Tag: Caffe Da Vinci

I had a Groupon for Caffe Da Vinci in Bal Harbour/Bay Harbor Islands and it was for $20 bucks worth of food and wine. I walked in there and I immediately knew that I wouldn't even be able to have one glass of wine with a house salad for that price but that is okay, I am not complaining because I think this place is worth a visit Groupon or not in the equation. I arrived and the waiter immediately acknowledge me, well..., it is 5:00 pm in the afternoon, it is early and I am here alone.

cesar salad

House Cesar Salad

I ordered their Cesar salad. I comes described as "authentically prepared & served with parmigiano cheese & croutons." The price tag at $9 is not bad but when you see how tiny it is, then the salad, to me, is priced too high. I have to say, one of the best Cesar salads I had in the entire city.

Peperoni Arrostiti al Basilico

Then I ordered peperoni arrostiti al basilico which pretty much translates into roasted peppers marinated with fresh garlic ( and oh yes, I can testify on that, I don't recall how long ago was I ever chewing on garlic chunks, I know I did back in the day in college when I used to work at an Italian restaurant in North Beach, San Francisco), but I have not since those days had an entire garlic chunk in my mouth but now 10 years or so later I worry about talking to people and having garlic smell, that's so awful. Anyways back to the peperoni arrostiti al basilico, it also had basil, anchovies and olive oil. It was a good dish I must say, although I would have preferred that the peppers would have been roasted over firing wood. I wonder if they buy them in cans or they actually make them themselves. I will ask the waiter but I am sure he is not going to like my questions, he'll feel I am getting too much into the details... I am already writing on my IPad as they serve me and I think about 3 people came to the table already to check up on me...

Caffe da Vinci is a good spot, clean, the staff is on it, the place is located in Bal Harbour/Bay Harbor Islands which makes it a more calm scene than the once I am used to in South Beach which thank god for neighborhoods like these ones in Miami, I am kind of tired of the noisy South Beach lately...