At Brickell's Bistro BE, among the first authentic Belgian eateries in Miami, the steenedorpskonijn met pruimen en geuze takes extra time to arrive. The waitress, frittering away on a cell phone in a dim, gray-walled dining room, forgot to send the order for the rabbit stew to the kitchen. Plus, it isn't a quick dish to make. Bacon must be rendered before identical carrot cubes and onion slivers are sautéed. Then the whole thing has to be gently warmed to recoup the tenderness achieved after hours of braising. By the time it hits the table — long after the dense beer bread and a heap of small, gritty mussels with French fries disappear — you're stuffed and nearly sweating.
Belgian cuisine, thanks to its frosty Northern European origins, is heavy. That doesn't mean Miami shouldn't have it, though. If Brickell can support a handful of Irish pubs, Bistro BE's long list of white wheat ales and dark beers with banana-caramel notes is welcome. Read the full review of the beer-and-waffle temple Bistro BE on Short Order.
