Sometimes, it takes more than roses to make an impression

Valentine’s Day.

Those two seemingly innocuous words can strike dread in even the smoothest of suitors.  In a pinch to find a worthy place to woo your sweetie? No worries, it’s not too late!  Zest is to the rescue with a list of the most romantic places in Florida for Valentine’s Day, or any other day of the year.  Even Hef would be impressed.

Harry Waugh’s Dessert Room
At Bern’s  Steakhouse in Tampa, FL

Nothing says sexy like a piano player and a dessert menu that rivals an Encyclopedia Britannica. Mister M and I have been known to skip the Bern’s dinner experience altogether and instead head straight to the cocoon-like dessert room for a night cap and something sweet. The piano player can play anything- last time we tested him with a Prince and an Erasure request and he delivered on both!

Wish
Miami Beach, FL

This is candlelit alfresco dining at its best. Located at The Hotel, Wish’s garden provides leafy seclusion from the Collins Avenue hustle and bustle and some of the best contemporary American fare on South Beach.

Dream Chaser Charters
Sunset Dinner Cruise
Key West, FL

Why fight the crowds in Mallory Square for a mere glimpse of the sunset when you can enjoy it during a four-course gourmet dinner aboard the privacy of a chartered sailboat?

Grove Isle Club & Gibraltar
Coconut Grove (Miami, FL)

What’s so incredible about this boutique hotel and spa is that while it’s a stone’s thrown from both downtown and the heart of Coconut Grove, its isolated isle location makes civilization feel miles away.  Gibraltar, the hotel’s main restaurant, offers breathtaking nighttime views of the Miami skyline.

Brazilian Court and Cafe Boulud
Palm Beach, FL

The courtyard of this historic hotel, located a few blocks from Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue, oozes romantic rest and relaxation. Add Café Boulud– Daniel Boulud’s branch of his frenchy Manhattan restaurant–into the mix and you have a date that would make cupid proud.

Beach Bistro
Anna Maria Island, FL

Beautiful Gulf of Mexico sunsets plus outstanding New American and Florribean Cuisine equals romance every time.  Is there anything more decadent than chocolate truffle terrine?

Calvo's multifunctional Dust can be bought from her Maximum Flavor website. According to the Chef, "It's perfectly balanced, so you don't know exactly what you are tasting, it just works with everything."

The first thing you may notice about Miami Chef Adrianne Calvo is that she’s pretty laid back. While many successful chefs have a reputation for controlling, Type-A personalities, Calvo appears to be the anti-Ramsay–but you wouldn’t know it from her drive to create a multi-sensory dining experience for the masses. You may also notice is that she’s only 27 years old.

Wise beyond her years, Calvo focuses her “flavor-defining” efforts on her restaurant, Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar, on her Maximum Flavor product line, on promoting and creating cookbooks and through her cooking segments on NBC 6 in Miami.

Calvo’s one-woman flavor mission started when she was just a teenager.

Self described as “a fat kid who would just wait around for dinner,” Chicago-born Calvo started her culinary career at the age of 12 by baking chocolate chip cookies and selling them at school. Later, as a 17 year-old phenom, she entered a national pastry competition at Johnston & Wales University despite having no formal culinary training. She still took home the bronze medal.  Eventually international cooking competitions became her bread and butter because, as she says, “culinary school is very expensive and I needed to make ends meet.”

Despite her 20-plus successes in international competitions, Calvo still has something to prove.  She’s slated on this season of Chopped, a cutthroat Food Network competition where three chefs cook with a haphazard selection of ingredients, as they are eliminated course by course until one winner prevails. While she couldn’t divulge the outcome of the show, Calvo is crystal clear on how great it felt to return to the “normalcy” of her own kitchen. “Chopped was a pretty outrageous experience.”

Look for Calvo on this season of Chopped

The normalcy she speaks of is the kitchen at Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant, Calvo’s off the beaten path eatery in the Hammocks neighborhood of Miami, a location that she purposefully planned.  “We aren’t a see and be seen type of place.  People come to our restaurant because they want to come to a neighborhood place for flavorful, good food.”

The menu inspiration is Calvo’s love affair with Napa Valley— a fascination that started with Chef Thomas Keller’s cookbooks, and later, whose flames were fueled by a trip to Napa and a three-week internship under Keller himself at French Laundry.

“My goal is to give my diners a multi-sensory experience. It’s not just about how the food tastes, it’s about the presentation and atmosphere too.” Calvo says while she has respect for students of the molecular gastronomy movement, she won’t be injecting or freeze-drying her food anytime soon because, “food shouldn’t be a science experiment, people just don’t crave that type of food.”

What they do crave is flavorful food which was the impetus behind Calvo’s “dark dining” dinners. During these dark dinners, people sit blindfolded while they eat their meal. “The point is to take the expectation away from what the food should taste like and allow people to actually savor the food,” says Calvo. Champagne is one of her favorite examples of the play on senses since, “champagne smells just like white wine, but when you aren’t expecting the bubbles, it can be a huge boost for your taste buds.”

The wine menu at Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant—big surprise here—is solely from California. But that may change soon. Calvo likes to find wines from places that aren’t as commercially known and expose her customers to them. “Lately, I’ve been really into Greek wines. They aren’t known as well, but are really interesting.”

Dark Dining dinners are held the third Wednesday of every month. More details about Dark Dining and Calvo’s product line can be found on Calvo’s website.  11510 SW 147 Avenue 
Miami, FL 33196
. Tel: (305) 408-8386.

Enjoy your favorite Spainsh dishes at Las Culebrinas

Always packed with patrons who are attracted to Las Culebrinas for old world charm, tourists and locals alike flock to the Coconut Grove location (there are five in the Miami area) for their Cuban and Spanish food fix.

Live calypso and salsa music  adds to the spirited buzz of the tropical atmosphere, Upstairs, patrons enjoy the upscale bar and tapas menu where the small plates are anything but small.

Our menu favorites include the Vaca Frita con Moros and Maduros (grilled sauteed shredded beef with onions, mixed rice, beans and plantains) and the paella. Be sure to leave room for dessert. 2890 SW 27th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33133. Tel: (305) 448-4036. Reservation accepted.

Croquettes, Bernstein style

Chef Michelle Bernstein’s (aka Sra. David Martinez) newest Miami restaurant is more aptly characterized as a tapas lounge that offers a few regular-size entrées for those less interested in sampling small plates. The traditional tapas standards, like Spanish cheeses or pan con tomate are simple and satisfying and the Bernstein-created dishes like wild mushroom-manchego croquetas with fig marmalade or crisp-coated artichokes with creamy lemon-coriander dipping sauce, are top-notch. The white bean stew with duck and foie gras sausage was another tapas favorite. ($7-$12)

As anticipated, the food at Sra. Martinez can stand on its own, but Insiders also rave about the standout bar service at Sra. Martinez. The bitters are housemade; the juices, hand squeezed, and many of the cocktail creations include muddled herbs. Of interest are the ham-infused bourbon and the frothy pisco sours—quite possibly the best we’ve tasted. Reservations recommended. 4000 NE 2nd Avenue,
 Miami, Florida, 33137. Tel: (305) 573-5474.

You had us at bonjour... Photo courtesy of BLT Steak

Chef Laurent Tourondel’s South Beach outpost of the BLT Steak empire is most definitely a “seen and be seen” Miami Beach hotspot.  And while it’s an insider favorite for the fabulous food and tres chic al fresco dining, it is BLT’s first impression—the warm popovers— that sets the tone for the meal to follow.  They had us at bonjour with the warm and chewy rolls, smothered with European butter and a dash of salt.

As a thoughtful touch, BLT includes the recipe of these carb-laden, little pieces of heaven with the meal, which we are passing on to you. Dare we say, these are even better in the comforts of home?

BLT’s Popovers

(makes 12-14 popovers)

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups milk, warmed; 8 eggs; 4 cups of flour; 1 ½ heaping tablespoon of salt; 2 ½ cups of grated gruyere; popover pan.

DIRECTIONS:

Place the popover pan in the oven. Heat the oven and pan to 350F.

Gently warm the milk over low heat and set aside.

Whisk egg until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (so as not to cook the eggs). Set the mixture aside.

Sift the flour with the salt. Slowly add this mixture and gently combine until mostly smooth.

Once combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and spray with non-stick vegetable spray. While the batter is slightly warm or room temperature, fill each popover cup 3/4 full.

Top each popover with approximately 2 1/2 Tbsp. of grated gruyere and bake at 350F for 50 minutes, rotating pan half a turn after 15 minutes of baking.

Remove from the oven, then remove popovers from the pan and serve warm with butter and salt.

The courtyard at La Palma

This cozy Coral Gables cafe is housed in the historic La Palma building that was originally opened in 1924 as a beautiful Mediterranean-styled hotel. Today, La Palma’s focus is on traditional northern Italian fare at a reasonable price. La Palma’s housemade pastas range from Fettuccine Alfredo to Pumpkin Tortellini with butter and sage. Their pastas, as well as Veal Paillard alla Milanese and simple fish creations, such as Sea Bass Piccata, are recommended. However, Insiders really like La Palma for weekday lunches ($12.95) and weekend brunch ($30) where the fixed price gives patrons neverending access to an Italian buffet packed with an impressive selection hot and cold selections. If possible try to get a table in La Palma’s charming courtyard. 116 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, FL, 33134. Tel: (305) 445-8777.

Ortanique's mojitos are the best in Miami

Best Mojitos in Miami, bar none. (If you are into that sort of thing). A Coral Gables Miracle Mile standard, Ortanique on the Mile focuses on Caribbean cuisine that highlights the fresh, tropical ingredients indigenous to the region—along with occasional Asian and South American flare. The tropical décor sets the stage for favorites such as double pork chop with jerk, topped with mango and papayas well as a wide selection of seafood dishes like conch ceviche, curried crabcakes and Black Bahamian grouper with a Bacardi rum glaze. Ortanique also features an excellent wine list. 278 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables FL, 33134. (305) 446-7710.

The wood fire oven is center stage at Michael's Genuine. Photo, Simon Hale, Time Magazine

Sophisticated simplicity is the operating phrase for Chef Micheal Schwartz’s neighborhood eatery in Miami’s design district. Precisely-prepared, Modern American dishes focused on seasonal and regional ingredients rule the menu, as does creativity. The wood oven is center stage at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink. Notable menu offerings include wood-oven roasted tilefish served with Florida rock shrimp, clams, bacon and new potatoes; sauteed sweetbreads with heirloom tomato and onion chutney as well as tapas-style small plates like scallop carpaccio.  Insiders say that service is a toss-up and can range from “thoughtful and savvy” to “outright unbearable”- but most say that any questionable service is worth enduring for the fantastic food. Full bar available but BYOB allowed, with corkage fee $20. Update: Michael’s has recently started offering Sunday brunch. Think wood-roasted duck egg in spicy chipotle and duck cracklings with queso fresco or Egg with aged gruyere, roasted tomato, chives and a sourdough crostini. 130 N.E. 40th Street, Miami, FL, 33137. Tel: (305) 573-5550.

Matsuri serves Ankimo (monkfish liver)

Located in a downscale South Miami strip mall at Bird Road and SW 57th Avenue, this little Japanese outpost opened in 1988, serving the best sushi in town without the comparable South Beach price tag. Our favorites include the Ankimo in ponzu jelly (a monkfish liver, almost like a Japanese foie gras), hamachi, hokkigai and torigai (surf and cockle clams) and the “Mr. Bush’s 3p.m.” roll–tuna tartar with avocado and cucumber drizzled with a spicy sauce and playfully topped with a single miniture pretzel.  Total bill for dinner for two at Matsuri including sake, eight sushi selections, tax and tip cost a reasonable $85. Closed Mondays. 5759 Bird Road, Miami, FL, 33155. Tel: (305) 663-1615.