This past Tuesday, I was invited to experience the Miami
Spice Dinner and Bianca Live at Bianca
Italian Restaurant at the Delano in Miami Beach. I don’t venture out to
Miami Beach too often, so it was a great reason to leave the mainland. Bianca
at Delano opened January 2012 in the old Blue Room space and the space has
been redesigned to give a simple, cozy and warm inviting welcome. The décor is
creams and light woods, and dim lighting for the romantic fuzzy feeling. Bianca
has the warmth that the pretentious Blue Door lacked.
The regular menu and Miami Spice menu offer simple yet
dramatic Italian dishes. Nothing seems to be overwhelming or too rich, and
believe it or not, light Italian food does exist! I learned that Bianca
features local and organic ingredients and participates in the Slow Food Miami Movement
(supporting local communities, farmers and school gardens). From my knowledge,
and quick google search, not many restaurants in Miami, let alone Miami Beach,
participate in this movement. It’s amazing to see that Bianca is recognizing
the movement of Miami that so many of us are trying to participate in: growing
business organically (no pun intended) and supporting our local communities. I
hope this inspires other Miami Beach establishments to think and act locally
and organically. How amazing would that be to show visitors that we really are
a city who acknowledges and values our local partners!
We sat in a cozy corner section of the restaurant and the
staff was friendly and attentive. The Alex Fox Trio played Spanish flamenco
music in the background which adds to the ambiance and warmth of Bianca. The
Miami Spice menu offers a few items in each section. As such, making a decision
was pretty hard as I really wanted to sample everything!
Starters: We began our meal with three appetizers- Fonduta
Di Tartufo (grilled country bread, drizzled with olive oil, truffle shavings and
a fondue of fontina cheese), Burrata & Prosciutto (creamy, creamy
burrata!), and Zucchini Flowers (lightly breaded, flash fried zucchini fingers
stuffed with tomatoes, cheese and basil).They were all tasty but in order of favoritism,
the Zucchini Flowers and Fonduta Di Tartufo won my vote!
Dinner: I ordered the Veal Ravioli. I
had to pace myself when eating the appetizers as I thought the Veal Ravioli
would be a heavy pasta dinner. The Veal Ravioli is in fact the opposite of
that! The plate arrives with 6-7 raviolis in a light crème sauce with smoked
ricotta and toasted bread crumbs. Each and every bite was decadent, full of
flavor and just amazing really.
Dessert: Our first dessert was the White Truffle Gelato Cones with shaved
summer truffle. I can’t say I loved this. I kept sampling it and trying to
figure out if I loved this, but I couldn’t get over the truffle in my gelato
taste. So to fill our dessert void, we switched out the Gelato and tried the
Dolcetti Misti dessert sampler. Best decision ever! The sampler comes with
biscotti, warm fresh doughnuts with a chocolate sauce, canolli and tiramisu. As
indulging as those all sound, the samples are a perfect bite size to tease and tauntillate
your taste buds, and not worry about unbuttoning your pants!
Miami Spice runs until September 30th, and Bianca
at Delano offers the lunch spice menu Monday-Friday, and the dinner spice menu
Sunday-Thursday. Tuesday nights are Bianca Live with live music by Alex Fox
Trio. If you’re not able to make it for their spice offerings, go anytime for
lunch, dinner or the insane Sunday Brunch party, you will not be disappointed!
Bianca at Delano
1685 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Bianca changes thier menu often and the best way to stay connected is via theirr social media outlets.
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August 1-September 30 starts the beginning of the Miami stay-cation tourist season. We take time off to spend our last summer days in our hometown..enjoying boat days, prepping for Back to School, beach days, etc. I love taking stay-cation days in Miami during the week to go around town and do things I don't always have a chance to do (eat lunch and dinner at some of the best restaurants in town). I can't say we go out to lunch and dinner ALL the time. I tend to make cameo's at some happy hours, then I go home and cook dinner, or order in. Throughout the remaining months of 105 degree weather, we like to venture out and sample some of Miami's best spots. Maybe it's the whole prix-fixe pricing that gets us on board, either way I am excited!!! (However, I am not excited that all this rich food sampling will lead me to longer sessions at the gym!!! The things we do for food....
