Portobello mushrooms were the big ugly ducklings of the crimino family until savvy marketers gave them an upscale name suggesting beauty and adventure. Now Miami has a lovely new restaurant named Portobello that features the dense, meaty morsels in several dishes.

Tucked along Miami's regentrifying restaurant row on Coral Way, Portobello Ristorante is drop-dead gorgeous with blond wood floors, peach-colored walls and a revolving gallery of artwork. A huge bouquet of calla lilies, candles in mosaic votives and piped-in music ranging from Sinatra to the Gypsy Kings complete the romantic setting.

We began with ''Portobello Ecstasy,'' described on the menu as ''our famous appetizer of the house.'' Our efficient and friendly server fills in this and other menu gaps, explaining it's a grilled portobello mushroom decked out to look like a hamburger. He's right. Portobellos form a bun enclosing slices of grilled tomato and mozzarella cheese. It's earthy and filling, densely textured yet juicy.

Other innovative combinations of textures, colors and flavors follow. A starter of calamari comes on a bed of romaine lettuce drizzled with sesame oil. Spinach salad is dressed with blue cheese, green apple slices and walnuts in a honey dressing.

There are three entrees from the sea (tilapia, snapper and mixed seafood), two veal dishes, a New York strip steak and chicken breast Florentine sautéed with spinach and mozzarella. The pasta and risotto dishes include homemade ravioli with portobellos and ricotta cheese.

My companion digs into veal limone, three generous and tender pieces served with a mound of penne in the same, delectable wine, lemon and butter sauce.

My snapper Mediterraneo is a more complex dish that's perfectly rendered. The moist and tender fish is cooked in a parchment packet in a white wine sauce with a shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, hearts of palm and mussels -- a heady brew. It comes with an unadvertised side of julienne carrots and zucchini, a garnish of impossibly light fried yuca discs and a citrusy relish.

The thoughtful wine list numbers 50 bottles with about a third in the $20-$30 range. They span the globe, from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay to California, France, Italy and Spain. We choose a mildly acidic Uruguayan sauvignon blanc at $18 that doesn't overwhelm our delicate fish and veal yet stands up to the citrusy notes of our sides.

We forgo flan and poached pear and share an enormous piece of ethereal tiramisu. Hating to end the relaxing and romantic evening, we linger at Portobello over coffee served in pretty, floral cups. Somewhere, we think a mushroom marketer is smiling, too.