Europe Trip Cancelled to Saint Tropez:
Europe trip cancelled to Saint Tropez due to Covid-19 Delta variant. Even though I have fully vaccinated for some time now, US State Department still requires negativ covid test within 3 days of departure from any international airport. Possible replacement trip would be to Quebec City in Quebec Canada. This option only lasted a few minutes and a bit of flight search as well as hotel search. The issue with Quebec City is that the US State Department extended to boarder policy of requiring a covid 19 negative test for another month.
Solution is 5 nights at the W Hotel South Beach Miami Florida. With an awesome 745 square foot suite and amazing view of the ocean, I couldn’t resist. To top it off, my favorite restaurant, “Mr. Chow’s” is in the W Hotel and I have booked both my first and last night to eat here. The fiery Beef is to die for and there is always something new to try on the menu. The atmosphere is amazing with mirrored walls and chandeliers.
Last visit to Miami, Mr. Chow was closed due to a kitchen fire. Most of Miami was closed due to Covid-19 and to be honest a bit depressing. My trip prior to Covid-19, I really got an amazing after dinner show. One of the chefs came out and juggled pasta dough for about a half an hour and then magically, pulled his hands apart and there was about 50 strands of pasta between them.
Last year in South Beach my favorite shops were closed on Lincoln Rd. Diesel, G-Star, and a sunglass shop I can’t quite remember the name of. The sunglass shop was memorable because they would secretly discount un-discountable brands. Perhaps Cartier found out and shut them down or they were just another retail victim of this Covid-19 nightmare.
Europe Trip Cancelled replaced by South Beach Miami Florida:
South Beach offers a lot of other great restaurants such as Juvia, Jaya at the Satai, as well as Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann. Juvia is set atop a 6 story building at the west end of Lincoln Rd. The view stretches your eyes all the way to the hotels on the beach. It feels wide open and un-restained just like Juvia’s menu. Jaya at the Satai is in the middle of the ground floor and is spread out around an amazing LED lit geometric pound. The roof is retractable, so on perfect weather nights, you will eat under the stars for a enchanting experience.
Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann is a steakhouse set with an Argentine gaucho menu. The open fire kitchen offers many unique tastes. My last visit I had a Ribeye that was unlike any I have had. The whole Ribeye is smoked for 11 hours at a very low temperature. Prior to ordering the steak, the chef cuts your piece off the slab of tasty beef. My steak was then grilled to your specifications. I had to hunt for that smoked flavor while exhaling during my first few bites. This is the best part, the amount of effort that goes into such a subtle but specific alteration is remarkable.