Mignonette Miami Oyster bar introduces fresh new menu items for spring. Helping stoke the fires of Miami’s oyster obsession is Mignonette, chef/restaurateur Danny Serfer’s small, charming but big-wave-making restaurant in the heart of Miami’s up-and-coming Edgewater neighborhood. Housed in a 1930’s era gas station, Mignonette has been embraced as one of Miami’s best spots for foodies, oyster lovers and visitors looking for something unique and off-the-beaten-path. At its heart, Mignonette is a place to enjoy a great beer or wine, slurp oysters, sample fine caviar, dig deep into a fried shrimp po’boy or savor one of Serfer’s beautifully-rendered main plates. Not your typical Miami locale, walking through the door is like stepping into a classic Northeastern oyster bar; as a result, Mignonette has been hailed as one of the city’s hottest restaurants since it opened in August 2014.
With spring around the corner, Serfer, and business partner Ryan Roman, are introducing several new menu items to its already extensive roster of delicacies. Whether guests are in the mood for something Plain or Fancy there are options to satisfy every palate. Plain entrees – which are anything but taste wise – include a selection of fresh fish and chicken, simply prepared with a buerre blanc sauce and choice of vegetable. Diners craving something a bit more Fancy can delight in new entrees including a slow roasted bone-in prime rib ($37) served with cheesy scalloped potatoes and green peas; and Skate cheek francese ($15) with red potatoes and capers, finished with a lemon butter sauce. Those looking for a taste of the Bayou can enjoy Skate wing ($25) with broiled crawfish and a zesty andouille maque choux. To accompany the savory dishes, diners can try the new sea bean and yellow foot chanterelle mushroom risotto ($15) along with staples such as the roasted cauliflower and sweet potato wedges. Signature Apps, such as the lobster deviled eggs ($15); clams casino ($16) and crab cake ($17), remain as a perfect introduction of what is yet to come.
Much like Serfer’s Blue Collar restaurant, Mignonette serves one of the best brunches in town. Delectable new items for weekend brunch include brioche French toast ($17) with maple crème anglaise; and a mortadella and Muenster cheese omelet (15) served with a choice of mixed greens, breakfast potatoes or fruit. Menu favorites such as the crab benedict ($18); egg salad sandwich and caviar ($28) and crab crepe ($15) can still be enjoyed with the restaurant’s signature blood orange mimosa.
A visit to Mignonette wouldn’t be complete without an order of hand-shucked, half-shells from its rotating raw oyster selection. Guests can sidle up to the oyster counter and mix and match East and West Coast varieties ranging from Kumamoto and Marin Miyagi to Standish Shore and Riptides. Those looking to satisfy their gourmet cravings have the opportunity to sample the finest caviars at accessible price points. Ranging from $50 to $90, guests can treat themselves to varieties including Siberian Sturgeon, American Sturgeon and Russian Osetra caviar. Mignonette New Menu Items Oysters, and any meal, can be perfectly paired with one of the many wines served by the glass. The extensive wine list makes finding the perfect pairing easy with a breakdown by color, style, place, food and pocket (price). Craft beers are also available on draft and by the bottle. Enthusiastic imbibers can enjoy Happy Hour at the bar Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 7PM.
Serfer, a Chef Allen Susser protégé who once helmed the kitchen at the 15th Street Fisheries & Dockside Café in Fort Lauderdale, is no stranger to oyster shucking and developing unique concepts with a focus on contemporary comfort food. After opening Blue Collar in January 2012, the restaurant’s wildly popular success allowed Serfer to venture on to a new concept. For Blue Collar’s seafaring counterpart, Serfer and Roman have taken a casual approach to gourmet seafood with creative twists on classic dishes. “Like most ideas, the concept for Mignonette was born at a dinner table from a conversation between two friends,” says Serfer. “Ryan and I were talking about what we thought South Florida needed and an oyster bar was it. We got to work, found a space and here we are. Mignonette is not about redefining what an oyster bar is. It’s about celebrating what makes that concept work and doing it right day after day.”
