Blue Collar Miami Scores High Amongst a White Collar Crowd

Last night we decided to kick Ft. Lauderdale and head toward the bright lights of Miami- not the South Beach Lights or the Miami Beach lights or even the Brickell Lights, but rather the up and coming trendy lights of Miami's Design District. Surprisingly, the Design District is home to a wonderfully exciting culinary scene. The restaurants aren't uber trendy, nor swanky, nor pretentious. Rather, the chefs are heading toward more alternative themed restaurants featuring ingredients you don't typically find in any run-of-the-mill restaurant. We went to the Design District with our eyes on the prize, a new restaurant called "Blue Collar" which is quite literally located in the diner area of a motel, yes you read that correctly, a good ol' fashion motel called "Biscayne Motel". I now jokingly refer to Blue Collar as Biscayne Motel's "signature" restaurant. The diner holds approximately 29 people at full capacity, and that's including the outside area. There's not much for a bar, nor is there much room for standing for your potentially long wait, but wait you must because it's worth every moment to experience the deliciousness that I promise will ensue!

Chef and owner, David Serfer, is the brainchild behind the comfort dining concept of Blue Collar. He used to be the chef of another one of my favorite local Ft. Lauderdale spots, 15th Street Fisheries, so you know the food is going to be good!

Upon walking into the small eatery, one of the first things that diners cannot miss is the chalkboard that serves as the"Veg Board" that has a list nearly a mile long of tasty sounding veggies such as Curried Cauliflower Puree, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts, and Buttered Baby Bok Choy-just to name a few. The menu even offers a full "veggie plate" for those vegetarians in the crowd- although most of the veggie dishes aren't totally vegetarian friendly as they're loaded with tasty bacon-y goodness. Everyday they feature a different Parm, Braise, and Ribs which they also feature on a chalkboard. Finally, if you haven't had enough of the chalkboard theme, you can run to the restroom area, grab a piece of chalk and write a nice message to the restaurant staff on their wall-sized chalkboard.

Blue Collar's appetizers are some of the most creative I've come across in quite a while, and they all sound so uniquely appealing that we could have had an entire meal of just appetizers. Instead, we simply ordered three. Our server played tie-breaker and happily recommended some of her favorite appetizers and entrees, which was extremely helpful because we could have been going back and forth contemplating several of the dishes forever without her help. After a thorough review of the menu here are the appetizers we chose to dine on:

Shrimp and Grits which were ultra creamy and appropriately New Orleans in flavor with a New Orleans inspired "BBQ" sauce.

Cuban Sandwich Spring Rolls with a mustard dipping sauce featuring all the flavor of a Cuban Sandwich inside of a Crispy Spring Roll.

 Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Croquettes with Pomegranate-Fig Jam that did not skimp on the fresh Mushroom flavor and just enough Goat Cheese to shine through without taking over, which goat cheese can sometimes do.

For our entrees, we selected the Crispy Snapper and the Braised Oxtail. Each bite was exciting. The fish was perfectly crispy, yet the true flavor of the Snapper wasn't overpowered by the crispy exterior. Although the fish was pretty straightforward, the red curry sauce added the perfect complexity to the fish without overpowering it. The Braised Oxtail was one for the books, as it was truly a melt-in-your-mouth experience.  A knife was complete overkill because the meat simply melted off the bone like butter. The mashed potatoes underneath the Oxtail weren't too shabby either! Our friend Matt ordered the Grilled Swordfish with Mushroom Potato Hash and Purple Mustard. I didn't try his dish, but to say that he cleaned his plate would be an understatement. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to dessert as we were feeling the effects of overeating, although I still wish we could have ordered about 5 more items off the menu.

 Crispy Snapper with Rock Shrimp, Veggie Fried Rice and Red Curry

Braised Oxtail with Mashed Potatoes and Braising Juices

 Blue Collar also offers a wine and beer menu, with several craft beers as well, but don't go expecting a large cocktail menu as wine and beer are all they've got, which seems to fit the bill of this restaurant. Overall, this was a truly unique dining experience that all of us thoroughly enjoyed. I know we'll be back sooner than later, because there were too many other dishes we wanted to try. The friendly atmosphere and over the top wonderful waitstaff made for such a pleasurable dining experience, unlike so many of the trendy and sometimes pretentous restaurants dotting Downtown Miami, SoBe and Miami Beach which are more about the scene than the food experience. The next time you're debating a night out in Miami, consider the Design District, and definitely don't miss Blue Collar!

Seventh Street Wine Company may just be the secret to life

Recently, Carl and I got a rather fabulous wedding gift- a dual zone wine refrigerator. It was something we were excited to register for but neither of us actually thought we would receive the wine fridge. Much to our excitement, we did! This called for a major "stocking up". However, we wanted to make sure the wine we put into the fridge wasn't just any ol' crap, we wanted a semi-decent collection. We decided we needed the help of a professional, so we went to Seventh Street Wine Company. Carl had been in once before, and we had both driven past it several times and wanted to spend some time in there. Now, to be honest, Carl and I love a nice glass of wine with dinner or a few glasses on a weekend evening, but our true knowledge of wine is very rudimentary. It's something we want to learn more about, and we intend to do several winery tours in the future as well as taking some wine tasting courses so that we can learn more about our new favorite hobby.

When we walked into Seventh Street Wine Company, we were greeted with a pleasant smile from the staff as we began to look around. They have a superb collection of wines sorted by region. After a few minutes of strolling around, we decided we needed some help. The staff eagerly pointed us toward the owner, Chris who could not have been more nice or more helpful. He hails from the Isle of Mann, and speaks with the most pleasant accent which somehow seems to make selecting wine even more fun! They have a discount policy of 5% off each bottle when you purchase 6 bottles or more, and 10% off each bottle when you purchase 12 bottles or more. Chris helped us pick out 4 reasonably priced bottles of red, and 2 reasonably priced bottles of white. He gave us the background on each bottle, telling us what we could expect to taste upon sipping each wine and he assured us that the price we were spending was indeed a great value for each wine. The icing on the cake was when he told the man at the register to go ahead and give us the 10% discount even though were only purchasing 6 bottles of wine.

In addition to their wonderful selection of bottles for purchase, they have several machines that distribute glasses of wine by a prepaid purchase card. They have a kitchen that serves small bites such as cheese and meat plates and they even have a few televisions throughout the small space so winos can sip their favorite glass of wine while watching whatever big game may be on television!

So far, we've only enjoyed 1 of the bottle we purchased, an $11 red bottle of Spanish Tempranillo called "Dante" and it was very delicious. We will most definitely be returning to our neighborhood wine spot to purchase more wine and visit our friends at Seventh Street Wine Company in the near future. 

Blue Moon Fish Company has great views, good interior, but mediocre Food

Last weekend Carl and I decided we needed a nice date night so after some "yelping" we made a last minute reservation at Blue Moon Fish Company. The night was a bit rainy and overcast so I was a little weary about the idea of sitting outside for dinner. However, upon our arrival the hostesses suggested we have a drink at the bar and wait an extra ten minutes for an outside seat. Turns out, it was a great decision, and the patio was completely covered so we didn't even get we although it was sprinkling on and off. Blue Moon has some wonderful real estate and sits right on the Intracoastal which makes for a beautiful view of the river at night. Occasional boats quietly glide by, and the moon shines off the water creating a wonderfully romantic evening. It's definitely a wonderful place for a date night.

Blue Moon has an open concept kitchen, which provides patrons with a chance to view everything that comes out of the kitchen. However, it is tucked in the corner which makes it just out of view of prime seating and completely out of view of those dining al fresco. Regardless, I'm a fan of the open kitchen concept. Considering the prices this restaurant demands, I honestly expected better service. Our server wasn't very attentive, and he seemed to be too busy to give our table enough attention to sufficiently make us feel like we were worth his time. Perhaps he had a large table elsewhere, but for a restaurant where each entree is over $30, I think excellent attention should be paid to the guests.

Despite the mediocre service, the menu was very thorough and every dish sounded heavenly. With fish ranging from the classic Grouper, to Swordfish, to Trout, to a medley of seafood stars such as Clams, Mussels, Shrimp and Scallops all in one dish, it was a tough choice to pick just one. We started with an appetizer of Pan Roasted Diver Sea Scallops featuring a Hearts of Palm Salad and a Sweet Chili Garlic Glaze. I happen to be a huge fan of Scallops, and these did not let me down. There was a generous portion of Hearts of Palm, two large Scallops, and a beautiful drizzle of the Sweet Chili Glaze.  Scallops are always a bit chewy, but these seemed too chewy. At $8 per scallop, I would have preferred them to have been prepared in a manner that left them, well, a bit less chewy. Otherwise, the slow after-heat of the chili glaze was a refreshing accent to the Sea Scallops, and the crisp Hearts of Palm provided a cooling touch. All the ingredients together were a perfect marriage of flavors.

Sea Scallops

The scallops were followed by the Hydroponic Bibb and Candied Walnut Salad which also had Hearts of Palm, and Gorgonzola Cheese. Fortunately for us, this salad was a rockstar and may have been the highlight of the entire meal. Unfortunately for Blue Moon Fish Co., when a salad is the highlight of a seafood meal it may be a red flag...

For the main course, I ordered Sauteed Key West Yellowtail Snapper with Maine Lobster "Mac and Peas", and a Carrot Cumin Sauce. Carl ordered the Jerk Spiced Local Swordfish and Rock Shrimp. This may be a slightly biased review considering just a week prior, I was dining on a Parmesan Crusted Snapper at GW Fins in New Orleans that was life changing. Sadly, the Snapper at Blue Moon Fish Co. was anything but life changing . The fish lacked any flavor, and was almost difficult to eat, which is saying a lot coming from this Fabbie Foodie, considering I go gaga over Snapper. The Lobster Mac and Peas, which the fish was served over, were a creamy orzo pasta and peas with a healthy serving of Lobster which was definitely the highlight of this dish. On the plus side, for an entree going for $38, the serving was gargantuan. Even if it was the most delicious fish I had ever ordered, there was no way I cleaning my plate. Carl's Swordfish dish was exponentially more enjoyable than mine. His Swordfish was cooked just right, and the curry coconut broth it was served over was a wonderful addition to the fish. It brought us right back to some of the delicious curry sauces we tasted in Thailand. Carl's dish was also massive which I found to be a huge plus to this expensive eatery. I'd rather have too much food for the price, then leave hungry because the portion was too small.

My Snapper

Carl's Swordfish

Overall, the atmosphere and the view of the water from the restaurant were top notch although the service was lacking. Yes, my dish was a miss, but I won't completely rule out Blue Moon Fish Company because Carl's dish was very enjoyable, and too many other dishes on the menu look absolutely mouth-watering. With Valentine's Day coming up, it may not be a bad idea to get dressed up,  buy your honey some flowers, and make a reservation at Blue Moon Fish Co. The romantic atmosphere will definitely work toward your advantage this Valentine's Day!