Everything Bagel Pizza for Brunch at the Alley at the Betsy Hotel

Inside the Betsy Hotel, a newly opened pizzeria called the Alley serves everything bagel pies and panettone French toast for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant is the latest concept from chef Laurent Tourondel, who is also behind the Betsy's LT Steak & Seafood.

Located in the hotel's 14th Place breezeway, which connects Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, the trattoria-style restaurant is light and airy. In the main dining room, chef de cuisine John Kreidich and executive chef Danny Ganem create handmade pizzas, pastas, salads, and other Italian-themed plates like whipped ricotta and veal meatballs. Nearby, there is a small ventanita stocked with grab-and-go items, from crepes and waffles to gelato and Panther Coffee cold-brew.
On weekends, the Alley offers a unique six-plate brunch menu with noticeable Italian flavor. Items are affordably priced between $9 and $17, depending on size.

Instead of eggs Benedict, there is uova besciamella, in which prosciutto cotto (Italian cooked ham) is thickly sliced and layered on a bed of homemade focaccia with two yolky poached eggs ($14).

The menu also includes eggs all’amatriciana, a bowl of baked eggs blended with cured pork, pomodoro sauce, and toasted bread ($9); and rigatoni carbonara topped with small bacon bits, English peas, and pecorino cheese ($14).

The Alley's standout dish is an everything bagel pizza layered with smoked wild salmon, whipped cream cheese, watercress, and capers ($17). The dough, which is made in-house, resembles a bagel with its golden brown texture and slight outer crunch.
For something sweet, there are baskets of bombolonis, Italy's version of a fried and filled doughnut hole. At the Alley, they're infused with a passionfruit crema ($9). There is also panettone French toast, a large slice of sweet bread doused in a bourbon-fig compote with toasted almonds ($9).

The opening of the Alley coincides with the debut of Panther Coffee at the Betsy. Located inside the Betsy's art deco wing, previously the former lobby of the historic Carlton Hotel, the shop is stocked with Panther Coffee's hot, iced, and nitro java ($3 and up). The Alley's executive chef, Danny Ganem, is behind a selection of coffee-shop snacks such as sandwiches, pastries, croissants, and sweet monkey bread ($4 to $8).

The Alley at the Betsy. 1440 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach; 305-760-6903; thebetsyhotel.com/dining/thealley. Brunch is served 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.