That was quick. Three months after taking over the former Talula locale, the owners of Eden South Beach are ready to swing its doors open to the public tonight.
Gone is the dark, rustic feel of the former place. The space now has a more airy feel with black tile floors, white lamps and mirrors, and green wallpapered walls. The bar looks nice, sporting a coat of fresh white paint, and the back courtyard will be put to good use with a second bar and lounge furniture. It's definitely more South Beach.
Behind the restaurant is a team that includes Kelley Jones, partner in Todd English's P.U.B. Las Vegas, and James Beard award-winning chef Christopher Lee of Charlie Palmer's Aureole in New York.
Lee will remain in New York but he designed Eden's menu of "new American classics" and will travel to Miami from time to time (he will be in town for this weekend's opening). Heading the kitchen in Miami will be chef de cuisine Matthew Duryea.
Eden's menu is broken down into "temptations," first courses, and main courses. Appetizers ($6-$19) include a dungeness crab roll ($16) with cucumber, macadamia nuts, passion fruit and kahlúa sauce and grilled littleneck clams ($12) with chili butter. First courses ($11-$19) are made up of three salads and dishes like tuna tartare ($18) with kimchi, scallion pancakes and shallot ginger dressing, crispy pork belly ($16) with kumquats, cabbage and pickled scallions, and apple chestnut ravioli ($14) with brown butter sauce.Entrees start at $27 for miso sea scallops with edamame, shiitake mushrooms and citrus butter. The most expensive items are a rack of lamb ($39) served with carrots, hummus, preserved lemon and harrisa lamb jus, and an aged New York strip ($40).
Desserts play on the Eden theme with names like "Eve's first bite" ($8), a warm apple tart with crème fraiche and candied ginger, and "sinfully hot chocolate cake" ($9).
Eden will initially open for dinner from 5:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday. A bar menu will be available until 1 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends. The restaurant will eventually serve lunch daily and weekend brunch.Eden South Beach
210 23rd Street, Miami Beach
305-397-8760
