Scarpetta: Defrosting in Miami
I’m ordering the buffet brunch and a perfect Miami day.
Photo: Steven Richter
When readers ask me where to brunch I feel like a fraud. I’m not a bruncher. What can I say? I Google. I consult Zagat. I poll my brunching pals. My idea of the perfect Sunday starts with breakfast in bed, raspberries or fresh squeezed juice – obviously not squeezed by me – deep dark espresso and Russian coffee cake. Brunch may be for people who need a license to start drinking before noon. It’s that killer, the irresistible eggs Benedict that make me want to crawl back into bed and sleep it off and then I’ve lost the entire day.
But our Florida retreat this week to the home of a friend near Palm Beach did not leave an evening free for dinner at Scott Conant’s Scarpetta in the new condo tower of the gussied up Fontainebleau – conceived in the bubble, emerging a billion dollars later in the winter of Miami’s profound discontent. We did the hour and a half commute to Miami Beach. “For Sale” banners and skeletons of interrupted enterprise lined our path on Collins Avenue, as expected… but for the new – or newly plumped up – Fontainebleau, there’s a feel of action. I imagine the ghost of the original architect, Morris Lapidus, joyfully sliding down the banister of the famous stairs to nowhere, thrilled to see his bold curves revived.
Even Loew’s is fully booked. Bargain flights and icy wind chill conspire to lure more weekenders than I expected. Bankrupt moguls, the nouveaux pauvres and the recently unemployed need a soothing retreat at these cut-rate prices. A last hurray before the new economy budget.
Big white wicker greeting stands just inside the door of Scarpetta in the Fontainbleau’s new tower set a mixed theme – Southern veranda, but mostly nautical, with mirrored portholes and white piped sky-blue leatherette cushions on white chairs.
"I’d know you anywhere,” we are greeted by Scarpetta’s manager. “I was your waiter at Le Cirque when I was 18.” So much for being anonymous, not to mention my hope of seeming eternally young. We settle into a tropical banquette facing the sea. The tops of palm trees lining the pool paths below brush against sheer white curtains belted in the middle, tempering the wind, framing that blue water view.
Once I recover from the sticker shock – $49.95 for Scarpetta’s buffet brunch – and I study the menu, a hit parade of Conant favorites, I realize that is virtually a bargain. A shameless buffet pro could possibly put away breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bellinis, Mimosas and Blood Marys to soften the trauma of menu decisions. Fresh juice and coffee, croissants and muffins to wake up, a run or two at the salumi and cheese, smoked salmon and all sorts of vegetables from the U-shaped buffet for lunch. Plus an entrée: eggs or frittata, or pasta, branzino, short ribs, skirt steak. And then, certainly, desserts plural.
The Road Food Warrior and I barely need to speak. I take the olive salad and braised radicchio, luscious tiny cauliflorets, Portabella mushrooms, heirloom tomato and three or four cuts of cheese. He gathers shrimp and salumi and vegetables I’ve bypassed. “You must have the famous polenta with truffle mushrooms,” says the manager, filling a soup bowl from one of two covered chafing dishes. Some critics dock Scott Conant points because he is still doling out that same fiercely rich polenta. But fans would feel cheated if he didn’t.
I would happily add it to my fantasy breakfast in bed – a decadent stand-in for oatmeal.
The powerful flavor of clams tossed with spot prawns and basil in Sorrento-style Scialatelli – a more substantial linguine – pleases Steven. I’m immune to the charms of the much raved about agnolotti dal plin – adorable little packages of meat and cheese fonduta sauced with mushrooms and shards of Parmigiano. I taste two and wait, then a third, to be sure. Something about the filling disappoints me. But I am surprised how much I like the plain old spaghetti with tomato and basil, a gift from the kitchen – even though it’s not my idea of a great tomato sauce. Fresh or canned, I want the tomatoes to be tart and sweet. Yet this soft almost buttery potion is really good.
I could go bananas over dessert and pretend that a restaurant critic must taste everything. But I’m seized by a wave of sanity. Fresh fruit cocktail, a spoonful of chocolate mousse, an inch or so of cheesecake on a graham cracker crust and a macaroon dipped in Nutella are enough. It’s a very good brunch. And more than that, it’s two hours in paradise. Leaning back against the cushy blue and white batik pillows, watching big families arriving, embracing, filling the terrace, solicitous waiter begging to serve… feeling the soft breeze like a Lapidus benediction, the miracle of a cool Miami day, not a drop of humidity… I’m so blissed out I don’t even wince at the $130 bill, though maybe that sticky sweet Nutella was one bite too many.
“Maybe we should buy a condo,” I say to Steven. “They’ll never be cheaper than they are right now.” He ignores me and ducks inside to put the $18 valet parking fee on his credit card.
Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau, 4441 Collins Avenue. 305-674-4660
About Gael Greene
Photo: Steven Richter
In her role as restaurant critic of New York Magazine (1968 to January 2002) Detroit-born Gael Greene helped change the way New Yorkers (and many Americans) think about food.
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask," "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out." and " Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen" were early pieces. In more recent years her annual roundup of New York City's dining favorites, Ask Gael, was a gourmand's collectible for many years and she continues to write a weekly Ask Gael column for NYM. Earlier she worked at the New York Post.
As co-founder with James Beard and a continuing force behind Citymeals-on-Wheels as board chair, Ms. Greene has made a significant impact on the city of New York. Citymeals, the largest public/private partnership in the country, has raised $200 million in its twenty-six-year history to help feed the city's frail elderly shut-ins.
Ms. Greene's memoir, "Insatiable, Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess" was published April, 2006. Earlier non-fiction books include "Delicious Sex, A Gourmet Guide for Women and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better" and "BITE: A New York Restaurant Strategy." Her two novels Blue skies, No Candy" and "Doctor Love" were NY Times best sellers.
Gael Greene
Articles used with permission of Gael Greene, Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Steven Richter's photographs may not be used without permission.
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Gael Greene
Gael Greene's New York City Restaurant Reviews and more....
The NYC Insiders Guide
for women who aren't kids
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Meet Gael for a delicious conversation on Jan. 27, 2009.
