It seems there's a new it-restaurant for every season along Miami's fashionable Lincoln Road. Fall 2008 will be remembered for Meat Market, a sleek spin on the classic steakhouse realized by the owners of nearby Touch. A polished storefront that counts retail stores like Gap and endless outdoor cafes as its neighbors, Meat Market is one of the dressiest Lincoln Road dinner addresses since the advent of nearby Quattro. Glassy double doors open to an oversize hostess podium and dazzling main dining room lined in stone floors with paneled-wood walls intersected by beige-colored subway tiles and floor-to-ceiling parchment panels. The room is divided between a rectangular Crudo bar with barstool seating and dressy dining room with freestanding white-leather booths and two long rows of banquettes running along opposite walls.
Miami seems a natural fit for the Crudo bar, a protein-packed menu of taster-size appetizers perfect for happy hour or appetizers. Standouts include a Tuna Tar-Tar with mango mole, cedar-scented Hamachi with white truffle and rice paper tuna tacos with a Caribbean twist. Those in need of more traditional appetizers discover baby escargot with fennel phyllo lid, white truffle Kobe tartar with Parmesan flatbread and buffalo fried quail eggs with blue cheese béchamel. Signature MM salad of red onion and bacon-topped baby lettuce compliment bowls of spring pea soup or corn soup. An astute steakhouse, chef Sean Brasel creates house specialties like a 12-oz fillet, 10-oz flatiron and 18-oz New York cut steak as well as a daintier 6-oz Kobe fillet. Non-steak eaters find wild African pheasant with braised chicory, beef brisket with sweet potatoes and evergreen fish of the day. Be sure to order plenty of sides, the best of which are the caramelized Brussel Sprouts, white truffle mash and green chili corn bread that's almost a dessert.
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