Boca Food Finds: March 2014

Hello Foodie Friends,

It's been a while since (my last confession...lol) my last visit to South Beach, even though I am a native South Floridian from Miami. This time, it took having family in from Michigan and trying to come up with something fun to do with them that prompted this most recent excursion.

Since I had such a great time on my friend Grace's Wynwood tour only a couple months back, I thought this tour would be perfect to take my mother and sister in law on.

We met at the designated meeting spot just before noon and were greeted by Mierca, our tour guide. Our first of 7 stops was Bolivar, with a Peruvian-Colombian inspired menu, where we were served a glass of Colombian beer mixed with Colombian soda. The hue of this drink was a beautiful shade of rose, and given the vessel it was served in, they had us thinking we were being served a glass of wine. This combination of beer and soda was so unique and quite refreshing and paired perfectly with the ceviche and papa rellenas.

Ceviche
fish ceviche, marinated in lime and passion fruit juice

Papa Rellena
Papas rellenas is a traditional Peruvian dish, which literally translates to stuffed potatoes

Our next stop was Manolo where we were treated to the most incredible Churro I have ever experienced in my life. This magnificent creation came filled with dolce de leche and I savored it one slow bite at a time.

Dolce de leche Churro from Manolo

As one might expect on a Culinary Walking Tour, we walked; and as we walked, Mierca talked. She shared lots of interesting facts and trivia as we strolled along Collins Avenue. Mierca did an excellent job captivating the attention of our group of approximately 20. We passed by The Carlyle Hotel, where Bird Cage was filmed, as well as The Cordoza Hotel where Something About Mary was filmed. We stopped in front of the Versace Mansion where she gave us the low down on the unfortunate and untimely death of famed designer, Gianni Versace. She shared with us that the Versace Mansion is the 3rd most photographed house in the US after the White House and Graceland.

Collins Ave.

Headquartered in Miami, Burger King launched their first location with a bar right here on South Beach.

Next on our tour was a stop at David's Cafe Cuban Cuisine where we were treated to a ritual of a mid afternoon pick-me-up of Colada.

Moving right along, our next stop was at Polo Norte (North Pole) where we were treated to a vaca frita slider with chimichurri sauce and homemade plantain chips (mariquitas) with a mustard mojo sauce. Delicioso!

At Block's Pizza Deli, we were presented with a nicely packaged pocket of spinach, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, feta and pesto.

A tasty savory treat was in store for us at Charlotte's Bakery; a Venezuelan empanada filled with shredded chicken, onion and tomato.

And our final stop was at Mani Geleteria on Espanola Way, a charming tree-lined pedestrian street. We each got to pick a couple scoops; I selected the hazelnut and pistachio. They were amazing!

All in all, we had a great day, learned a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot and met some new friends. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to get a taste of this city from a true local's perspective.

If you are interested in booking this tour, or learning about Miami Culinary Tours' other tours to Wynwood and Little Havana, contact them by clicking on this banner and use this code to save $5 on each ticket.