'Tis the Seasoning

Comments (0) By Jen Karetnick Thursday, Jan 16 1997

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By the time an overly seasoned seared swordfish steak arrived, we'd begun to feel like participants in an osmosis experiment. This time the brackishness marred a chunky sauce of deliciously soft, buttery leeks and chopped tomatoes, redolent with rosemary. On the plus side, the big, juicy steak was fresh and perfectly cooked; the roasted skin-on white potatoes, swirl of pureed yams, and florets of broccoli that rounded out both entrees also helped to compensate for all the brine.

Five pasta choices are offered: meat or vegetable lasagna, homemade gnocchi, linguine with shrimp and asparagus, and orechiette with broccoli and prosciutto. We tested the kitchen's adaptability by ordering off the menu and off the specials list -- one of my guests wanted a simple olive oil-garlic dressing on spaghetti. Spaghetti proved unavailable, but chef Massimo Balacchi, who, as a six-month resident of America, literally just "got off the boat," graciously complied, with whole wheat linguine. (Adam Steinman, late of the country clubs at Fisher and Williams islands, takes charge of the day shift.) The result was the best dish of the evening, an al dente nest of perfectly prepared noodles, the nutty flavor of which was enhanced by evenly browned garlic. We found less success with a second pasta dish, a special. Tricolor tortellini filled with cheese were bland, while the cream sauce in which they rested was, alas, far too salty.

Location Info

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Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe

15 SE 10th St.
Miami, FL 33131

Category: Restaurant > Dessert

Region: Downtown/Overtown

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Roaming the market for wine and sweets to go with our meal was more than worthwhile. Perricone's stocks more than 75 wines, and if you want to imbibe one of them with your meal there's only a modest (four bucks) corkage fee imposed atop the retail price. Italian beers are also available. We found plenty of sweets this way as well and wound up purchasing a slice of crumbly ricotta cheesecake flecked with fudgy shavings at the counter. Pieces of dessert "sushi," pistachios surrounded by coconut and rolled in chocolate leaf, were indeed similar to the Almond Joy the counterperson jokingly called them. But though Perricone insists that his pastry chef Sandra makes all the desserts here, a commercial-tasting slice of chocolate-ribboned crumb cake came out of a wrapper, and the counterperson told us it was brought down from New York. (I've sampled this identical crumb cake at Stephan's.)

Despite the fact of a dinner-hour exodus, downtown -- the Brickell environs in particular -- is ripe for culinary commerce. And it will be getting some more: Capital Grille, an upscale steak-house chain from the northeast, is due to open any day now, and the City of Miami finally settled on a tenant for the long-vacant Firehouse Four. Perricone's got in just ahead of the rush. Leach some of that oceanic salt from the sauces and this reasonably priced marketplace and cafe will be well worth cruising.

Perricone's Marketplace & Cafe
15 SE 10th St; 374-9693. Open Monday -- Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Friday and Saturday until 11:00), and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Antipasto
$4.95
Fried calamari and zucchini
$5.95
Veal saltimbocca
$11.95
Rosemary-seared swordfish
$12.95

Published:01/16/1997 Last week's "Cafe" column incorrectly stated that Capital Grille, at 444 Brickell Ave., was not yet open. In fact the restaurant has been open for a month. New Times regrets the error.Info:Published: