came from. See you at Weight Watchers.
 
CUBAN BLACK BEAN SOUP PG TESTED
 
Black bean soup is Florida's official soup. Fancy places serve it in china cups, and ethnic eateries serve it in big bowls. Sometimes it's served over rice as a vegetable side dish. In this Cuban version of the soup, the beans and vegetables are cooked separately and combined at the end. The list of ingredients is long, but the soup is simple to make.
 
For the beans:
 
1 pound dried black beans
1/2 green bell pepper, cored and seeded
2 cloves garlic
1 each bay leaf, small onion, whole clove

For the soup:

5 ounces bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slivers
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup sour cream, for garnish
1/4 cup finely chopped scallion greens, for garnish
 
Prepare the beans:
 
The day before cooking, pick through the beans and remove any pebbles. Rinse the beans under running water and place them in a large heavy pot. Add 8 cups of water and let soak in the fridge overnight. Add the bell pepper and garlic to the pot. Pin the bay leaf to the onion with the clove, and add it to the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat, loosely cover the pan and simmer the beans, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 1 hour. Prepare the soup: Brown the bacon in a large heavy frying pan, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off the fat from the pan. Add the olive oil to the pan, followed by the onion, bell pepper, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the sauteed vegetables and bacon into the beans, along with the wine, vinegar, cumin, oregano, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Cover and gently simmer the soup until the beans are very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 2 cups of the beans to a bowl and mash with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir this mixture back into the soup to give it a creamy consistency. Correct the seasonings. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each with a dollop of the sour cream and a sprinkling of the scallion greens. The soup will be even better when reheated the next day.
 
Makes about 8 servings.
 
-- Adapted from "Miami Spice," by Steven Raichlen
 
Marlene Parrish can be reached at mparrish@post-gazette.com or 412-481-1620.
 
Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.