FLY TO AMALFI
Take a trip to Italy without the jet lag and price tag. Amare Ristorante is a swanky, family-owned restaurant in the South of Fifth neighborhood. Once my guest and I arrived, we noticed that their indoor and outdoor dining spaces are beautiful— stylish, colorful, a bit whimsical, and overall, a relaxing atmosphere that makes you want to linger a bit longer. After we were greeted and taken to our table, we looked over their wine list which consisted of a variety of geographic options and price ranges, so we ordered two glasses of red wine to start the night right.
MUST INKLUDE
For our appetizer, we decided to try the Polipo: grilled octopus, plated with chickpea purée, fennel, grape tomatoes, and a white balsamic vinegar. The octopus was grilled to perfection and the accompaniments complemented it well. The portions were generous and shareable. For our main course, we ordered the Spaghettini Neri from the Artisanal Fresh Pasta section of their menu. The entrée came with squid-ink spaghetti giving the spaghetti its dark color, king crab, artichoke, chardonnay, and bottarga di muggine, the Italian name for a delicacy of salted cured fish roe. The mullet bottarga gave the dish an intense distinctive flavor: salty, a little briny, and a bit bitter. A similar taste to caviar. We were completely wowed with all of the incredible flavors!
CHERRYFIC
After a filling and satiating meal, we were ready for something sweet. It was a difficult choice to choose just one dessert, but we finally decided to order the Torta al Yogurt, an organic Greek yogurt cake made with Meyer limoncello, amerana (a small bitter dark-colored Italian cherry), semi-candied cherry, and toasted almonds. The spongy and moist cake was combined with the semi-candied cherry for some sweetness, while the toasted almonds gave it some crunch. We were both delighted with all of Amare Ristorante’s excellently executed dishes!
1 COLLINS AVE., MIAMI BEACH | amareristorante.com
By Vanessa C. Guzman
