When August and September roll around every year in Miami, one thing is certain — it’s time to eat and drink your heart out. Thank you to Miami Spice! With nearly 200 restaurants participating this year, dining enthusiasts will have their pick of some awesome meals. The worst part, though, is narrowing it down — so we’re here to assist. Our first stop — La Mar by Gaston Acurio — and yes, put this on the top of your list.
La Mar, located at Mandarin Oriental Miami, is home to acclaimed Chef Gaston Acurio, who you may know from one of the other 40 restaurants and one chocolate shop that he owns around the world. At La Mar, Chef creates his magic by offering a modern take on traditional Peruvian cuisine and offers a Cebiche bar, Anticuchos bar, Causa bar and a variety of other options, that sound equally enticing.
La Mar has been on our list of places to try for awhile now, so we were thrilled to find out that they were participating in Miami Spice — and even more so, that we were invited in to check out the Spice menu. This past week, we stopped by for a leisurely lunch and had a fantastic afternoon, complete with sumptuous cuisine, stellar service and gorgeous views of Biscayne Bay.
For Miami Spice, La Mar makes it easy for you, as you only have to select your entrée. In most cases, that would be something that would deter me, but in this case, it was quite the opposite, as the way La Mar has things set up, you get to sample a little of everything.
To start out, we were each served a criolla sampler (cebiche, causa and calamari), which just about covered our table. Carefully plated and generous in size, this trio of dishes offered a play on flavors and temperatures — cool and hot, sweet and spicy. My favorite of the three, the Cebiche Chita, offered a medley of tender salmon and pickled vegetables marinated in leche de tigre (or lion’s milk) and garnished with crunchy peanuts and wonton strips — light and perfect for an August afternoon. The yellow causa and piquilla pepper sauce, served in the Causa Salad was finished off with minced beets, artichokes and Peruvian asparagus made for traditional comfort food and a little heavier; while the Jaleita de Calamari, took a welcome spin from what you’d expect, and the lightly fried calamari was served atop fried yuca and garnished with rocoto pepper.
There were two seafood choices available for our main entrée so we ordered one of each. Salmon Fusion, the first dish I tried, came with two tender pieces of salmon. After one bite, the salmon melted in my mouth (Do I really want to split this? ) — just a perfectly executed dish. To complement the salmon, a trio of vegetables (kale, broccolini and bok choy) dressed the plate and all were served in the most incredible Peruvian purple curry — I’ll have some of that to go, please.
The 2nd dish we tried was the Fideo Macho, also a beautiful dish. It came with a medley of seafood served atop al dente squid ink pasta, choclo (Peruvian corn) and rocoto pepper aioli. Our choice for the two entrées was definitely the Salmon Fusion.
Moving right along, it was time for dessert and the Spice option, a duo of Chocolate Mousse and Chicha Sorbet, was outstanding, definitely on par with the rest of the menu. Caramelized quinoa added a welcome crunch to a serving of rich, chocolate mousse, while a lucuma bomb (lucuma is a tropical fruit native to Peru) gave us a new appreciation for this sweet flavor. To pair with the chocolate and balance everything out, a scoop of chicha morada sorbet was served. A spoonful of this sweet deliciousness was solid by itself, but it became a perfect pairing when eaten together with the luscious chocolate mousse.
With all the great reviews I had heard about La Mar before going in, I had high expectations, and the restaurant stood up to everything. The gorgeous view, the unique flavors, the presentation, service, complimentary valet — all make this a perfect Miami Spice destination. Savor Tonight approved.
La Mar by Gaston Acurio is located at Mandarin Oriental Miami, 500 Brickell Key Drive; 305.913.8358. Miami Spice is available for lunch Monday through Saturday and at dinner Sunday through Thursday.
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