Bottom line: I was pleasantly surprised, almost shocked. I really liked Miami Beach. Not only is it gorgeous, both the beach and the architecture (the Art Deco section of South Beach), but there appears to be a thriving cultural life and restaurant scene. This went far beyond the clubby scene I expected and dreaded to find in South Beach.
I basically spent two days ambling around, walking the beach, checking out the, uhm... sights, as well as South and Central Miami Beach. (Pictures to follow.) A highlight was a guided walking tour of the Art Deco Historical District, offered by the Miami Beach Design Conservation League. The 90-minute walking tour showed examples of the various types of architecture that was favoured in South Beach from the 1920's to current day, including, of course, the Art Deco style of the early 30's to late 40's, along with providing an overview of the history of the area. Serge Storms would have appreciated. It turns out the guide was a recently retired US government bureaucrat who had moved to Miami Beach post-retirement. I spent a bit of time chatting with him post-tour about retirement benefits (turns out they are relatively comparable), because that is evidently what I now do.
Other than the walking, I was impressed with the restaurant scene, well, at least with those that I hit. My favourite find was Pubbelly's, on 20th Street, on the west side of South Beach, away from the touristy areas. Eater.com described it as an 'Asian-influenced gastropub'; I am not entirely sure I would call it a gastropub. Clearly, the place looks like it could have been a pub in a previous incarnation (lay-out, red-brick walls), but with its small plate menu and large, communal-type tables, and lack of taps (only one, although there was a decent bottled beer menu) it does not fit my definition of a gastropub. In any event, now that I have tangentially again asserted my geekiness, it does not really matter, because the food is great. As mentioned, it is a small plate menu (I had three items, plus desert) and there is definitely an Asian tinge to the menu: dumplings, soy, tofu, wasabi and the like. Plus, pork, as might have been guessed by the restaurant's name, is a staple on the menu.
I ordered the pork belly and corn dumplings, but Pubbelly's dumplings are not dumplings in the traditional sense. These chunks of pork were covered on one side with some sort of batter, with the corn served on top, along with slices of parmigiano cheese and a soy/black truffle drizzling. The combination was exquisite. I followed that with some salt and pepper squid (very nicely salt and peppery, which did not need the accompanying dipping sauce), then with pork cheeks served with fava beans, ricotta gnudi, crispy ham, green peas and wasabi butter. I had an amazing homestyle bread pudding for desert. A great meal at a restaurant that few tourists probably visit.
At the other end of the scale, tourist clientèle-wise, I also ate at Joe's Stone Crab, which is evidently a local institution, being in business since 1903 (I am going from memory here and could be wrong). Joe's is a multi-roomed, large, semi-formal restaurant, with very attentive, career wait staff. My brain mis-fired as I did not order the restaurant's speciality (stone crab, what else, served cold, with a mustard dipping sauce). I had instead the Florida clam bake (steamed clams, oysters, lobster pincers, shrimp, spicy sausage and corn, served with a coconut milk based sauce), which was quite nice.
And yes, I did find, thanks to 'The Great American Ale Trail' (TGAAT from now on...), a craft beer bar, the Abraxas Lounge, on Meridian Avenue, not far from Ocean Drive. According to the barmaid, they have the best selection of craft beer in South Florida. I have no reason to doubt her. They had a good number of taps featuring American craft beers, including some Floridian brewers, and two bottled beer lists: their regular one, and a featured one that listed well over 100 rare bottles (i.e., single or seasonal brews and the like). Notably, I had a Jai Alai IPA and an Tocobaga American Red from Cigar City Breweries, from Tampa. Both were superior brews, the Red being very smooth, with some hints of hoppyness and the Jai Alai, providing a subtle hoppy taste. The joint, which seems to cater predominantly to locals, was loud (even though there were only roughly 20 or so people there), as game One of the Heat-Pacers series was on and finished crazily.
Random observations:
- It is evidently the rainy season in South Florida. There was a beautiful, violent thunderstorm on Monday night, with some of the thickest rain I have ever seen. The storm drains do not seem equipped to deal with such a downpour; streets were flooded. (The same happened Wednesday morning, after much less rain, which really makes me wonder about Miami's drainage system.)
- The public transit system seems pretty good, which surprised me a bit, given past experiences in the Southern States. Mind you, to come back from the baseball game Monday night, I took a (free) trolley, a train, a (free) metromover (separate train system that, well, moves people in two downtown loops) and finally a bus, which was a bit elaborate, but I may not have taken the most efficient way back to South Beach. Oh, and the base fare is $2. (You hear that OC Transpo?)
- Yes, of course, I went to the World Museum of Erotic Art, which is more a collection than a museum. If they bothered getting it properly curated, they might actually have something decent here that could tell a story, other than just a tourist attraction.
- I should have expected it, but I think I heard more Spanish spoken than English.
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.
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