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Traymore Restaurant and Bar at Metropolitan by COMO, Miami Beach 2445 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140 A contemporary seafood restaurant |
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by Simone Zarmati Diament photos: SFG When a new venue such as the Traymore Restaurant and Bar at Metropolitan by COMO hires Sergio Caceres, the former F&B manager at db Bistro Moderne in downtown Miami, as the hotel’s restaurant and bar manager, they mean business. The newly opened Metropolitan by COMO, Miami Beach hotel, the Singapore-based hotel group’s first venture in the United States only aims for the best for their quaint 78-room hotel with a state-of-the-art spa and a seafood restaurant. The Executive Chef is Jonathan Lane, the former Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas and New York and at Benny’s Chop House in Chicago, the Executive Pastry Chef is Portuguese-French born, Emmanuel Alves, and the company lured Spanish-born Javier Beneytos from the five-star Grand Luxe Villa Magna Hotel – a member of Leading Hotels of the World – to become the Hotel general manager. The seashore property, once a hospital during WWII, had remained empty for decades but is now alive with modern design, good food and a center stage bar. This is Miami’s first ‘Gin Bar,’ I was told. It not only offers up to 40 different brands of domestic and international premium gin, but a vast selection of seasonal cocktails, non-alcoholic fruit cocktails and low-calorie cocktails, along with spirits, wines and a signature menu selection of small bites prepared by Executive Chef Jonathan Lane. While the wine list presents no quandaries, the menu is enticing with offerings of fresh raw seafood platters groaning with oysters, crabs, shrimp and lobster, grilled seafood dishes like the fork-tender and typically Mediterranean Grilled jumbo octopus with potatoes, olives and salsa verde ($16) or beautifully seasoned and well-balanced salads such as the Salad of buttery Maine Lobster with blood orange, watermelon radish and treviso ($20), as well as a good selection of entrees. From the tempting offering of seafood stew and Garganelli with Peekytoe Crab, zucchini, mint and chili pasta ($24) or Olive oil poached Halibut with sunchokes, broad bean, olives and lemon ($28) , I picked a perfectly cooked, succulent Whole Roast Lemon Grouper ( $40 for two) with a side of broccoli rabe and another of Brussels sprouts sprinkled with roasted and crunchy slivered almonds. While there are plenty of vegetarian choices and for the meat lovers a Char grilled dried aged New York Striploin with bone marrow butter, roast shallots and red wine butter sauce ($38), I opted for an item on the COMO Shambhala Cuisine menu – the refreshing and zesty Asian-inspired Chilled Soba Noodles with raw Yellowfin tuna, seaweed and avocado ($16). The Shambhala menu developed by the COMO Group’s Executive Chef, Amanda Gale, uses organic and locally sourced ingredients, natural sweeteners and no dairy, to boost concentration and energy, and balance blood-sugar levels. So the food is delicious and good for you too! It would definitely be sinful to leave without a couple of fruit-based desserts by master chocolatier and Executive pastry chef Emmanuel Alves: i.e. the sesame crusted crunchy cannoli with passion fruit cream and mango salad or the fruit paste stuffed macaroons with berry salad, or citrus-flavored ice creams and sorbets. Guests can also enjoy an outdoor bar menu – a selection of seafood bites, salads, pastas and brick oven Pizzetta or the COMO Shambhala Wellness Juices ($9 each) , an exclusive menu of more than a dozen cold-pressed natural juices designed to replenish and rejuvenate – served throughout the day at the hotel’s poolside cabanas. This is a place to go for those who want a delicious dinner in a peaceful, quiet (for the time being) and beautiful setting.
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friends will too.