About a year ago I met someone who told me about this group of people called the South Florida Foodies – she thought I would be into what they do because I love to eat out and try new things. Of course, after hearing the name of this club I went home and searched for all the information I could find, and what I found, I liked.
I found out the SFLFoodies were a group of people who had one major thing in common, they love food and they love to try new restaurants. I also found out they are lead by a pretty cool lady, Maude Eaton. She puts together these great, epic events where all her foodie friends can meet each other and enjoy themselves over plate after plate of an incredibly thought out meal. I could not think of a better way to spend my Sunday evening as my turn to join these ambitious gourmands finally came!
Tonight’s SFLFoodie treat was at Sustain Miami and being pretty good about keeping up with new places in Miami I had heard about Sustain before and it was on my long list of places to try. Tonight was the night, I almost couldn’t believe it, not only would I be dining with the Foodies, but I’d be dining at a place I was genuinely excited about trying! EEKKKK could I even contain myself at this point?
Well I did, I held it together long enough to eat, drink, meet and waddle back home from this eating even of epic proportions!
We arrived at Sustain a bit early and were greeted by the Diva herself, a treat because being an avid tweeter I’m always excited about putting a face to an avatar. Once we finished introductions we were directed to the bar (yea, that’s how they roll) where Daniel, a super nice bartender would be making a drink that dates back to the 1800s! What kind of cocktail concoctions are they making at Sustain you may ask? How about drinks the likes this little boozer has never seen before. The drink of the evening was an Old Smuggler made with gin and orange it was a great aperitiv and really refreshing for a hot Miami day. After I sipped my drink, small bites started making their way out into the bar area, nice little noshes like Peppers a la Plancha, Fried Chickpeas and the very popular Fried Chicken Skins.
Finally it was time to our take our seats and sample the goods Chef Alex had to offer us. From the start we were wowed, one word, caviar! Oh yea, I can’t forget to mention it was sitting on a plate next to foi gras! They had set the bar high and I have to say Sustain continued to deliver. Next course was a salad of local greens, local tomatoes and yes, local, (from Homestead) goat feta! If you’ve never had a tomato that’s not from a major super market do yourself a favor, go to Sustain and try this salad – it’s that good!
We sat, patiently waiting the next course, or well, I could not wait to taste this one. Shortrib sous vide!!!! Ok, if you don’t know what sous vide is, I’ll forgive you. Sous vide is the process of cooking by placing the food in a vacuum sealed bag and letting it cool for an extended period of time. This dish was amazing, the shortrib was spicy, yet the eggplant it was served next to was the cool you needed to calm the palette, scoop it all up with a small bread stick and I could have eaten this dish all night long.
Thankfully, I had way more food to look forward to as just as I was starting to get sad about the tartar being gone something else way put in front of us. Ok, not just one something else, how about four something else’s. The main course was served family style, I loved this because everyone at the table interacted more around the food since we had to pass it to each other. What were we passing? Fried chicken, Porcetta, Creamed Kale and Wet Fries. Each of these dishes on their own were delicious, but eat them all together and it’s a meal that you will not soon forget. No fancy sauces, no extravagant garnishes just good, filling, comforting food. On top of that, if one of the side dishes ran out they refilled it! Yes, we had two servings of Kale and Fries (yes simple fries were that good). Simple is the wrong word for the fries, they were amazing, mainly because they were drenched in bone marrow gravy!!! OMG!!! I had to fight not to lick my plate, or keep reaching for the few fries left in their plate. Then I remembered the longest description on the menu for the evening was dessert and I had to make sure there was room in my belly for it.
Banana Split, a classic ice cream shoppe offering, something that for many brings them back to childhood, summers and happy memories. This split was just that, but with a modern-feeling twist. I feel like this dessert would be Wonka approved if he were around to eat it. Let me break this down into layers for you, because it’s that important. First layer, apple banana, second layer banana, third layer one scoop vanilla one scoop cookies and cream ice cream. *breathe* Fourth layer, pineapples and strawberries. Fifth layer, whip cream and chocolate syrup. Ok, I’m done… that was dessert, it was amazing and I have a picture of it to prove it [pics].
Sadly, our meal was at it’s end. The plates were cleared, the checks were paid and it was time to bid the folks of Sustain farewell. I have to say, after waiting so long to attend a SFLFoodie event it was more than I could have ever imagined. Sustain was the perfect setting to accomplish this foodie dream of mine. It is the cherry on top of this little foodie’s weekend.
