Faraz's Orangina-slash-contribution to my Buena Vista post

My trip to Miami a few weeks ago was a whirlwind, but I still managed to squeeze in brunch at Buena Vista Bistro before I left with my friends Shahla and Faraz. I think Paris was still on their minds (they came back from there just the evening before!), because Buena is a pocket-sized French bistro on a street that doesn’t have much else in the immediate vicinity.

Buena Vista Bistro - Miami

Buena Vista inside

The inside has a very 50s aesthetic — black tables and chairs, mirrors making up half the wall and the entire menu written on a chalkboard behind the counter. But on that warm day, we decided to take it outside under the shade of bright yellow umbrellas.

Eggs Benedict

(Sorry, the umbrellas also explain the yellow tinge to all my food pics! I tried!). The menu is small, with simple plates. I went for the eggs benedict (of course…you’ll notice this is going to be a trend with me). The waiter was kind enough to promptly exchange my dish when I found bacon in my meal. It was pretty straightforward, eggs on a bed of spinach over an English muffin. Everything else we ordered followed suit — scrambled eggs with salmon, a stiff eggs frittata, and french toast.

Scrambled eggs with salmon

Eggs Frittata

French Toast

We thought the frittata was a little too dry and bland. The French toast was a welcomed bout of sugar to our meal. But nothing kept me majorly enamored (besides the company):

My hosts and current couple crush, Shahla and Faraz

(If we look like we were all up talking til 6 am…umm…then we probably were…leaveusalone). Faraz then awesomely represented his Hydro-ness, by taking us straight to Angelina’s for more sweets.

Angelina's

Angelina's

Angelina's inside

This place looked so cute and whimsical, I wish we could have a second meal here altogether!
We quickly got cake-batter flavored fro yo with mango, a much-needed cold treat on such a hot day.

Angelina's fro yo

Restaurant Info:
Buena Vista Bistro
4582 Northeast 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 456-5909
Design District

REPORT CARD
Meal: Brunch
Occasion: Frands don’t need an occasion…
Price: $$
(Out of three stars)
Ambiance: **
Food: *
Service: ***
Would I go back?: Probably not…Shals and Asma made a much more yummy brunch at her apartment during my last Miami trip!!

Angelina’s Coffee and Yogurt
3451 NE 1st Ave
Ste 102B
Miami, FL 33137
(305) 424-9129

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Viva la Crepe

The original outpost of Viva actually did start in Paris and grew to work its way stateside. They have a full savory and sweet menu, but the savory one might as well have not existed for us at that moment. We were busy trying to decide between dark chocolate, nutella, white chocolate, vanilla or chocolate ice cream, berries or almonds, etc. etc. We settled on a nutella/banana/almond/walnut/vanilla ice cream combo and a heavenly dark chocolate/berries/banana/vanilla ice cream one.

Dark chocolate ice cream crepe

The crepes are served in a little pocket you can hold while you munch. Just a word of advise if you’re getting it with ice cream, ask for it on the side . It makes devouring it a LOT easier.

Nutella crepe with ice cream on the side

The crepes were nothing short of scrumptious. My friends kept commenting on how much better and fresh the vanilla ice cream was compared to the usual. I loved my crepe but felt like I could have probably done without the nuts (it made it a tad dry). But overall, the crepes were a good mix of soft and crunch, sweet and flavorful. Just a thought in case you’re over the fondue and chocolate pizzas!

Restaurant info:
Viva La Crêpe!
114 University Pl.
betwen 12th & 13th St.
New York, NY 10003
212-242-8483
Union Square

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The Forge

Yeah, I know, it looks like you’re walking into a palace. It kinda feels like that too. The grandiose exterior matches the opulent interior.

The Forge entrance

Chandelier

Inside

They seated us at a long table with the largest plush leather chair at the head of the table (that we gave to the birthday girl, Shahla!). The waiters came around and put our handkerchiefs on our lap for us and served us drinks immediately. We were then handed the fanciest mother-of-pearl menus I’ve ever seen:

Mother-of-pearl-menus

Usually, I don’t talk too much about the starter bread baskets (they’re mostly all the same), but this one is definitely worth mentioning. The bread rolls were soft and warm the outside and gooey and tender on the inside. They could have been a meal in itself. It also had thinner crispy bread sticks with melted asiago cheese. Delish.

Bread basket

Porcini seared diver sea scallops, $16

Crispy corn ravioli, $12

Pan seared crab cake, $16

Side of Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, $8

And those were just the appetizers. Our waiter made absolutely no fuss about some of us wanting to have a few appetizers instead of one plate as a meal and gave us honest recommendations about portion sizes which I thought was pretty cool. I would have expected a little more of a pretentious atmosphere but they were so accommodating and patient. My favorite was probably the crab cake, though they were all really tasty. But the appetizer they’re really known for is the Lobster, Peanut butter & Jelly sandwich…I know, it sounds all sorts of crazy:

Lobster, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, $17

Lobster, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, $17

It has crunchy peanuts and tasted like the peanut sauce in Thai dishes. To be honest, you can probably taste more of the peanut butter than anything else. I also wasn’t expecting it to be a cold sandwich, but it’s worth trying.

Roasted Bell & Evans Chicken, $26

Roasted Bell & Evans Chicken, $26

I think I really appreciated the interesting mix of flavors and textures. More than that, you can taste so much of what they put in each dish. I ordered the Bell & Evans Chicken, only after deciding I didn’t have quite enough room for the steak I really wanted to try. It comes with a homestead tomato salad (I’m not big on tomatoes, but my friend Sana took them off my hands and said they were the best she’s had), purple potatoes, and lemon confit. It’s a huge plate, so I had to share, but every bite was as good as the first one.

Three mushroom risotto, $30

The Three Mushroom Risotto was another one of my favorite dishes. It’s made with two ingredients I die for: mushrooms (obvi…roasted shiitake, portabello and porcini) and truffle oil. It’s a very very flavorful but heavy dish. I think it can almost be overwhelming as just a dish on it’s own, so I would split it with a meat dish if you could. It’s so worth ordering if you go though! A pretty elegant pick of a restaurant — couldn’t have expected anything less from our equally elegant host, Shals .

Restaurant Info:
The Forge
432 41st Street
Miami Beach, FL 33140-3504
(305) 538-8533

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Nomad

I’ve been passing by Nomad in the East Village almost every day this week and it always looks so warm and inviting inside. The Moroccan/French restaurant serves traditional plates and tapas and has the most gorgeous decor of jeweled lanterns, tiled tables and dim lighting. Man, even their bathroom is so pretty I almost took a picture, but that would be weird so I didn’t. In the back, they have a beautiful enclosed courtyard-like space. The food, I found, was equally impressive.

Moroccan bread starter

Duck pastille

If you go, you HAVE to try the duck pastille a l’orange appetizer. It’s a filo pastry stuffed with duck, almonds, and pieces of orange. It has the most interesting mix of flavors, a little sweet and salty. The lamb tajine is also really tasty, made with prunes, carmelized onions, spices and comes with a side of couscous.

Lamb Tagine

Sorry, it’s a dark pic but the best I could do! The service was also very friendly. Overall a pretty great find I think. If you’re looking for entertainment, they have a live band and belly dancers on Thursday nights, along with a $25 prix fixe meal. I also found that if you sign up for Village Vines (www.villagevines.com), you can get 30% off your entire bill here (and also get a discount at a bunch of other reputable restaurants). Definitely worth a pit stop.

Restaurant Info:
Nomad
78 Second Ave.
btw 4th and 5th Streets
New York, NY 10003
212-253-5410
East Village

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Inside Anyway Cafe

There’s dim lighting, a canopy of branches lit up with tiny green lights, and live music (tonight was a single musician playing a tiny piano whose music was crescendoing throughout the evening).

Bread with pesto butter

When I walked in, I could smell the food right away and I was salivating. I asked the waitress to give me whatever they’re cooking, and she pointed to the chicken straganoff, a quintessential Russian dish. It’s sauteed pieces of chicken in a sour cream sauce.

Chicaken straganoff

I actually just thought it was OK — my friend Sofia and I agreed that it had a little bit of a ‘metallic-ey’ after-taste which kinda ruined it for me a bit. But it wasn’t horrible. I read in Time Out NY that there’s no stove (just a hot plate an microwave “so complex dishes can fall flat”…I tend to agree with that). We also went with a French dish, mushroom crepes.

Mushroom crepes

If you’re not a mushroom fan, you wouldn’t like it since it has a very strong mushroom flavor. But by now, you might already know I loveee mushrooms on anything. Also, the more I read about it, the more I realized it’s known for their drinks (Russian beers, infused vodkas and such), so can’t really advise there myself. It’s such a cute little cafe though, I would easily go back. I think it may be the first time I’ve ever had Russian food, and I wouldn’t mind trying more things off the menu.

Restaurant Info:
Anyway Cafe
32 E 2nd Street
at 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212-533-3412
East Village

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Hummus and veggie crepe stage 1

Hummus and veggie crepe stage 2

Hummus and veggie crepe DONE and ready to eat!

And Wow. I don’t know if I had low expectations, but I felt like I was eating a gourmet crepe. The crepe itself was not as thin and flimsy as I’m normally used to and the veggies were fresh and crunchy. I’m also pretty sure you can put truffle oil on anything and it makes it that much better — I devoured it. Bar Suzette doesn’t have a website but I read on their FB page that their menu is seasonal and constantly switching things up. And the prices aren’t bad either…the crepe was $9 and filling. I have yet to try their dessert crepes but at least in its savory category, I think it can give Creperie a run for its money.

Restaurant Info:
Bar Suzette: World Crepe Bar
75 9th Avenue
btw 15th and 16th St.
New York, NY 10011
917-207-7552
Chelsea Market

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