7 Meals in 7 Nights: Friday - Zeke's & Casale (AGAIN!), Miami Beach

When I originally started these posts on 7 Meals in 7 Nights, I wanted to post every day for a week. Man, that was ambitious... For reasons that Ive noted before, plus some serious partying this weekend, I got a little behind. So, I'll pick up where I left off on Friday and report on my return to Casale after some Happy Happy time at Zeke's.

All day Friday I was hurtin. After consuming mass quantities of awesomeness at Naomi's, I just didnt want to eat. I woke up full again for the 2nd time this week. I could slowly feel the 11 pounds I'd lost recently coming back in one week-long eating binge. So, I skipped lunch and then decided to meet up with some friends at Zeke's to get happy after the work week ended. I effing love Zeke's. It's an oasis of $4 beer in the desert of getting raped by inflated prices that is Miami Beach. Every beer is $4. Guinness? $4. Bud Light? $4. Efes, my favorite Turkish beer? $4. They boast of having over 200 beers available by the bottle, all at $4 each. They also have some generic house wine for those that must bring their girlfriend/wife who wont drink beer. (Note: Im fully aware that my comment may come off as a tad sexist but in reality I just refuse to believe that a guy goes to a beer garden and orders wine without being severely beaten and covered in tampons.) Zeke's also serves up a few delicacies to snack on with your beer. They have bags of chips, microwave popcorn, and even one of those hot dog toaster machines for making hot dogs. They do not allow outside food to be consumed at their tables. In other words, youre here to drink beer and maybe have some popcorn with your beer.

While sippin suds with my friends, we got to talking about how I'd been eating out every night that week. I mentioned my visit to Casale for the Pizza Crawl and knew they would love the place. They got fired up to give it a shot and so we walked from Lincoln Road over to Casale for some Friday night pie and to sample the mozzarella bar. This time, we were seated in the main area by the windows, right in front of the pizza ovens. It wasnt hot but it was a tad uncomfortable. There was at least a 10 degree difference between this table and the one I'd sat at Tuesday night by the entrance. Much like my visit at Fratelli la Buffala though, it just helped the Morretti's go down easier. We started with the grand tasting from the mozzarella bar which came with 2 portions of bufala campana, burrata pugliese (the outer casing of burrata), stracciatella (the inside stuffing of burrata), treccione (a braided smoked mozzarella), and fior di latte (mozzarella made from fresh cow's milk). The dish also came with 2 sides so we chose bresaola and anchovies. The stracciatella was my favorite on its own but I kinda expected that since I love burrata so much. The best combo for me though was pairing the bufala campana and fior di latte with the anchovies. Those tiny fishies were loaded with flavor.

One of my friends is a vegetarian (or pescatarian as she does eat seafood), so I recommended that Funghetto pizza from the night before. This time they used regular white mushrooms and that robbed the dish of some flavor. The taleggio and sage didnt stand out as much as they had the first time Id had that pizza either. Not that it was a bad pizza but I doubt Id have been quick to order it again if this was the way the first one was made. The other pizza we ordered was the capriccioso which came topped with parma ham, artichokes, mushrooms, and arugula. It was a pretty good pie, no more, no less.

I left the Beach shortly after dinner and was in bed around midnight because I had planned to play golf early the next morning. It was a nice, light Friday night sippin suds, eatin pie, and catching up with good friends. I needed that because after golf I was planning to head up to West Palm Beach to visit some friends and family and things usually have a tendency to get outta control up in WPB...

7 Meals in 7 Nights: Wednesday - Jaguar, Coconut Grove

I woke up Wednesday morning still feeling full from the final round of the Pizza Crawl and wondering if Id even be able to eat anything all day. I tallied 8 slices consumed by me the night before (4 full slices at Fratelli la Buffala and 8 half slices at Casale), not to mention about 4 beers and then a few bourbons afterwards. That's a lot of 'za.

After another long day at work and only eating a cup of soup for lunch, I headed home with the intention of giving up my quest for 7 meals in 7 nights. I was just too full and it was clouding my brain and preventing me from figuring out where I would eat that night. Just as I got on 95, my friend/neighbor gave me a buzz. I hadn't seen her in awhile so when she said, "I'm running some errands then wanted to see if you wanted to meet up at Jaguar later?", I was happy to oblige. The quest was back on!

I eat at Jaguar a lot. To me, its the best spot in the Grove for good food on a consistent basis. I have a few options that I order depending on my mood. If I'm really hungry, I get the ceviche spoon sampler (2 nuevo, 2 black market, 2 oriental is the way to go) and then follow up with the Shrimp Casserole*. If I'm in a simple mood, I go with the burger which comes topped with chorizo for a nice hearty touch. The Mexican Lasagna has also been on my radar but I haven't taken the plunge yet. If I want a light meal, I go with the ceviche sampler on its own or I start with the ceviche sampler and then move on to a 1/2 Caesar salad with chicken. The Caesar at Jaguar is one of the best Ive ever had as they use just the right amount of creamy Caesar dressing and the lettuce is always crisp. The 1/2 portion option with chicken is a steal at $8 too.

Being that I was still full from the night before, I just went with the ceviche sampler and a Woodford Reserve on the rocks. They serve up some great chips and spicy salsa while you wait for your meal, so I really didn't need more than the ceviche. If you go to Jaguar, be sure to ask for the "Salsa de la Muerte" or "Death Sauce". Its very spicy but it tastes awesome with the chips or you can kick up your ceviche with a few drops. Trust me, you'll have a sweat going in no time. The Oriental ceviche pairs tuna, ginger, avocado, lime, sesame, jalapeno, and cilantro and is usually the first spoon I eat. The Nuevo comes with choice of shrimp or calamari, aji amarillo, ginger, soy, and lime. I like the texture of the calamari best with this spoon so that's how I always order it. The Black Market has white fish, shrimp, calamari, aji amarillo sauce, and corn. I think my favorite is the Nuevo overall though the Black Market is a pretty close 2nd.

I really like the dining space at Jaguar. They have a nice, long bar with plenty of stools along with about 4 leaf-shaped hightops and 2 lowtops. There is also a little seating area just past the bar where many sit for their "Thirsty Thursday" wine tastings. The wine tastings are from 7p - 830p and offer samples of 6 different wines plus steak/chicken skewers and assorted ceviche spoons for $15 plus tax/tip. Its a pretty good deal and a good way to meet people too. The only negative I noticed on the few nights Ive participated is how selfish people in Miami can be. Only a certain amount of skewers and spoons were coming out and rather than take one so everyone had a chance to eat, people were loading up like inconsiderate pigs. Last time I went was over 6 months ago so hopefully things have changed by now. The main dining area has plenty of tables and I also really like the high ceilings. Jaguar has a nice vibe, really mellow, non-intrusive music, and an effective layout for groups or dining solo.

With my 3rd meal in 3 nights under my belt, I headed home to enjoy a few more bourbons outside in my courtyard, strum the guitar, and catch up on some blog reading. Before long it was time for bed and I was already getting excited for my meal at Naomi's Grill in Sunday Isles. Stay tuned for more on that...

*The Shrimp Casserole offers 4 shrimp with aji amarillo and 4 with salsa negra along with white rice. This replaced my favorite dish on the menu and also what I considered the best offering on the menu: the Shrimp Trio. Shrimp Trio had 3 grilled blackened shrimp with salsa negra, 3 fried shrimp with a sweet mango(not sure if Im remembering this sauce correctly) sauce, and 3 sauteed shrimp with an aji amarillo sauce plus the rice in the middle. Id eat all 3 groups and then mix up all the sauce with the rice. It was awesome and it hurt me to see it go. I havent tried the Shrimp Casserole yet mostly because nothing will ever replace my Shrimp Trio... :(

Out and About for 7 Meals in 7 Nights

Last week, I noticed early on that my motivation for cooking anything was way low. Epically low, as in no-way-do-I-feel-like-cooking-eating-cleaning-even-once-this-week-finances-be-damned low. I had just gotten off of back to back trips out of town, the first being a week in Vegas for work and the second being a long weekend up in Rockport, MA sitting on the beach. Both trips came with an 18 hour stint in Miami between them. Gotta love workin those airline miles... I also had already had such a great time on both trips that I wanted to keep the good times rollin and that meant no toiling away at home. With a few planned events for that week on the horizon, I decided that I was going to eat out every night, Monday thru Sunday, and thats exactly what I did.

Im going to do posts on each experience on their own but here is a rundown of my week:

Monday - The Taurus, Coconut Grove
Tuesday - Pizza Crawl - Round 4, Fratelli la Buffala & Casale, Miami Beach
Wednesday - Jaguar, Coconut Grove
Thursday - Calafate Grill & Naomi's Grill, Sunny Isles
Friday - Casale (AGAIN!), Miami Beach
Saturday - Palm Beach Grill, West Palm Beach
Sunday - The Breakers (lunch), West Palm Beach; Hakkasan (dinner), Miami Beach

Up next: The Taurus, Coconut Grove

Bourbon & Blues @ Bourbon Steak

This past Wednesday, I headed up to Aventura to check out Bourbon Steak's "Bourbon & Blues" night where they offer 25% off all bourbons, 1/2 price on select cocktails, live blues, and a new bar menu that offers small bites and custom burgers. For a guy like me, anything involving discounted bourbon and live blues is a huge winner but the burger did a good job of adding to the good time.

After sipping a few bourbons and listening to some kickass country style blues from the "Nouveaux Honkies", I decided that I would give their new burger menu a shot. For anywhere from about $12-$18 you have your choice of beef, lamb, falafel, turkey, and/or salmon as the base of your burger. Bacon is an additional $3 and seared foie gras is an additional $18. A fried egg is an additional $2 but, hey, its organic...

Once youre done selecting the base flavor, you are allowed to select up to 6 items to add to the burger from the following catagories: cheese, veggies, greens, and sauces. I went with the beef burger ($14) with bacon ($3), bourbon caramelized onions, pepper jack cheese, shaved jalapenos, mesclun greens, and the "special sauce" that had been recommended to me. The result was a pretty kickass burger with lots of flavor. The combo of the shaved jalapenos and the special sauce was awesome and probably made the burger for me. I loved the crunch of the jalapenos and their heat combined with the flavors of the special sauce. The onions were a nice complement too. The only buzzkill was that they forgot my bacon... The bartender gave me a side and didnt charge me the $3 but it kinda sucked because I ate the bacon AFTER the already killer burger. With bacon added to each bite, Id have been in burger Xanadu. The only complaint outside of the bacon incident would be the bun. Restaurants need to realize that the bun is a key part of the burger and a weak bun base can cause much discomfort. In this case, the bottom of the bun was super hot and kinda moist. Being trained in burger CPR, I knew to flip the burger onto its thicker top bun to let the bottom cool and salvage it. I didnt like having to do that but Ive become accustomed to it.

I also chose to add a trio of duck fat fries to my burger just because it seemed like the right thing to do. It kinda sucked that it was an extra $5 to do so, but hey, youre in Aventura. Gotta pay the tax... The fries were pretty frickin good though. My favorite was the garlic fries paired with onion sauce. The fries paired with the spicy ketchup were a close second. The paprika fries paired with bbq sauce didnt really do anything for me though.

The 3 different bourbons I sampled were all great brands but all overpriced. Then again, youre in Aventura and the prices werent that far off what you would see elsewhere. Add that to the burger and fries plus tax and tip and I was at about $70. I didnt feel bad about it though. Sure, there wasnt a sole in there within 20 years of my age, but I had a great time listening to the band, chatting with the bartenders, and chowing down on a pretty tasty burger paired with a nice bourbon selection. I hear that they have a different band that also plays there so I'll probably go back again on another Wednesday to check it out.