Steak is big in Miami. A tally of the high-end steakhouses doing business here attests to the fact that Miami is clearly at peace with carnivorous cravings. And though the offerings are legion, a few select restaurants stand out as true cathedrals of red meat cookery. Chief among them is Gotham Steak – the cooly elegant, 16,000 sq. ft., two-tiered steakhouse tucked just off the glamorous lobby of the historic Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The Miami outpost of acclaimed chef Alfred Portale and home to rising star chef de cuisine John Suley, Gotham Steak, which opened its doors winter 2008, has drawn the spotlight not only for Suley’s talented culinary skills, its vast menu and wine list but for unparalleled service and chic aesthetic. Now, in its third year, the restaurant is ready for its next act with a new look, new menu and a new reason to visit this must-try dining destination.
One of several new food & beverage innovations on tap at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, The Lounge at Gotham Steak is now open for business. For The Lounge, the restaurant’s upstairs dining room has been converted into a chic dining and lounge space complete with new lighting and a house DJ, who spins eclectic tunes Wednesday through Saturday evenings. Gone are the white tablecloths and the new, more casual atmosphere features a new lounge menu, created by Portale, overseen/executed by Suley, and available exclusively in The Lounge; The Dining Room continues to serve Gotham’s full a la carte menu of tender aged steaks, succulent seafood and delicious sides.
“Not many restaurants have an opportunity to reinvent themselves,” says Suley, who trained with the likes of Daniel Boulud and Laurent Gras before joining Portale and was handpicked to take the helm of Gotham in 2009. “With two floors, we realized we could introduce something exciting to lure new customers as well as our loyal locals while still delivering the amazing modern American culinary experience Gotham is known for. The Lounge gives our guests more options and the kitchen crew an opportunity get creative, mix things up and profile new menu offerings.”
The Lounge at Gotham Steak offers palate pleasing dishes in various sizes and is designed for those seeking eclectic small plates or a full meal. “Portale has always served his own style of grownups’ food, never trendy, never given over to a fad…” says well-respected food scribe John Mariani in a recent newsletter, who praised Chef for Gotham’s “lavishly layered ingredients that was Portale’s trademark early on and much copied everywhere.” It’s this attention to how ingredients interplay, dedication to sourcing the best product and relying on the tenets of flavor, rather than popular food trends that inform Portale’s new menu.
Chilled Shellfish ($6-$MKT) and Small Plates ($12-$18) are perfect for grazing at the bar or at one of the lounge’s new high-top tables. Raw bar and cured meat offerings run the gamut from just-harvested prawns and oysters and Hamachi sashimi to pate de Champagne and spicy lamb sausages. Those with a serious passion for “bar food” will no doubt gravitate towards the crispy chicken wings with choice of sauce, burrata flatbread with oven-roasted tomatoes, and crispy ham & cheese croquettes with Romesco sauce.
Soups/Salads/Appetizers ($14-$19) include velvety Maine lobster bisque, chopped salad with creamy Dijon vinaigrette, jumbo lump crab cake with spiced carrot and pickled papaya slaw and wild mushroom risotto. Burgers, Sandwiches and Main Dishes ($18-$58) include Scottish salmon with braised leeks, BBQ Berkshire pork ribs, grilled lamb chops with spiced eggplant bryani, rib eye steak sandwich “Philly style” and the mother of all grilled cheese sandwiches – grilled & smoked prosciutto and robiola on crunchy rustic peasant bread. A bevy of burgers include the famed Gotham burger with crispy shallots, cheese and bacon; a juicy lamb burger with yogurt and tapenade and a grilled burger with avocado and tempura onion rings.
Desserts ($9), overseen by the talented pastry chef Joshua Gripper, round out the offerings with sweet sensations including cream-filled doughnuts with raspberry jam and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. “For this kind of setting and the lounge’s menu style, I definitely embraced the classics and kept things simple,” offers Gripper. “For The Lounge, I wanted a small dessert menu but one that definitely hit all the right notes with our diners and provided a fitting complement to John’s food.”
The bar boasts an impressive array of spirits, a signature cocktail list and an unbeatable wine list. In fact, The Lounge sits adjacent to the resort’s temperature-controlled, two-story wine room with more than 12,000 vintages from all over the world, curated by the Fontainebleau’s sommelier, David Mokha.
The Dining Room at Gotham Steak, seating 200 and located downstairs from The Lounge and accessible via elevator or stairs, serves a complete dinner menu of modern American steakhouse fare including signature dishes such as the melt-in-your-mouth,
5 lb. bone-in Cote de Boeuf and various certified prime cuts as well as Florida’s freshest seafood; a diverse list of raw bar selections and a number of beautifully-executed composed dishes. For the ultimate private soiree or business function there is a private dining room, which seats up to 40, with a behind-the-scenes look into the open kitchen, as well as the option of dining on the patio area, which overlooks the VIP pool and main pool deck and also serves as Gotham’s cigar and cognac lounge.
Gotham Steak is located just off the lobby inside the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, 4441 Collins Avenue on Miami Beach. Hours of operation: 6 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday; ‘til 1 a.m. in The Lounge Friday and Saturday. For reservations in either The Lounge or The Dining Room please call: (305) 674-4780. www.fontainebleau.com/gothamsteak
A revered Miami Beach landmark for more than 50 years set on 22 oceanfront acres, Fontainebleau Miami Beach boasts 1,504 new guest rooms and suites outfitted with iMacs®; 12 restaurants and lounges, most notably Gotham Steak®, ScarpettaTM and Hakkasan®; two dynamic nightlife venues; the 40,000-square-foot Lapis spa with mineral-rich water therapies and co-ed swimming pools; and a dramatic oceanfront pool-scape.
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