BEST BAKERY 2004 | Icebox Cafe | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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As the name suggests, the place serves not just dessert but the rest of the meal (and though the food is quite good, it's possible to just walk in off the street and get a table, even on weekends, due to its location half a block off Lincoln Road rather than in the middle of the mall's madness). Nevertheless pastries are Icebox's forte. The namesake icebox cakes put chain ice cream cakes to shame. But nonfrozen delights are also not to be missed. Layer cakes (such as lemon raspberry cake or mixed berry shortcake, both $5 per slice) look luscious and, for a change, taste even better than they look due to moist, dense, old-fashioned, home-baked batter; no standard commercial bakery premixes here. Petits fours lack the usual marzipan overkill, and are the most elegant in town -- perfect for parties meant to impress. When impressing others isn't a factor, Rice Krispies treats will evoke the better moments of your childhood. And a drop-dead delicious flourless chocolate soufflé makes religious dietary laws, at events like Seder dinners, no problem.

As the name suggests, the place serves not just dessert but the rest of the meal (and though the food is quite good, it's possible to just walk in off the street and get a table, even on weekends, due to its location half a block off Lincoln Road rather than in the middle of the mall's madness). Nevertheless pastries are Icebox's forte. The namesake icebox cakes put chain ice cream cakes to shame. But nonfrozen delights are also not to be missed. Layer cakes (such as lemon raspberry cake or mixed berry shortcake, both $5 per slice) look luscious and, for a change, taste even better than they look due to moist, dense, old-fashioned, home-baked batter; no standard commercial bakery premixes here. Petits fours lack the usual marzipan overkill, and are the most elegant in town -- perfect for parties meant to impress. When impressing others isn't a factor, Rice Krispies treats will evoke the better moments of your childhood. And a drop-dead delicious flourless chocolate soufflé makes religious dietary laws, at events like Seder dinners, no problem.

It's not that we forgot about Irie Isle after giving it this award way back in 1998. It's just that, for no good reason, we hadn't been back to the nondescript strip mall it calls home. But Irie Isle is still there. Still funky. Still delicious. Remember that it's primarily designed for take-out, though a few tables are always available. Either way, you can't beat the prices ($3.95 for the jerk chicken lunch; dinner combos well under $10), and the succulent jerk preparations are still the best in town. But don't forget the goat, stew chicken, and fish offerings. Or the beans and sticky rice. And you should always pick up a few fresh beef patties (call ahead to see if veggie or chicken patties are available). Irie Isle may not win any awards for décor, but that's not why you come here anyway.

It's not that we forgot about Irie Isle after giving it this award way back in 1998. It's just that, for no good reason, we hadn't been back to the nondescript strip mall it calls home. But Irie Isle is still there. Still funky. Still delicious. Remember that it's primarily designed for take-out, though a few tables are always available. Either way, you can't beat the prices ($3.95 for the jerk chicken lunch; dinner combos well under $10), and the succulent jerk preparations are still the best in town. But don't forget the goat, stew chicken, and fish offerings. Or the beans and sticky rice. And you should always pick up a few fresh beef patties (call ahead to see if veggie or chicken patties are available). Irie Isle may not win any awards for décor, but that's not why you come here anyway.

When this tiny bakery/café changed ownership last year, croissant connoisseurs mourned. How could the flaky French breakfast treats possibly remain Miami's most melt-in-your-mouth buttery? By retaining the same recipe, it turns out, as well as the same baker whose light touch for pastry handling -- and dense imported butter -- has always been responsible for the pastries' authentic Gallic goodness. In fact change has been, for once, for the better: Despite the shop's location in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, the newbie management doesn't close on Saturdays. Liberal new hours are every day, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (lunch served 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.). La Brioche now takes plastic, too -- all major cards, even minor majors like Carte Blanche, so you can acquire Frequent Flyer miles through your linked cards while you munch in mid-Beach. Next year (and next croissant) in Paris.

When this tiny bakery/café changed ownership last year, croissant connoisseurs mourned. How could the flaky French breakfast treats possibly remain Miami's most melt-in-your-mouth buttery? By retaining the same recipe, it turns out, as well as the same baker whose light touch for pastry handling -- and dense imported butter -- has always been responsible for the pastries' authentic Gallic goodness. In fact change has been, for once, for the better: Despite the shop's location in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, the newbie management doesn't close on Saturdays. Liberal new hours are every day, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (lunch served 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.). La Brioche now takes plastic, too -- all major cards, even minor majors like Carte Blanche, so you can acquire Frequent Flyer miles through your linked cards while you munch in mid-Beach. Next year (and next croissant) in Paris.

More bohemian hangout than formal restaurant, One Ninety is the sort of place you hope won't be ruined by too much exposure. So please don't bring your L.A. or New York friends here for Sunday brunch. Let's keep it in the family. The place already has an authentically homespun feel to it: funky-fun décor, a gallery component featuring the work of local artists, and live local bands. The Sunday spread begins with fresh-squeezed juice brought to your table by an attitude-free server. Then, after helping yourself to good strong coffee from the bar, proceed to the all-you-can-eat buffet. Dishes vary but typical choices include buttery-crusted artichoke/ crème fraîche tarts, a fabulously smooth carrot mousse, savory chicken salad, and tasty vegetable salads like a refreshing tomato, onion, and grain mix. (The dill-sprinkled, fresh-beet salad with Roquefort chunks could convert the most confirmed beet-hater.) There are also platters of various grilled or sautéed fresh veggies, scrumptious Southern-fried chicken, ribs that disappear within minutes after they hit the table, and desserts that'll make you wish you, like a cow, had two stomachs. Then your server returns with a menu of custom-cooked breakfast food -- eggs Florentine, strawberry pancakes, smoked-salmon omelets, huevos rancheros, and more -- from which diners can order any or all items. Whew! Price: $15.

More bohemian hangout than formal restaurant, One Ninety is the sort of place you hope won't be ruined by too much exposure. So please don't bring your L.A. or New York friends here for Sunday brunch. Let's keep it in the family. The place already has an authentically homespun feel to it: funky-fun décor, a gallery component featuring the work of local artists, and live local bands. The Sunday spread begins with fresh-squeezed juice brought to your table by an attitude-free server. Then, after helping yourself to good strong coffee from the bar, proceed to the all-you-can-eat buffet. Dishes vary but typical choices include buttery-crusted artichoke/ crème fraîche tarts, a fabulously smooth carrot mousse, savory chicken salad, and tasty vegetable salads like a refreshing tomato, onion, and grain mix. (The dill-sprinkled, fresh-beet salad with Roquefort chunks could convert the most confirmed beet-hater.) There are also platters of various grilled or sautéed fresh veggies, scrumptious Southern-fried chicken, ribs that disappear within minutes after they hit the table, and desserts that'll make you wish you, like a cow, had two stomachs. Then your server returns with a menu of custom-cooked breakfast food -- eggs Florentine, strawberry pancakes, smoked-salmon omelets, huevos rancheros, and more -- from which diners can order any or all items. Whew! Price: $15.

What could be more at the forefront of baking than the ingenuity displayed by those at Atlanta Bread Company? This restaurant is redefining the boundaries of bread. No more will dough aficionados be constrained to thinking that sliced bread is the greatest triumph since.... One of ABC's more noteworthy "concept breads" is something they call "A Loaf of Soup." It consists of a loaf of sourdough with a bowl carved into the top of it. The bread is then filled with the customer's choice of soup like cream of broccoli, onion, or chicken noodle. Now we know it's not what most will think of when they conjure up images of bread, so rest assured the place also carries a wide array of muffins, croissants, bagels, and Danishes for the nonadventurous soul. But soup in a loaf of bread? That earns them this award for creativity.

What could be more at the forefront of baking than the ingenuity displayed by those at Atlanta Bread Company? This restaurant is redefining the boundaries of bread. No more will dough aficionados be constrained to thinking that sliced bread is the greatest triumph since.... One of ABC's more noteworthy "concept breads" is something they call "A Loaf of Soup." It consists of a loaf of sourdough with a bowl carved into the top of it. The bread is then filled with the customer's choice of soup like cream of broccoli, onion, or chicken noodle. Now we know it's not what most will think of when they conjure up images of bread, so rest assured the place also carries a wide array of muffins, croissants, bagels, and Danishes for the nonadventurous soul. But soup in a loaf of bread? That earns them this award for creativity.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®