Wynwood Kitchen & Bar.

Victoria Pesce Elliott1/25/2011

One of the edgiest and most stunning additions to the Miami dining scene, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar is a magnet for a young, artsy crowd. When it comes to real estate and art, owners Tony Goldman and daughter Jessica Goldman Srebnick are indeed visionaries. Unfortunately, when it comes to the food, I just don’t see it. My meals ranged from mediocre to barely edible. 

Chef Marco Ferraro, who also cooks at Wish, another gorgeous Goldman property, can’t seem to focus his talents. Here the menu (the same at lunch and dinner) is a disparate collection of salads, burgers, skewers, omelets, sausages, clay pots and lots of fried bar food. It’s printed on a vinyl-coated sheet the size of a tabloid newspaper that, frankly, could use a good wipe-down between customers. At least it’s easy to love the bar—if you can handle the off-the-meter decibels. It’s a perfect fit for the crowd that flocks here, especially on weekends, for the club-like vibe. We watched tables of 20-somethings pawing champagne flutes like 7-Eleven Big Gulps, tossing back tumbler-sized shots and guzzling fruity cocktails with their meals.


Ambience: Soaring ceilings and concrete floors frame dramatic murals by boldface-named artists, and the colorful façade splashed with sherbet-haired moppets and mischievous kittens by Brazilians twins Os Gemeos makes me smile. Every inch of the bar is covered with looming red and black graphics by Shepard Fairey of Obama “Hope” poster fame. Abstract paintings by Christian Awe, Dearraindrop and Kenny Scharf brighten the main dining room, making it feel more like a funky, modern gallery than a restaurant.

What Worked

• Over 40 artisanal beers listed by flavor profile, starting at only $
• Rich, complex, mocha-hued Nostradamus Brown Ale
• Moderately priced wine - 70 bottles and a dozen glasses
• Cocktails poured large & strong
A signature plate of chili-powder-dusted artichoke hearts with a yuzu mayo
• Pretentious, but fresh enough arugula and beet salad topped with raw walnuts and Gruyère foam
• Simple & satisfying retro iceberg wedge with a chunky blue cheese dressing and toasted almonds 
Warm slices of crusty baguette served on a pretty wooden platter
• A chewy, sweet and very chocolate brownie with ice cream
• An oversized Oreo cookie

What Didn’t Work

• Undercooked calamari ringlets stuck together in fist-sized clumps by their gummy tempura batter
• Inedible, bloated potato croquettes with a thick-as-cardboard coating
• Fish and chips - a single plank of dried-out cod the size of a deck of playing cards served over plain-old potato chips
• Hard to chew baby back ribs in a grainy, mahogany-tinged wet rub overpowered by cough-inducing five-spice powder
• Ridiculously tiny lamb pops
• Chicken curry hot pot - hunks of breast meat with matchstick-hard edges sharing a gelatinous sauce with flaps of pale, dimpled skin that seemed to have been boiled for hours
Mussels in a tinny tomato sauce served as gritty as a windy day at the beach
• A basic burger served overcooked and on an over-toasted bun
• Soupy macaroni and cheese was soupy
• Green beans studded with bitter garlic
• Over-seasoned chanterelle and oyster mushrooms
• A frantic, anxious, and sometimes clueless, waitstaff