YOLO (you only live once) has become the motto and tagline scrawled across muscle tees and booty shorts of neon-clad tourists throughout Miami Beach. Little do they know that a stroll up Collins Avenue to North Beach offers a sandwich that must be devoured if one is to live a truly rich life.
The "Werewolves of London" dude, Warren Zevon, said on his deathbed David Letterman's couch, while facing his own mortality, "Enjoy every sandwich." Three-month-old Maracuyá offers a Venezuelan sandwich called the yoyo that would probably bring old Warren some serious enjoyment.
The extraordinary yoyo offers fried plantains that are reinforced with batter and refried until golden brown to act as the bread holding this masterpiece together. There's also a toothpick pierced through for extra backup. At Maracuyá, you have a choice of chicken, beef, or pork ($6.25); we tried the shredded beef (take that, muscle tees). It's served with the usual toppings: lettuce, tomato, dressing, and grated cheese, which we took upon ourselves to melt.
Once it arrived, we wrapped our bare hands around it to act as a grilling machine and pressed together. With this final touch, this Venezuelan-style Monte Cristo was ready for consumption. It had the sweet, the savory, the fried, and the fresh brought together as only a sandwich can do, layer upon layer.
Much like a yo-yo, it provides ups of enjoyment that are brought down by the facts of what it does to your cholesterol and beach body. In this case, we can certify the indulge is well worth the bulge. We just wish that Elvis -- the banana, pork product, and fried-anything enthusiast -- could have enjoyed one of these Venezuelan delicacies before his tragic ending on the toilet.
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