Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Coffee and Dining in Miami

We just got back from the first week of our 2012 Miami Residency.  Actually, we are now calling our time there "Cleveland Orchestra Miami", complete with Art Deco logo.
Although we were quite busy there, I did have some time to seek out more coffee places. My favorite remains Espressamente, the Illy espresso bar in the lobby of the Bayshore Marriott where the orchestra stays.


The bar has a sleek, modern design that highlights the coffee machines and accessories.


One night I had a tasty dinner at David's, a Cuban restaurant on Meridian Road just north of Lincoln Road in South Beach.  It is one of the few good, affordable restaurants in the area.  Below is a photo of my pollo asado, black beans and rice and fried plantains.



Afterwards I had a cup of Cuban coffee. It is made using an espresso machine, but there the similarity ends. The coffee usually has little or no crema on the top and is made very sweet.  Not sure if it's cane sugar, but there is a wonderful, syrupy sweetness that is balanced by the strong roast of the coffee. 


Later that week I found an interesting Italian coffee bar called Pinocchio.  It's on 8th St. in South Beach just off of Ocean Drive.  The bar is filled with things related to the story of Pinocchio.


The espresso there was just OK, but maybe I'll try again when it's not so busy. 

Another great place for coffee is the Nespresso store and coffee bar on Lincoln Road. It's on Lincoln just east of Alton Road.  The store is beautifully designed with the boxes of coffee pods and the pods themselves used in the design.  You can order coffee made from one of a dozen or so types, ogle the fancy machines and even buy one there if you want.  Nespresso has a mail order coffee service that's nice, too.

Here I am at the bar.


We also had a Bassoon Dinner in the middle of the week.  Jonathan Sherwin, John Clouser and Hugh Michie (who is subbing on second bassoon) joined me at Cafe Nuvo in the Spanish Village neighborhood for skirt steak.

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