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!