Sardinia-Enoteca-Ristorante / Miami

[molto e]

Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante

305-531-2228

1801 purdy avenue

miami beach, fl

There are just some restaurants that you stumble upon that click with what you look for in a restaurant experience and when I walked into Sardinia that was the feeling that I had. While visiting Miami, I went to Sardinia for a late lunch and after the meal I wanted to return for dinner.

The Space

Menu

The idea was a light late lunch but after a glance at the menu that was no longer possible (when is it ). The Antipasti Misti section of the menu jumped out at me , that section is divided into Vegetali (3 for $12 or 5 for $15 ) and Salumi (3 for $14 or 5 for $18).

Salumi Platter (starting on the left side of the board going clockwise) Coppa, Salamini di cinghiale and Culatello

Yum

All the salumi was served at the proper temperature and this was some of the better culatello that I have had.

Vegetali (from left to right) Roasted beets with pancetta, Asparagus and pecorino, Caponatina

the standout on the plate was the capontina

Animelle, crispy sweetbreads with brussel sprouts and cipolline

Tasty...the sweetbreads were just a shade past perfect

Riccia, alla carbonara with guanciale

I love carbonara and this was a great rendition

Galletto, free range poussen marinated overnight with herbs and cannonau

simple, rustic, tasty

chocolate salami type dessert

I highly recommend Sardinia and look forward to my next time there.

Edited August 22, 2007 by molto e (log)

[ulterior epicure]

molto e, that plate of animelle looks like seriously good eating!

[markemorse]

well dang. we were in miami for two weeks in january and Sardinia kept coming in second in the "where to go for dinner" sweepstakes, the plan being to combine it with some debauchery next door at the Purdy Lounge. i rode by on my bike to check it out one day but they were closed, we ended up taking our debauchery elsewhere (Talula, which was excellent)...ah well, there's always next year (ideally)...thanks for the report!

mark

Edited August 28, 2007 by markemorse (log)

[molto e]

molto e, that plate of animelle looks like seriously good eating!

←

Check it out if you are still there

[Kouign Aman]

Would a well-behaved [or at least well-policed] small child be an appropriate guest at lunchtime, or is this a place where the kinder are better left behind?

[molto e]

Would a well-behaved [or at least well-policed] small child be an appropriate guest at lunchtime, or is this a place where the kinder are better left behind?

←

I was there for a late lunch but I would not think that it would be an issue. I think the space is large enough that even if a small child went AWOL for a bit that it would not be a problem.

[ulterior epicure]

I was pretty set on taking the family to Talula’s for dinner on my last night in Miami. The main reason for that decision was that my mom, who turned 60 (and for whom the trip to Miami was taken), greatly prefers gentle, quiet, and linen-serviced restaurants to those that are more boisterous and lively, though they may have better food. Talula seemed to be a slower pace than say, Sardinia Ristorante, where I really wanted to for my last dinner in Miami (I had not been to either, so this consideration was based on what I had heard and read from others). But, I, her food-nerdy son, was feeling a tad guilty dragging my parents all over Miami to the faster-paced places that I had wanted to visit. So, I thought I’d make our last night out together a little more peaceful. Talula was it.

In a surprising twist of events, both of my parents, and especially my mother, were so thrilled by my restaurants selections thus far – Michy’s and Michael’s – that my mother turned to me after dinner at Michael’s Genuine and asked, eagerly, “what’s for dinner tomorrow night?”

I told her about Talula. She asked me what the food was like. I said that I didn’t know, but I could show her the menu on their website. She took one look and turned to me and asked: “Is there anything more – well, like Michy’s and Michael’s? This reads a little too fussy.” Huh? Apparently, she had found a new love for family-style, communal, small-plates sampling type of fare. My dad chimed in – “I’d rather have robust and hearty than fancy and delicate.”

Seizing the opportunity, I briefly sketched out Sardinia for them, giving my mom a warning that it was probably going to be dark, loud, crowded and sans white tablecloth. She said she didn’t care. She wanted good food, and my dad agreed. (I think my mom, in her autumn, has finally awakened to her gustatory senses. As long as I’ve known her, she’s been much more about ambience and convenience than actually good food. That is to say, either she gets dressed up for a quiet peaceful elegant setting with a view, otherwise, she’s happy with a hot dog from a street vendor between errands. Food has rarely been her number one priority.)

Sardinia Ristorante does not accept reservations. This made me nervous. Thankfully, our “retirement dining schedule” for the late-night Miami Beach folks, landed us a half-empty restaurant around 7.30pm, when we walked in.

The restaurant was dark. Very dark. The restaurant was loud. Very loud. The restaurant was crowded. Very crowded. The food was fantastic. Very fantastic. We were pleased. Very pleased… and left very full.

I’ll spare the details on the location, décor, etc – information easily gleaned from their website. I’ll also skip detailed description of each dish – these can be read and the pictures of the food can be found on my flickr account.

We ordered liberally from both sides of the menu.

Minestrone

Insalate Cabras

Insalate Finochiaccia

Insalate Sarda

Animelle (Crispy Sweetbreads)

Moscardini

Salt-Baked Branzino

Roasted Baby Suckling Pig

Vegatali (Sides): Braised Fennel, Roasted Beets with Pancetta, and Broccolini

Fromaggio: Robiola de langue, Belfiore Pecorino Stagionata, and Pecorino Tartufo Fresco de Mugello.

Strawberry Tiramisu

1. Strike number one: The ONE thing I wanted to try at the restaurant – the specialty for which they are known – was their carasatu flatbread. They had none available the night we were in. Our server, who had a charmingly heavy Italian accent, tried to convey something about a party the night before and them not having enough time to make another batch. Apparently, it’s a rather involved and lengthy process.

2. Strike number two: Our server told us about a special of the night – a whole oven-roasted sea bream stuffed with herbs and served over a bed of salad greens. He did a hard sell (not that he needed to) – opining that it was the only thing better than the salt-baked branzino, a personal favorite and what I wanted to order. So the sea bream was ordered. Two minutes later, he comes back and apologizes – no more sea bream. It wasn’t his fault, but after the carasatu let-down, it elicited a slight inner groan. This being said, the salt-baked branzino was excellent. Our server was tremendously deft in plating the filleted fish. The meat, which was drizzled table-side with fruity extra virgin olive oil, was moist and fluffy.

Yet, despite these two mis-fires at the beginning of our meal, we managed to settle in for a stellar experience:

3. I really do not object to their liberal use of very fruity and fresh extra virgin olive oil.

4. Their salads are wonderful – the Finochiaccia and Sarda are strikingly similar. Their greens are fresh, bright, and exceedingly flavorful. They are generous with the bottarga shaving on the Insalate Cabras – it was definitely worth the $14.

5. Roasting everything in a blazing hot wood oven really makes everything taste 100% better.

6. The sweetbreads were very good – better than most I’ve had. However, the crispy charred Brussels sprouts and cipollini (which had gone silky inside) were the real stars of the “Animelle.”

7. Portions are large – especially the antipasti, many of which could have easily made for a main course. But, the ones we ordered (Moscardini and Animelle) and the ones we spied at tables nearby were so heavy/rich that eating an entire one by oneself would have become a bit of a monotonous chore. They were perfect for sharing. The baby octopi were exquisite.

8. We ordered a trio of “vegetali” side dishes. All three were exceptional. The roasted beets were as sweet as candy. The braised fennel, however, were my favorite.

9. Dessert list looked a bit hackneyed – and pricey. Our strawberry tiramisu – served in an old-world tin gelato coppetta really didn’t deserve the $9 price tag. The other dessert options seemed rather boring, with the exception of the mille foglio.

10. Service was good and bad in an old-world sense: Good in that it was extremely informed, friendly, and – well, just gosh-darned Euro-charming. Bad in that the restaurant is so busy that it was often a little hard to flag them down. This is not a hoity-toity joint, so dishes were cleared somewhat haphazardly… utensils weren’t always replaced. We also got a non-English-speaking bus boy on his first night. The poor boy was so flustered, I wanted help him out. At one point, our server insisted on us not helping him, which I suppose, was in the boy’s best interest in the long run. The staff and management seemed to try their best to be patient with him, but at times, it was very clear that they were frustrated.

11. The Italian (strictly?) wine list was extraordinary. Pricing seemed a little high, but certainly acceptable for the local Miami going rate.

12. I wanted to eat the entire cheese selection. Alas, if only I had four stomachs. The three we sampled (two which I have had before) were great. I want to know where they get their honey. I want some. Can anyone help me out? It was loosely described as “Sardinian honey” on the description of one of the carasatu options – I’m guessing they use the same kind as an accompaniment to cheeses.

My parents confirmed, in the car one the way back to the hotel that Sardinia, in all of our estimations, ended up being the highlight of our three dinners, and indeed, the crown of all of our meals in Miami on this trip.

I left the restaurant plotting for my next visit to Miami. It’s the kind of food that makes you want to drop your day job and move to Sardinia. I’m sure someone will hire me out there… I can herd sheep, or something…

Again, photos of all of our food and my food-nerdy thoughts can be seen and read on my flickr account.

[Nathan]

had a very good dinner here on Friday night. probably the best Italian meal I've had in the U.S. outside of NY.

strolled in on Friday night around 9:15 and were immediately given a two-top (in an otherwise packed restaurant).

service was casual but fine...near the end of our meal they asked us if we could move to a different table to allow them to seat a large party. after doing so, we were given extra pours of wine (a nero d'avola I had been drinking by the quartino).

began with the polpettine (which were good...if not quite as good as those at A Voce) and the carasatu with honey and goat's cheese. the carasatu was a bit of a waste as carasatu is served in the bread basket ....all they did was add some very thin smears of honey and goat's cheese....it was good...but not worth getting since you're already trying the carasatu gratis.

had the lasagnetta with coniglio....quite good...though the coniglio could have been a bit more flavorful. also had the malleroddos...a rather interesting, small pasta with braised lamb. very good.

finished with salt-baked branzino. always a wonderful dish and this was no exception.

dessert list was uninspiring.

[BryanZ]

Sardinia, hmm. You didn't ply me with the most delicious things I ate in Miami. Those would probably be the lechon and chicharones at Palacio de los Jugos. I confess to finding some execution issues with both food and service, but I took more away from this meal than I did a meal at Michy's two nights later.

Overall, I didn’t find the servers particularly professional and the food didn’t knock my socks off. With that said, I appreciated how boldly rustic the restaurant was. This was especially true with the two secondi we ordered. A hulking lamb shank and huge slabs of suckling pig from all over the animal. Both dishes required some surgery to enjoy, but there was something satisfying about taking them apart and dishing them out to my friends. Others would surely disagree and even find all the bones and non-crisp pig skin downright unappetizing, however. I also liked how the salad and one of the pastas we ordered were unapologetically bitter. The former paired arugula, radish, and radicchio; the latter included a strong pesto made from rappini, flecked with large hunks of boar sausage. Again, I liked this, though some of my friends (who admittedly have very conservative tastes) couldn’t even eat more than a couple bites. They surely enjoyed Michy’s more, so take everything that I’m saying with a grain of salt. Overall, I don’t think Batali has anything to worry about—the pastas were oversauced, the cooked produce was unimpressive—but the meal will stay with me and was quite enjoyable.

ETA: I hate to mention this but I really should. It wasn't a big deal for me, but some people get totally freaked out by this kind of thing. On our suckling pig there was the tiniest bit of aluminum foil still stuck to the meat, presumably left on from being reheated in the oven. We just picked it off and didn't mention it to the staff, but it was large enough that you would've noticed it (unpleasantly, I would think) had you taken an unlucky bite.

Edited June 2, 2009 by BryanZ (log)