January 02, 2012

The Tudor House Miami

This is a place I come very often. I usually sit at the bar and have a glass of wine. I take time to relax in between a whole day of running around in South Beach. As soon as you enter the Tudor House restaurant I feel welcome which by the way they have the best bartender staff in town.

The roof top is one of the most beautiful in Miami Beach by far. The design goes seamlessly with Art Deco architecture yet it has a modern feeling. The Tudor house was built in 1930 and the pool with the bar is a place you must experience.

Chilled Octopus Olive Preserves

Octopus is one of my favorite type of seafood, and I know how hard is to cook it because my mother has been mastering the art of cooking octopus for years and she makes sure that every time I am on the phone with her while I cook my octopus my mother repeats; emerge the octopus three times, one minute inside the boiling pot, one minute outside, repeat that for three time and then just through it in the water till tender.

One time I told the guy who works at Lorenzo's Market in the fish department and he told me that if I were to drop the octopus and boil the crap out of it, that it will be as tender as the one from my mom without all that extra work. I told him the story about what my mom says and I think he couldn't tolerate the fact that someone else knew how to cook octopus, well, after all, he has been selling fish all his life, so I gave him a big smile and said I will follow his tip instead. He got happy. And actually he was right. I boiled the octopus for a very long time and it was one of the tender ones I have ever had.

Anyways, back to the octopus at the Tudor house, this one was perfect. Tender still had the right consistency you would expect from a masterly cooked octopus. The olive oil sprinkled on top gave a subtle touch to the dish. I enjoyed this dish overlooking the pool on a hot summer day and I left the Tudor with a smile on my face. This is my new place, I was attended by their staff as a VIP, and believe me, I am not but that is how they made me feel and when that happens you know you are in a place where they take pride of what they do, and I see why, because they do it right.