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 "Without the freedom to criticize, there is no worthy praise." Beaumarchais | |
 BENJAMIN M. ROTTKAMP NEW CHEF AT TUSCAN STEAK, SOUTH BEACH Tuscan Steak, 431 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, (305) 534-2233 Open seven days a week for dinner only from 5:30 pm to 11:00 p.m Sunday through Thursday and till midnight on Friday and Saturday By Simone Zarmati Diament To talk about a restaurant that is 10-years-old in Miami Beach may raise a few eyebrows, but not a high as when I went to dine there on a weekday and found that not only there was not a seat empty in the handsome, dimly lit restaurant, but there was a line of people waiting to get a table. The fact that it belongs to Jeffrey Chodorow’s China Grill Management Group which owns China Grill across the street (and a score of restaurants in a global empire where the sun never sets) conjures hip and happening. The bar is a good place to meet for a glass of wine or Champagne before being seated in one of the deep banquettes or at the tables which are easily put together to accommodate noisy large parties. And large parties are aplenty since this is a restaurant not just to go to for salad and grilled chicken, but one to go to with friends, many friends… the more the merrier. The best way to appreciate the food is to first make up your mind about which one of the huge portions and the huge sides you want and what wine you want them with. The new Executive Chef, Benjamin M. Rottkamp -- a graduate of the CIA in Hyde Park, New York who has worked at Zucca Ristorante with the renowned Chef Joachim Splichal, and recently at Talula Restaurant, Miami Beach, uses superb ingredients. 
After you have been read the specials by well-trained and affable waiters, offered water and the delicious freshly baked foccacia with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the table, the traditional sharing menu may begin with appetizers such as the special Tuscan House Salad with pepperoni, salami, garbanzo beans, green beans and roasted peppers and olive & house made mozzarella with Florentine vinaigrette. Our Ahi Tuna Carpaccio in extra virgin olive oil, balsamic reduction & tomato bruschetta was very fresh and very good. The Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushroom with house-made mozzarella, basil & balsamic drizzle was an earthy take on the traditional Caprese. Like in every self-respecting Italian restaurant, there’s spicy fried calamari, a tall mound of it which everyone at the table picked at, and garlic steamed mussels which we didn’t, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to try lest we forsaked the entrees. Second courses of sharing-sized portions of pasta or risotto such as the Three Mushroom Risotto-finished with white truffle oil & shaved parmegiano-reggiano or the Gnocchi with Gorgonzola cream sauce or fresh tomato basil, are more heavy handed, but as popular as the silky strands of homemade fettucine with lobster and cream, lots of creams, which made it quasi addictive. 
For third course there’s a wide variety of very tasty aged meats sized for a family of giants, for which one must order irresistible sides, my favorite being fried truffled polenta sticks. But, back to the meats : grilled filet mignon with gorgonzola butter crust Barolo saucae; Tuscan Steak’s signature Grilled Florentine T-Bone is served sliced, and comes in three sizes (piccolo-20 oz, grande-28 oz. or piu grande-50 oz). Pan-seared Yellowtail with baby artichokes was a huge serving of moist but bland fish over a shrimp risotto with lemon essence, while the Grilled Tuscan country chicken came steaming with aromas of sage. The dessert list includes a double cream New York Cheese Cake and other chocolaty desserts with caramel and vanilla ice cream, and gelatos and sorbets, but by then we couldn’t even think of dessert. 
Even if you wanted you couldn’t eat all the items you see on the menu (you have a hard time finishing your order) so, one is tempted to come back to try everything else. … if not to gorge on the truffled polenta sticks. For ten years Tuscan Steak has not only survived the erosion and the oblivion that other Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue restaurants have suffered, but its sophisticated family style and happy hubbub and noise has warmly been embraced by Miamians and visitors alike. This is the place to go for a joyous pre-holiday celebration with friends and family. |
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