Sunday, December 20, 2009

TIMO takes top place in Sunny Isles (North Miami Beach), FL. (12-20-09)

If you check out your Miami Zagat Guide IL MULINO gets rates 25 for
service and food and higher marks for decor than TIMO, but if you walk
across the street from Il Mulino at the Acqualina you will find a same
rates food location at TIMO (www.timorestaurant.com) at 17624 Collins
Ave for less than 1/2 the price. The service rating is 2 points lower,
but then, we did not need three people hovering over our table all
evening for an extra $40 per person! This small beach neighborhood of
high rises at the north end of Miami Beach (north of Bar Harbour and
south of Hollywood and Hallandale) does not offer lots of dining
choices, so TIMO is a real find mixing Italian with American cuisine
under the guidance of Chef Tim Andreola, who has been there for over
1/2 a dozen years after leaving the post of Executive Chef at Mark's
South Beach (he was previously at Chef Allen's; these two spots are
well known uber-dining spots in Miami!). The dining room is small and
a bit noisy, but cozy and never felt crowded. There is an exposed
brick at the rear and the wood-fired oven for pizza in it. The right
third of the room is a bar area.
Our server, Nicholas was friendly, informative and helpful, and
managed most of needs quickly (the place was HEAVING!) once we settled
in. The five of us started with a bottle of Rousanne that was corked
and quickly switched to a yummy GODELLA from Rafael Palacios "As
Sortes" from Val do Bibei 2007 in the Valdeorras region of Spain. I
also noticed the Negroamaro we had the night before for $90 was $54 on
Timo's menu!
The tasty flatbreads, simple focaccia with olive oil and more arrived
and we dug in as we ordered.
It was hard to choose from the not so huge menu, which is a credit to
the selections themselves. Our starters were MUSHROOM SOUP with
Truffled Ricotta & Marsala which I did not taste, but Will and I spli
two delightful varied treats:
SHAVED PORTUGUESE OCTOPUS with Orange, Fennel & Green Olives was a
light salad-like dish with the thinnest slices of octopus, tasty
shredded fennel (and you know I am picky about the fennel) and a nice
light dressing. Marylanders will be thrilled with the crab treatment
as it is JUMBO LUMB BLUE CRAB baked as a cake in an Large ARTICHOKE
Heart in a simple but tasty Lemon-Brown Butter. The portion was easy
to split and large and novel to us from the DC crab region.
We moved on to a wonderful sipping red between courses that was not
too big and just right for the moment:
ROSSO di MONTALCINO from Friggiali 2004 has a great nose and is smooth
in the mouth and makes no demand for food. Our second red was a superb
choice recommended by Nicholas and great for the price as well:
BARBERA d'ASTI 2006 "Serraboella" from Cigiliati in Piemonte is a new
hit with me having great earthy tones and unlike the Sangiovese (and
indeed most Baberas) asked for food.
Our food was a great accompaniment to this wine or vice versa, and we
had a true variety of dishes:
PAPPARDELLE came with a 1-1/4 lb. of MAINE LOBSTER as a "Bolognese"
without the red meat of course. It was a superb preparation and here
the pasta was al dente to perfection, something Il Mulino seems to
think is not the objective (perhaps most American prefer the pasta
overcooked and are catered to that way). My RAVIOLI "alla Genovese"
were four (also perfectly al dente) HUGE ravioli stuffed with a meat
ragu of Sweetbreads, Sausage, Parmesan and topped with Crispy Sage.
The seasoning of the filling was simply perfect. Even those who shy
away from sweetbreads at our table were impressed with the meat
filling.
Pizza here gets super high ratings with thin tasty crusts and Will's
BLACK & WHITE came with Ricotta, Mozzarella, Provolone and Shaved
Black Truffles enhanced by Truffle Oil. Will added thinly sliced
pieces of tasty Prosciutto to this perfect pizza making it even
better.
PORK TENDERLOIN was delish and came with an amazing GREEN APPLE & BLUE
CHEESE RISOTTO that was to die for, and the RED WINE BRAISED LAMB
SHANK with Wild Mushrooms and Truffled French Lentils was a masterful
dish down to the little marrow scooped out of the end of the bone!
Not one of us disliked a bite of anything!
Desserts were okay, with the sorbets being big hits with flavors of
MANGO DAIQUIRI, PRICKLY PEAR and MEYER LEMON. I did not taste the Warm
Apple Strudel with Calvados & Caramel Sauce. Will's Warm Liquid Center
Chocolate Cake with Caramelized Banana Ice Cream and Dulce di Leche
seemed to be the most popular at our table (you know I'm not a
chocoholic) and my Macadamia Brittle & Gelato with Caramlized Banana,
Pineapple and Toasted Coconut offered up a huge tasty tuile but a bit
too much gelato in a porion that two or three could have eaten. A
glass of CHATEAU TIRECUL La Graviere 2003 MONBAZILLAC was sweet and
thick and sent me home ever so happy.
A meal with friends is always great, but finding a new destination
that we all loved makes it an even better treat.

Our reports will now only be from ports where we enjoy special lunches
during our 18-day Panama Cruise Canal which starts today! See you at
sea.