velliott@MiamiHerald.com

Michael Minas Bourbon Steak is a coup for South Florida foodies -- at least those with wallets or expense accounts fat enough to cover tabs that effortlessly top 150 bucks per person. It's one of a dozen restaurants by Mina, an award-winning San Francisco chef with a reputation for keeping standards high as he has expanded his brand.

The meats, which climb the stratosphere to $30-an-ounce, A-5 grade Japanese Kobe beef, are uniformly exquisite. Huge cuts of incredibly rich beef, lamb and chicken are slow poached in seasoned butter, olive oil or duck fat, then seared on wood-burning grills.

I am hard pressed to recall a more succulent steak than the buttery American Kobe rib-eye I sampled on a recent Saturday night -- simple, juicy and expertly grilled with only a head of roasted garlic and a few gorgeous shallots for company. Then again, there was the luscious prime rib, the Kurobuta pork short ribs and the New York strip I tried on a previous visit.

Mina's signature, market-pricey lobster pot pie ($85 the night we dined) can easily feed two with its sweet, shimmery hunks of shellfish in a smooth, brandy-spiked sauce. The crust is rich and flaky enough for a dessert.

Equally rich sides include an enormous bowl of macaroni and cheese dotted with tiny broccoli flowers and pea-size flecks of black truffles, an earthy spinach soufflé with Parmesan cream, fantastic crab cakes with sweet tomato preserves and a signature potato puree three ways.

And don't forget the duck-fat french fries three ways: doused in smoked paprika and fresh herbs, served with coordinating dipping sauces. They make any meal better.

Its not all about fat. Deceptively simple salads include touches like artisanal Great Hill Blue cheese that elevates a simple Bibb lettuce wedge with avocado and smoky bacon.

Though I thought Id never again bother with tuna tartare, here it soars with a dash of sesame aioli and baby pine nuts. A fantastically fresh and silky miso-glazed cod luxuriates on layers of wilted bok choy and tender caps of shiitake mushroom. Delicately sheathed scallop dumplings complete the dish.

The wine list, put together by Mina Group wine director Rajat Parr, is an oenophile's equivalent of a Tom Wolfe novel -- extensively researched, historically relevant, mouth-watering and hard to put down.

The graciously designed space just off the lobby of the Fairmont Turnberry Resort is also a step above almost any other room in town, with plush carpeting, well-spaced tables and top-of-the-line linens and tableware. Woods, glass, golds and towering walls of wine combine to dramatic effect. (We could have done without the schizophrenic soundtrack of funk, hip-hop and old Blue Eyes that disturbed the peace on one visit.)

With no view or tropical elements, however, the restaurant might be anywhere. When it comes to the food, too, you might as well be in Detroit or Scottsdale, Ariz. (home to other Bourbon Steaks). Ingredients are mostly shipped in from Northern California and as far away as Japan, and the menu is a slight modification of the one at Mina's Vegas Stripsteak.

That not-of-Miami quality is a plus, however, where service is concerned. The rigorously trained servers are cordial yet utterly professional, knowing when to stand back, when to approach and how much to explain.

South Florida gets a nod on the dessert menu with a creamy Key lime cheesecake that's as light as fresh-spun laundry. A puffy pair of beignets with velvety butterscotch pot du crème infused with 18-year-old Macallan scotch is as over-the-top as it sounds.

Opening executive chef Andrew Rothschild didn't last, and David Mullen (Ritz Carlton, Palm Beach) was tapped just last week to take over. The turnover makes the superb quality all the more impressive. Bourbon Steak has my vote for best steakhouse in town.

Reviewed on May 1, 2008