Vice, Part Beaux

I am writing as a guest blogger per the request of JSH.  I am her loving husband, Beau.......The VP of Operations, if you will.  The Tubbs to her Crockett.

*Editor's note: I am scarred by the fact that Tubbs (is that Tubbs?) is just lounging with a machine gun for the ad for the show.  Or is that some kind of pipe bomb?*

As JSH mentioned, I attended a healthcare lawyer's CLE seminar at the Doral last week.  Also attending was a longtime friend of the Haynes family from Terre Haute, Indiana and fellow healthcare lawyer.  I was invited to dine with him, his wife, and fellow colleagues at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink.  Because JSH had not yet arrived from the Big Sleeze to come along with us, I am privileged and honored to write this "review" of Michael's.

Michael's is located in the Design District of Miami which was approximately 20 minutes from the Doral.  The sun had already set by the time we drove into the Design District so my observations of the area are limited.  Obviously, there were lots of art galleries, museums, and boutiques for all things "design."  As  this is JSH's area anyway, let's skip to the food.

Michael's is a cozy place with outside/inside dining.  Its space is located street side as part of a larger building that opens up into a kind of promenade.  The tables are squeezed into the main dining area like a well-played game of Tetris.

A narrow bar is located at the front of the restaurant.  The entire place was dimly lit and completely full when we arrived around 7:30pm.

The menu was divided up into small, medium, large and extra large dishes between appetizers and entrees.

I decided to try the Pig Ear Salad with local arugula, red onions, and pickled radishes to start off my dining experience (not including the two (2) Kettle One and Sodas).  It was good but not great.  I thought I could have fried some bacon and thrown it on one of JSH's salads to create the exact same taste.

The other Hauteans in the group were looking for seafood options as they get their fair share of meat in the Midwest.  Actually, I believe the verbatim quote was, "I can go to Mr. Baesler's shop to get a nice steak anytime at home."

While I tend to agree with this line of thinking, I have lived in New Orleans for almost 9 years now so I am no longer seafood deprived.  As much as I loved it growing up, the shrimp cocktail platter from Sam's each Christmas Eve at Grandma's/The Aunt's  is no longer the "delicacy" it once was.  Where am I going with all this?

I ordered the roasted and grilled harris ranch shortrib for my entree which was part of the "large" entrees on the menu.  It was very good but not great.  At this point, I asked our waiter for a recommendation for a red wine to match with the shortrib.  Going back to my Land of Beer and Meat pedigree, I am not a wine connoisseur.  I was looking for some direction on what to order.  The waiter was nice enough, but he didn't really seem interested in my request and simply said "the Merlot" in a rehearsed manner.  That was disappointing.

The dessert was the best part of the meal.  I ordered the Bannana Toffee Panini with a mini chocolate caramel ice cream sundae.  It was fantastic.

It was good food and great company.  All in all, a very nice but not great experience.  Our subsequent meals at Prime 112 and the Delano were better (as JSH has already blogged about). 

I'm not sayin...I'm just sayin,

Beau