(Michelle) This week on check please South Florida seafood and pasta merge in Miami.

Everything was incredible for me.

Traditional South American dishes are served.

The portion size is amazing.

And an exciting Wynwood menu makes its debut.

I mean, the ambiance.

It's another world.

Definitely.

(Announcer) Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

Additional funding for check please.

South Florida is provided by George and Helen Weaver and the Friends of South Florida PBS.

I was like, wait, if Tennessee was a drink, this is it.

Everything was meant to be a certain way and it was beautiful.

It just tasted very light and milky and delicious.

Nice food, spicy food.

And the beignets were the best.

Honestly, like the best shot I've ever had.

Hello, I'm Michelle Bernstein and welcome to check please South Florida, the show where regular people from all over South Florida recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So this is how the show works.

Every week we have three guests.

Each recommends his or her favorite spot, and then the other two go to check them out and see what they think.

This week, education consultant Christopher Palacios advises us to enjoy his picks unique and inspired.

Menu.

He says that this spot boasts fresh flavors, impeccable service and a truly inviting decor.

Get ready for an incredible meal at this beautiful Wynwood enclave!

Marketing consultant Cassoni Ruiz Leon wants you to take a trip to her quaint pick, serving traditional dishes from one of Latin America's most sought-after cuisines.

She said you'll feel right at home at this cozy pick.

But first, attorney Jerome La Torre is ready to represent the spot that has become a cult favorite.

This pick is a hip hangout offering cool cocktails and delicious food.

Get ready to enjoy the relaxed and eclectic vibe of this sure hit.

It's located in Miami and it's called Jaguar Sun.

(music) Hi, my name is Will Thompson.

I'm the owner of Jaguar Sun.

Jaguar son got started almost six years ago when my business partner, the chef and I both moved to Miami at the same time to open this restaurant in this very awkward location here in the heart of downtown Miami.

Miami is incredibly exciting, right?

You know, especially the first couple of times you get here.

It's unbelievable.

I think the more you get to know the city, though, the more you see the stuff that makes it really compelling in a long-term way.

There's an incredible diversity here.

There's incredible energy.

The name Jaguar Sun comes from an Italian Argentine author named Italo Calvino, who was working on a collection of short stories his entire life.

One of them is called Under the Jaguar Sun, and it's about taste.

It's actually about two Italians in Oaxaca, and we happen to be a somewhat Italian restaurant, and I use a ton of Mexican spirits tequila, mezcal, rum.

I think our menu is very much a product of need.

We had two big needs in this space, right?

One is to convince people to come into, you know, this admittedly somewhat awkward lobby tucked away in a difficult to find part of downtown.

You know, there's not a ton of parking, so there's a lot of barriers to entry.

We needed a menu that was going to really speak loudly to folks and kind of, you know, if they saw a picture of a drink on, on Instagram or, you know, heard their friends talking about it, it would really feel like they had to come see us.

Jaguar sun wants to be the world's best cocktail party.

(Michelle) Oh my goodness, Jerome, you have no idea how many requests we have gotten.

I don't think we've ever gotten this many requests for any restaurant and bar like Jaguar.

Well, that's great to hear.

(Michelle) It is, isn't it?

My wife and I discovered the restaurant several years ago, and it's just been one of our go to spots for date nights.

(Michelle) Cassonie what did you think when you first went to Jaguar?

It had definitely that hideaway, you know, underground bar, feel lounge.

So don't you feel good about (Michelle) yourself when you finally.

Yes.

It was so exciting.

Christopher, you fell in love.

I'm so happy that you recommended this place.

Because now I know that I'll always go there.

And I'm happy that it's a staple in Miami.

(Michelle) So we need a lot of time.

Um, in fact, I asked to double this episode because, Jerome, you ate so much that we needed an extra half an hour just to talk about.

Yeah, what he ate.

So let's go.

Let's jump into it.

Let's start with Parker House rolls.

(Jerome) Oh, the Parker House rolls I mean (Michelle) which I think you all.

(Christopher) Oh, I had them.

(Michelle) Yes.

You all had them.

(Christopher) Yes.

(Jerome) Yes.

That's a must get.

(Michelle) And they're made fresh.

And every time they go out they're hot and fresh and almost crisp but creamy and, and.

(Jerome) They come with this like a honey butter type spread.

That's just butter.

Oh my goodness.

It's just perfection.

And then.

(Michelle) Carpaccio beef.

(Jerome) Well we did the beef carpaccio I have been going to Jaguar sun for years.

And they used to have beef tartare.

(Michelle) Yes.

(Jerome) But it wasn't on the menu.

So I asked the waiter, you know what happened?

Because that was one of my favorites.

And he said, you know, I almost look heartbroken.

I was heartbroken because that's that was one of my go to dishes there.

And so the waiter, he said, you know, we do actually have it.

It's a secret menu item.

We prepare a certain amount every day for long, Long-time customers.

Exactly.

So I ended up ordering the beef tartare.

To me, it's one of my favorite beef Tartars on the planet.

It's amazing the sourdough bread that it comes with.

Perfectly prepared.

(Michelle) Christopher, what did you have?

(Christopher) I started with the Parker House rolls, which were of course, delicious.

And then I had the pasta.

Had the agnolotti.

Yes.

It was so delicious.

The crab and the corn.

It's just a perfect mix.

I love that mix in general.

And crab and corn.

Are very good together.

It was phenomenal.

(Michelle) Cassonie.

(Cassonie) definitely the Parker rolls that.

That's a must when you go there.

And I actually had the little gems and that was really good.

(Michelle) It's basically like a little romaine.

(Cassonie) Correct.

(Michelle) Salad.

Yeah.

(Cassonie) The salad was excellent.

The seasoning, the avocado in it, it was just amazing.

I mean, you can just have the park rolls in that and you're good.

You know, it was like it was really good.

As for the drink, I had a margarita.

It was happy hour.

So, you know, he kind of offered the server was excellent.

You know, you can't go wrong with margaritas.

It's okay.

So but definitely I mean, I would definitely go back for the Parker rolls and the little gems.

It was excellent.

(Michelle) Okay.

You had a foie gras.

(Jerome) Yes.

(Michelle) Didn't you?

(Jerome) I did the dessert actually.

(Michelle) It was a foie gras dessert.

(Jerome) which was interesting.

I didn't even know they did that with dessert, but it was a foie gras.

(Michelle) Goose or duck liver, just FYI.

(Jerome) Right Which to me, it was.

So it was surprising to see that as the dessert, but it was like a passion fruit mousse with strawberry and then foie gras like, sprinkled on top, which.

(Michelle) Like a snow, right?

(Jerome) Yeah.

It almost felt like it was like crust.

Like a crust on top.

(Michelle) Oh, like a crumble.

(Jerome) Like a Crumble.

(Michelle) oh maybe They made the crumble melting foie gras.

(Jerome) I guess that makes sense.

I think that's what it was, because it was more of like that.

And it was a perfect mix.

It felt like I was eating like a pie mousse type dessert.

(Michelle) well tell me about the very, very strong baby.

(Jerome) Very strong baby.

(Michelle) Oh, I can't believe that's the name of a drink.

(Jerome) And it is very strong.

Baby.

It is.

It's Mexican rum with strawberry Campari.

Yeah, it packs a punch.

It's definitely a great drink.

Well, they do be careful with.

Those, I guess.

Yes, they do warn you with that.

But their cocktails are amazing.

(Michelle) How did you all find service?

(Cassonie) Service was good.

I mean, the server was very helpful and he made sure we knew everything that was on the menu.

I can't complain about the server.

He was excellent.

(Michelle) Okay.

How were the prices?

(Jerome) I thought the prices were great.

Everything is under $30.

Um, and they have a happy hour every day from 5 to 7, which is nice because you can even hit it on the weekends.

But I think it's reasonably priced.

You can get in if you if you can get in.

Yeah.

Reservations.

Yes.

Yes, very much so.

Make a reservation.

Definitely.

(Michelle) Well, Jerome Jaguar sun was your pick.

Sum it up for me, please.

(Jerome) Uh, laid back speakeasy with some of the best beef tartare on the planet.

(Michelle) Cassonie.

(Cassonie) Definitely Parker rolls and the gem.

That's it.

Okay.

That's it.

(Michelle) Christopher.

(Christopher) Go there now.

It's delicious.

(Michelle) For a top-notch dining experience, you can visit Jaguar Sun.

Located at 230 northeast fourth Street in Miami.

They're open daily for dinner.

Reservations are accepted, with the average price for dinner without drinks is about $50.

(Music) (Michelle) So some people find duck or goose liver called foie gras.

Kind of daunting.

I find it exciting and delicious.

If you love foie gras and if you always wanted to try to make it at home, I'm going to teach you how.

If not, just watch me.

It might be entertaining.

All right, so I'm going to take a little paring knife.

This is foie gras in France.

Normally it's goose liver here in the States it's duck liver sliced, beautifully cleaned.

Go ahead and take a knife.

And I like to score it.

We chefs love to do that.

It's very simple to do.

Just take the knife in one direction into little slices and then the other go go through the foie gras to deep.

All right.

Next I'm going to season it heavily with salt.

Before I sear it, let me go ahead and turn on the heat.

I have a cast iron pan with me today, but you can pretty much cook it in anything.

I have a little bit of my favorite orange marmalade, a little dry Spanish sherry, not sherry vinegar, dried Spanish sherry, the kind that you would sip.

Not sweet though, by the way.

Um, just some segmented pieces of oranges and mandarins and then a hint of lemon in case you feel like it got a little cloyingly sweet.

You can add a little bit of acid brioche to eat it with.

What we're going to do is place the foie gras score side down.

Into the pan.

And we will start hearing the sound of searing now while it's upside down.

I'm going to go ahead and take this moment to season the other side of the faue.

All right.

So pull that out of the pan.

I'm going to lower this a little.

This might cause a little bit of a flame.

I'm going to carefully add a little bit of dry sherry, so be careful.

This might light up, although sherry doesn't have much alcohol.

Never mind.

Oh, I love fire.

Okay, so I'm going to add all that dry sherry to it.

I'm going to add just a nice spoonful of orange marmalade.

I'm going to add now the fresh orange to this a little bit of that fresh orange juice.

Now remember I only seared the foie gras on one side.

So now to heat it back up I'll place it back in the pan with the seared side up.

I'm going to go ahead and remove the foie gras from the pan.

Place it onto my dish.

Gather some of this gorgeous sauce and orange segments and just spoon it right over the top of our incredibly rich foie gras dish, and then top it with some of this Maldon salt.

Keep that sauce for later, because it would be beautiful with your next duck breast or pretty much anything.

And there you have it.

Seared foie gras.

We are very luxurious today.

Enjoy.

Bon appetit.

(music) (Michelle) Now marketing consultant Cassonie Ruiz Leon would like to present all the reasons why you should pay a visit to her pic.

Serving traditional Colombian food in a homey and picturesque setting, this spot will warm your palate with all the right flavors.

It's located in Miami and it's called Pueblo Colombian Restaurant.

(music) Hi, my name is Daniel Yepes I'm the owner of Apollo Restaurant here in Miami, Florida.

The restaurant started 23 years ago.

It was an idea that my mom and my uncle at the time, they came together, and they wanted to bring something that wasn't there at the time, which was a very traditional mom and pop type of restaurant in Colombia with affordable prices.

We are from Medellin, so our flavor comes from that part of the Colombia, but we try to feature dishes from all over the country.

So we have dishes from the Caribbean, from Bogota, from Medellin.

But it has like that Medellin flavor that little touch, as the name suggests.

My pueblo, my town.

We wanted to bring that to Miami.

So bring a little piece of Colombia.

And as you can see, it's reflected all over the place with the balconies, the windows, the colors, you know, they're very like very vibrant and colorful scheme.

And the idea is that is that when you come into the restaurant, you feel happy and you feel connected to your country.

Usually when people come here, they come obviously for the food, but mostly because of the service.

We made sure that everybody feels treated like they're at home.

My Pueblo restaurant is warm, cozy, traditional and good.

(music) (Michelle) Tell me a little bit about me.

Pueblo.

Well, definitely.

You walk into the picket fence, you cross that and you just walk into Columbia.

Everything they have, the decoration and everything you get that feel, that homey feel.

And definitely the welcoming.

It's like you're walking into somebody's home.

(Michelle) Jerome, you really fell in love with this place.

I did like she said.

It's very welcoming.

When you walk in, we are able to be accommodated immediately.

Uh, they sat us.

I brought the whole family.

My mother-in-law, my wife, my kids.

Oh, that's nice for a Sunday brunch.

And I was afraid it was going to be crowded, but it wasn't, um, it was full, but we were able to be seated, and, um, the portion sizes.

Amazing.

We definitely.

We definitely brought a lot of food home, I have to say.

And the juices don't leave that place without ordering some of their fresh juices.

(Michelle) Oh, great.

(Jerome) The passionfruit, the mora and the lemonade.

Oh.

(Michelle) What did you think Christopher when you walked in?

I came, right, uh, soon after work, and it was easy to get a seat.

The people were very nice.

Everybody was very welcoming.

And I sat in a little cool little, uh, patio style.

It seems like you're outside, but you're inside in the restaurant.

Okay.

(Michelle) So tell me what you had to eat this last time you went.

(Cassonie) This last time I had the ceviche, the chicharron, which is the fried pork belly.

Then they cover it with pickled onions, red pickled onions.

So that kind of breaks up the fat and the cuts belly.

Right.

So they're little bite sizes, crunchy.

And then with that juiciness.

Yeah.

So that's very good.

Then we ordered another huge appetizer.

It was just meats piccata.

So they have you know these arepas which are the corn fritters.

They have tostones which is, you know, the fried plantains.

And then they have like a steak, chicken sausages, all different types of meats.

So that's kind of to share.

(Michelle) And then you had.

(Cassonie) A main dish.

La Bandeja paisa okay.

Which is very traditional.

So there you have the white rice, you have the beans, you have the steak.

If you choose that you also have an egg and you have sweet fried plantains.

It’s definitely a lot of food.

It's something that you can actually share.

(Michelle) Jerome tell Me a little bit about some of the dishes y'all had that were standouts.

(Jerome)Well, we also ordered the ceviche.

The chicharrones delicious.

Very good.

It came with some arepas pitas.

So we use that to kind of make little.

You can make eggs filled with chicharron.

Yeah, exactly.

(Michelle) That's really yummy.

(Jerome) We ordered some empanadas for the table and they were prepared perfectly.

So they filled with ground beef.

And sometimes when you order empanadas, they come out a little hard.

Uh, these were perfect.

Soft and excellently prepared.

Main dish.

You had a bandeja bandeja paisa.

Well, actually, I had the bandeja me pueblo, which it's the same thing as a bandeja paisa, but it just brings a Spanish sausage as well.

Instead of.

(Michelle) Be careful with that one.

Yeah.

(Jerome) Uh, the bandeja paisa.

(Michelle) There you go.

And you had one of my favorite dishes.

And your last dish, you had a sancocho, right?

(Jerome) The sancocho.

(Michelle) But it was not a chicken sancocho.

(Jerome) I think it was the the rest of Costilla.

Aha.

Exactly.

(Michelle) Which are pork ribs, which is kind of like a soup slash stew, ajiaco kind of thing, right?

With all kinds of vegetables and brothy.

And yes, the ribs must have fallen apart.

(Jerome) Oh, yeah.

Delicious.

Perfectly prepared.

That was my my wife's dish.

She shared that with my mother-in-law, and, yeah, they devoured it.

(Michelle) Delicious Christopher tell me what you had.

(Christopher) I had that mosquito which was delicious.

And it came with rice and the red beans and a touchstone.

(Michelle) And for those that.

Don't know what Churasquito means.

(Christopher) It's like a it's.

Churrascos churrasco.

Steak, but it's a smaller one.

It's a smaller.

(Michelle) Anything with ito means little.

Yeah.

It sounds like there's a lot of value to the food here.

Is that correct?

(Cassonie) That is correct, definitely.

It's very it's home cooking.

Yeah.

You feel it?

(Michelle) No doubt.

How's the service?

(Jerome) The service is great.

They're very accommodating.

Portions came back quickly.

All the dishes came by quickly.

We have any questions?

They were immediately able to answer anything we had.

But yeah it was very, very, very friendly.

(Michelle) Cassonie mi Pueblo Colombian restaurant was your pick.

Sum it up for us, please.

(Cassonie) Definitely a homey, cozy family place to go to and just kind of transport you out of Miami.

(Michelle) Jerome.

(Jerome) Colombian comfort food with large portions.

You're definitely going to bring some home.

(Michelle) Christopher.

(Christopher) If you want to have a down home experience in Miami and you want and you love Colombian food, that's the place to go.

(Michelle) You can enjoy authentic Colombian fare at Mi Pueblo Colombian restaurant located at 10910 West Flagler Street in Miami.

They're open daily for lunch and dinner.

Reservations are not accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $35.

(music) (Michelle) And finally, education consultant Christopher Palacios is ready to escort you to his sleek contemporary pick.

He says their creative menu and exciting Wynwood location will keep bringing you back.

Get ready for a good meal and time at DOMA.

(music) Hi everybody.

My name is Luca Lomonaco.

I'm the owner of DOMA in Miami Wynwood.

The idea for DOMA came around 2015, and that's when I thought that it was like a need for, like a higher end Italian cuisine in Miami, a little bit more modern Italian interpretation.

The reason why I chose Wynwood is because I thought it was going to give us a little more flexibility in terms of like trying to do food that was a little bit more forward thinking, not something that wasn't like the typical Italian American.

DOMA in Latin means at home.

So that's everything that is behind our philosophy.

Our professional culture is try to cater a service to the guests that it's efficient at the same time, but friendly.

What I would love is that they really perceive that this is a different type of restaurant, where the care is expressed and that they feel the need to tell their friends, you know, that's what we've always been trying to focus on, to be the type of place in which are proud to tell your friends you're proud to recommend for me, the essence of the restaurant is that it's a place for everybody.

It's a place for special occasion, casual occasion, and it just embodies, like a typical restaurant in which you can feel comfortable to come, like for every day of the week, all the time.

(music) (Michelle) Tell me a little bit about DOMA.

I know so little about it, and I know I've driven by it so many times.

Well, you really need to go because DOMA is it is quintessential Italian.

High end Italian is delicious.

It is inviting.

It's an experience that you will not get anywhere in Miami.

(Michelle) Cassonie What was your first impression when you walked in I was blown away.

Really blown away.

I mean, the host, they had two hosts.

We didn't have a reservation.

That was interesting and they immediately accommodated us.

The people walk in and the host hug and kiss them like they.

It's like it's this family coming in.

It was very, very welcoming.

I mean, they took care of us immediately.

You know, you get your chair pulled back to be seated.

I mean, the ambience is it's it's another world, definitely.

(Michelle) Jerome.

(Jerome) Definitely a chic ambiance also very welcomed.

And we walked in, uh, the floor manager greeted me with a handshake, which is not common when you're going into restaurants.

So that was a it was like a VIP experience bringing us to the table, and we were seated immediately.

Um, beautiful space.

We were seated right next to like the wine room.

Um, but yeah, it's very posh.

Nice interior.

(Michelle) Tell me a little.

Bit about what you had.

There's a lot of food in this restaurant, so.

Yes, bring it on.

(Christopher) So the great thing is that they start off with a little welcome treat for everyone.

So I had an arancini ball that has a pistachio aioli underneath our engineer.

Little rice ball.

Yeah.

The little risotto balls.

Yeah.

It's a little rice ball.

It's a one little bite but it's just perfection.

Then I had a drink.

I had the 305, which is Miami, in a glass.

I had the meatballs as an appetizer.

The meatballs are really cool because it's not your traditional meatball.

It has a blend in it.

So you get a little bit of spiciness to it.

(Michelle) And it.

Has a sweet provolone cheese.

A provolone cheese on it and melting with a little bit of an oil.

It's a it's on a bread.

Everything there is intentional.

It has a small basil leaves with little drops of oil on every single bite.

So you just get the right amount of food, the right amount of taste in every little thing that you eat there.

So that was delicious.

(Michelle) Jerome, do you want to tell me about your food?

(Jerome) We ordered the calamari.

The calamari was my favorite.

It was.

Everything was perfectly prepared.

It was just a bit salty for my taste.

Okay.

Um, and the portion size was a little bit small compared to traditional calamari orders from other restaurants.

But that was the only lowlight of the evening.

Everything else was perfect.

(Michelle) Let's keep going.

(Jerome) We ordered the cacio e Pepe pasta.

That's what I had.

(Michelle) And it has.

A pepper sauce.

(Jerome)Yes.

Oh my goodness, that was delicious.

Some of the best al dente pasta I've ever had in town.

(Michelle) All right, talk to me, girl.

(Cassonie) Well, I.

Started with a drink.

It was the Wynwood tracks.

Wynwood tracks.

It was excellent.

I like sweet, I love passion fruit.

Vodka, mango vodka and fruit.

Yes.

So that was excellent.

The presentation, like they say, I mean, everything has its detail.

And I had the saffron risotto with the osso buco.

Um, and that was spectacular.

(Michelle) Tell me a little bit about Pricings.

(Jerome) Uh I thought pricing was was wasn't bad for the quality of the ingredients that you're getting.

(Michelle) Well, Domo was your choice.

So give me a summary, please.

(Christopher) You'll be grateful that you've had a wonderful experience.

If you take a bite, there is.

(Michelle) Cassonie (Cassonie) Definitely somewhere to go.

You feel the elegance and the ambiance was spectacular in.

The presentation is definitely going with the flavor.

(Michelle) Jerome, you want to sum it up for me.

(Jerome) Italian cuisine with a winwood remix and some of the best al dente pasta in town.

(Michelle) For a satisfying meal at one of Miami's coolest neighborhoods.

You can visit DOMA, located at 35 northeast 26th Street in Miami.

They're open Monday to Saturday for dinner.

Reservations are accepted where the average price for dinner without drinks is about $60.

(music) (Michelle) We've had a wonderful time and I want to thank my guest, Jerome Latour, Christopher Palacios and Cassonie Ruiz Leon for more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, visit us at checkpleasefl.com and as always, find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on check Please South Florida.

I'm Michelle Bernstein and I'll see you then.

Thank you everybody.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

(music) (Announcer) Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

(music) We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

(music) (upbeat music) (Michelle) This week on check please South Florida seafood