Chef Gabriel Fenton's menu sounds unassuming at first glance, a gazpacho, smoked salmon, strip steak, and a puttanesca holdover from his student days at the CIA, which he says "is still my favorite." Yet, every course of Bourbon Steak's Miami Spice offerings has been developed with great care, and plated with an unusual attention to detail not often found on these type of deals.
That gazpacho, for example, is as smooth as a velouté, made with ripe sun gold tomatoes and topped with chunks of Alaskan king crab, with just a hint of serrano chiles for heat. The salmon is cured overnight in beet juice giving it not only a beautifully reddened rim, but a sweet and earthy depth of flavor that was quite unusual. He serves that with a salad of red and yellow roasted beets with a meyer lemon sauce and fresh fennel; crispy potato chips add a textural crunch. The puttanesca surrounded fresh pappardelle noodles that were individually sliced by hand. A Wagyu New York strip steak is sourced from one of Chef Fenton's "favorite small farms in Nebraska. We get beef direct from Imperial Farms twice a week, all my American Wagyu comes from them." For $35 per person, it was truly spicerrific.
We were treated to a dinner preview of Chef Fenton's creations, check out all kinds of delicious after the jump.
Proscuitto di Parma and fresh figs are dipped in honey and a sherry gastrique, then torched until a glaze forms, served with goat cheese crema and grilled sourdough croutons. Beet cured smoked salmon with beet puree, and fingerling potato chips dusted with fennel pollen.
Pappardelle Puttanesca topped with a dollop of creamy burrata cheese, fresh basil and chicken confit.
Local sashimi grade grilled wahoo with lobster consommé, radishes, and honshi meiji mushrooms. A Wagyu steak pavé served with braised short rib croutons, which have been quickly flash fried and tossed in jus.
Pastry Chef Andrea Sans Araiza says that "we bake the cheesecake a little differently, similar to a crème brûlée in a steam bath, so it stays nice and creamy, instead of having a dense center." Chocolate chips are folded in, and Michigan cherries are cooked until tender with orange, vanilla and sugar. The bread pudding starts with toasted croissants and peaches roasted in bourbon, served with a bourbon caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.
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