Johnny V - Ringing in the New Year in Style

Johnny V - 625 E Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale FL 33301
954.761.7920
www.johnnyvlasolas.com

New Year's Eve is always a fun time for Dan and me, as we've made it our tradition to spend it with good friends Matt and Kate.  And the fact that these two live in sunny Fort Lauderdale certainly doesn't hurt when it comes to ringing in the New Year.  Being that our friends are foodies like us, we always look forward to the restaurant that will make it as the New Year's Eve choice for dinner.  This year it was Johnny V's.

Atmosphere:
Located on the trendy and restaurant-clad, Las Olas Blvd in Fort Lauderdale, Johnny V's boasts an excellent location for locals and tourists alike.  And even though there are more than a dozen great restaurants to choose from right on that street, Johnny V's stands out in location (it's at the front of the strip) and also in quality (just delicious!)

Decor-wise, the long rectangular dining room is understated, modern and carries a deep red and black color scheme.  Large, dramatic light fixtures serve as the conversation pieces in this no nonsense room, and they emanate a soft, dim light that feels comfortable.  Besides the main dining room, there's also a second room tucked away in the back, directly adjacent to it.  This is where we sat, which was more than OK by me, as it felt more intimate, cozy and private. 

Food:
Featuring a unique style of Caribbean-influenced New Florida Cuisine, Johnny V's does not fall short on variety, flavor and culinary excitement.  Johnny V, who's second initial stands for "Vinczenz" has been the darling of South Florida's food scene for quite a number of years, his recognition gaining him a spot on Food Network's Iron Chef America where he competed against Chef Bobby Flay.  Quite a lot to live up to, we thought as we enthusiastically selected our New Year's Eve meal:

Appetizers - As soon as I saw that they had duck meatballs on the menu, I couldn't turn them down.  Trying this specialty previously at Ornella, I was curious about how they'd measure up at Johnny's.  Wowza - what an impression they made!  Significant in size and explosive in flavor, these hit it out of the park.  The meat was juicy and succulent, boasting an earthy quality not only from the fresh spices used throughout but also from a bed of portobello mash that served as a vessel for all the meaty goodness.  Crunchy pine nuts and garlicky pesto further dressed this dish and gave it sharpness and a bit of toothsomeness.

Our second app was a braised mussels dish that also surpassed expectations.  A mussel is certainly not just a mussel in my book.  There are mussels and there are mussels.  These fell into the second category, given their hefty shell and interior meat size.  We didn't feel like we had to eat a lot of them to get full, as just a few pieces certainly satisfied our craving.  The broth in this dish was excellent, featuring chunks of chorizo, tomato and peas, floating in a rich saffron reduction - it was perfect to dip your bread into once you ran out of mussels, which we did.

Entrees - If the apps didn't already energize our palate, the entrees certainly did.  We chose a nice variety of dishes - Kate went for the braised boneless short ribs, both guys got surf and turf and I went with the Sage Grilled Florida Dolphin.

While the only other dish I tasted besides my own was Dan's, Matt and Kate seemed very satisfied with their entrees, praising the quality of preparation and the delicious ingredients.

My dolphin fish (or mahi mahi) was delicious, but it wasn't just the protein that captivated me - it was the interesting Caribbean sides as well.  Rock shrimp plantain stuffing served with a lobster pan gravy immediately won me over.  Exemplifying three different flavor profiles, it comprised the perfect bite of savoriness (from the shrimp), smokiness (from pieces of chorizo) and earthiness (from the plantains).  Overall, the plate was expertly put together, looking like a whimsical piece of art, rather than just a plate of food.  I loved the arrangement of the baby greens and carrots, elevating the color scheme in this dish and letting the eyes do some of the tasting first.

Dan's surf and turf was also top notch, and I tried his char-grilled shrimp, which were a total treat.  Seasoned with fresh herbs and dressed with lime juice, the dish popped on your palate and stood up well against the side of fragrant truffled mashed potatoes that seemed to blow everyone away.  Next time around, I'm getting a special side order of just that.

Dessert - Although we technically didn't have room for dessert, we couldn't skip it, and chose the three berry creme brulee pot pie.  Wow oh wow! Not only was this dish again visually beautiful, it tasted amazing.  The custardy interior was zesty and fresh and didn't weigh you down.  And the crust was something else, as in something out of this world.  Made from macademia nuts and then laced with a thick layer of white chocolate, it represented exquisite decadence.  We pretty much battled over that crust and could've polished off another portion easily.

Service and Cost:
Starting a bit shaky, the service improved as our meal progressed.  We took into account the typical New Year's Eve frenzy that falls upon even the best restaurants, but overall I thought they did a nice job.  Even though our waiter was a bit eccentric, he came by quite a number of times to ensure that all was OK and that we didn't feel neglected.

Costs are expensive on a regular night but were even higher on New Year's Eve (for the same menu), which was a bit of a bummer.  Here are their regular dinner prices:

Appetizers - $10 - $21
Salads - $10 - $18
Entrees - $25 -$39
Desserts - $8 - $12

3 Mmmms

Zed 451 – A Modern Take on a Brazilian Steakhouse

Zed 451 – 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton FL 33432
561.393.3451
www.zed451.com

Part of the fun of being on vacation in Florida is getting to come back to our staple restaurants, but to try new ones as well. A newbie that we tried out this time around was a modern Brazilian-style steakhouse called Zed451, located in the ritzy shopping center called Mizner Park.

Atmosphere:
A large, dimly lit, serene atmosphere welcomed us, which didn’t much surprise me. Its stylish, minimalistic space fit in well with its other Mizner Park neighbors, which all veer on the side of elegant, understated and trendy. I immediately got a good feeling when I walked in, and curiously peeked at the impressive wine cellar room that was glassed in by large floor to ceiling windows—free for everyone to admire its extensive selection.

Overall, the space is separated into various dining rooms, breaking its large interior up and making the restaurant seem more intimate. There are plenty of large tables for groups but also a couple of smaller ones for couples. A salad, soup, bread and charcuterie area is located in the far back of the restaurant, available for all diners to take advantage of if choosing the Zed Experience.

Food:
You’re confronted with 2 choices when you come to Zed – the all-you-can-eat Zed Experience, which comes with bottomless salad bar selections and passed meats, seafood and poultry, or you can choose to eat a la carte. To no one’s surprise, we went with the former - after all, what’s the point of coming to a Brazilian Steakhouse without trying everything?

Salad Bar – One of the most extensive salad bars I’ve seen at a Brazilian Steakhouse, this one had it all – market soups, a charcuterie table, artisan cheeses, house-made breads, gourmet butters and spreads, various vegetable and fruit salads and other prepared specialties.

I went back twice to refill my plate with all sorts of goodies, but the items that stood out to me were the tomato soup, the beet salad, a plum salad with a red wine reduction, and a fuji apple salad with blue cheese and candied pecans.

The soup in particular was hearty and thick with a hint of fiery spice. I liked that the soup station had a fixins bar where you can add extra cheese and chives to the soup, which I did. In terms of a veggie course, the beet salad was an excellent choice, combining both red and yellow beets – one was sweeter than the next and soaked in a tangy vinaigrette, further embellished with goat cheese and crunchy pistachios.

The fruit salads were also excellent, the plum being sweeter although a tad on the crunchy side, which was great. A red wine reduction gave it some thickness and a lovely syrupy quality with an almost dessert-like taste. On a similar note, but quite different in taste, the fuji apple salad was more zesty and clean-tasting with a tinge of richness from crumbles of blue cheese and added crunch from candied pecans. Yum!

Passed Meats, Seafood and Poultry – This is where our dinner got really interesting, as servers came around with large hunks of meat, seafood and skewers of poultry, carving them on to our plates and coming back as many times as we asked them to. Ahhh…that’s the life…

My favorite proteins included the char-grilled buttermilk sirloin, rotisserie beef roast, Moroccan chicken and the Linguica pork sausage.

The sirloin was deliciously juicy and tangy, marinated in a buttermilk ranch dressing that gave it tons of flavor to the point that it didn’t need any sort of dipping sauce. The rotisserie beef roast was essentially a brisket, which had an earthy rosemary seasoning in the form of a dry rub. I loved biting into this delicious cut of meat that separated fiber by fiber, lacking any sort of guminess.

Non red meat options included the Moroccan chicken, which was marinated in a sweet/spicy concoction of honey, cinnamon and chili powder. The latter ingredient certainly kicked up the spice but in such a way that I couldn’t wait for the second round to make its way on to my plate. The other non-meat choice, the Portuguese Linguica sausage was also spicy, injected with cayenne pepper and then fire grilled – a perfect choice for a diehard pork fan.

Service and Cost:
While our server was pleasant and easy going, he lost our drinks order, delivering them about a long half hour after ordering. Instead of giving them to us on the house, which I think he should have done, he apologized but was then on his way.

Our meat servers however were excellent and even struck up a conversation, one of them explaining that in addition to serving the meat, he also prepares it. I thought this aspect was super cool and I looked at these guys with a new-found respect.

Costs are expensive but definitely worth it for a quality treat and an unforgettable meal. We had a 50% coupon off the entire bill (excluding alcoholic drinks) that we found in a local newspaper. The coupon is good until 2/28, so if you come across it you can still use it.

The Zed Experience - $44/person
A la Carte - $8 - $31
Sides - $5 - $8

3 Mmmms