The Joe Allen team decamps to the Design District at Cafe 46

Hadley Henriette3/11/2012

The Goods: Nine months after Joe Allen’s closed on Purdy Avenue, its spirit has been reborn across the causeway at Café 46 thanks to former J.A./SoBe managing partner Mario Rubeo and fellow veterans Vinnie Rubeo and chef Nicolas Paulino.
 
Ambience: Café 46 welcomes locals to its obscure location off Northeast Second Avenue and 46th Street with acid-stained concrete floors, pseudo-Oriental chairs and a small street-side patio buffered by a trendy podocarpus hedge.
 
The Grub: American comfort food in the style of Joe Allen’s. Menu highlights include steamed mussels with ginger, roast Muscovy duck breast, meatloaf with mashed potatoes and banana cream pie. A low-key brunch adds brioche French toast, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and $3 mimosas and bellinis. Prices are fair -- generous mains range from $12 to $27 and desserts are all $6.
 
Verdict: Miami’s kings of consistency have returned to reclaim their title.