BEST JAMAICAN RESTAURANT 2004 | Irie Isle | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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BEST JAMAICAN RESTAURANT

Irie Isle

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.

BEST CROISSANT

La Brioche Dorée

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.

BEST CROISSANT

La Brioche Dorée

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.

BEST SUNDAY BRUNCH

One Ninety

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.

BEST SUNDAY BRUNCH

One Ninety

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.

BEST BREAD

Atlanta Bread Company

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 BREAD

Atlanta Bread Company

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 BUFFET

Fontainebleau Hilton Resort

It's common to associate "buffet" with "table." Wrong. Here, on any given Sunday, it's a roomful of tables overflowing with at least 200 items covering the spectrum, from raw seafood to the sweetest sweets. Juicy meats, salads, breads, stews, and soups line up side-by-side across the vast expanse, each one challenging the diner's whim to fill every last bit of stomach space available. Tip: Don't eat for three days prior and arrive early. Bonus tip: Holidays feature special items (such as succulent turkey at Thanksgiving). At $48 per person ($22 for kids), with a glass of champagne or a mimosa included, this is a feast fit to feed an entire Third World nation or to please the most demanding gourmand. On any given Sunday.

BEST BUFFET

Fontainebleau Hilton Resort

It's common to associate "buffet" with "table." Wrong. Here, on any given Sunday, it's a roomful of tables overflowing with at least 200 items covering the spectrum, from raw seafood to the sweetest sweets. Juicy meats, salads, breads, stews, and soups line up side-by-side across the vast expanse, each one challenging the diner's whim to fill every last bit of stomach space available. Tip: Don't eat for three days prior and arrive early. Bonus tip: Holidays feature special items (such as succulent turkey at Thanksgiving). At $48 per person ($22 for kids), with a glass of champagne or a mimosa included, this is a feast fit to feed an entire Third World nation or to please the most demanding gourmand. On any given Sunday.

BEST SOUP KITCHEN

Missionary of Charity

The sisters serve several hundred meals a day, sponsor on-site visiting nurses twice a week, and will soon offer shelter for 25 women and 10 children. When Mother Teresa visited Miami in 1974, she established the Missionary of Charity in one of downtown's grimmest quarters. Early in the morning, the homeless begin congregating in front of the 727 building on NW Seventeenth Street. Most of them wait patiently, others anxiously, for the sisters to open the doors to their soup kitchen. For many of those waiting, it will be the only meal of the day. This is a corner of Miami where both the missionaries and the homeless prefer to be known only by their first names. Those who come to the soup kitchen are white, black, Hispanic, men and women, a reminder that misery can come knocking on anyone's door. "We have to take care of our brothers and sisters, especially the poor, those who are abandoned, those who are alone," said one sister. "Mother Teresa reminds us of the words of Jesus: 'Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.'"

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Best Of Miami®

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