Artfully Executed Italian Food in Miami Satisfies Travelust Urges

Artfully Executed Italian Food in Miami Satisfies Travelust Urges By Lisa Morales

Zucca Miami © Zucca Miami

Because I live in South Florida, currently a COVID-19 epicenter, I find myself nourishing any travel-lust urges with food and wine.

Cooking and baking on the weekend transport me back to the countries that I’ve visited. I research and recreate dishes from places that I’ve been and bury my cerebrum in wine books and bottles. However, when I want a “trip” to Italy, I dream about past lunch hours at Zucca Miami. This upscale restaurant is on the ground floor of the Hotel Saint Michel located in the heart of stately and historic Coral Gables. The interior design is refined and the ambiance and menu exude Italian charm and sophistication.

Like many restaurants, it’s been a tumultuous summer for Zucca Miami. To begin, when Miami’s mandatory shutdown ended late April, Zucca Miami posted a video on social media

announcing its plan to protect both their staff and patrons. Guests returned and all seemed good until the Miami’s COVID - 19 cases spiked. As a result, the county Mayor announced that dining indoors was prohibited and Zucca Miami (that does not have a patio) had to close again. It was heartbreaking.

Zucca Miami’s Head Chef, Manual Garcia was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. He began his culinary studies with well-known Chef Marc Provost at the Le Petit Bistrot de Jacques in Venezuela. He would later continue his training in France and worked at the Two-Star Michelin restaurant, L'Espérance under the guidance of Chef Marc Meneau. Chef Garcia continued his career at Mostassa in Le Meridien Barcelona before settling in Miami. Prior to becoming Head Chef at Zucca Miami, he worked for twelve years at Casa Tua in Miami Beach.

Chef Manuel Garcia re-creates iconic Italian dishes with mastery. In fact, Zucca Miami’s catchphrase says it all: “Authentic regional Italian. Artfully executed.” From the delicately fried, zucchini blossoms that burst with a warm filling of mozzarella (Fiori di Zucca) to the houseprepared ravioli sauteed with butter and sage, and Bistecca alla Fiorentina, your tastebuds will teleport you to Italy. Be sure to save room for a shot of limoncello, espresso and dessert too!

Mangia bene e andra tutto bene! Eat well and everything will be fine, Zucca Miami – your patrons stand by you and can’t wait for your full return.

If you’re in Miami, be sure to go!

Zucca Miami

162 Alcazar Avenue Coral Gables, FL 33134 www.zuccamiami.com (786) 580-3731 @ZuccaMiami

Photos (from top): Chef Manual; Fiori di Zucca; Panna Cotta di Zafferano; Natural Zucchini Flowers All photos ©Zucca Miami

Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Sauce, Licensed stock photo

Recipe

Chef Garcia has shared his Panna Cotta with Safron and Passion Fruit Sauce recipe:

Panna Cotta (5 portions)

1 Lt of Heavy cream (40% milk fat) 9 grs. Gelatin sheets 90 grs. Sugar 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract 0.5 grs. Saffron

Passion Fruit Sauce

200 grs. Fresh passion fruit pulp 100 grs Sugar

Preparation

Put the heavy cream in a saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients except the gelatin. Mix together. Soak the gelatin sheets in water for a few minutes and then add to the mix, simmering until its melted.

Mix everything together and set aside.

Pour into individual cups. Let it cool and then refrigerate.

Fresh Passion Fruit Sauce

Pour the passion fruit puree with the sugar in a saucepan at medium temperature. Cook until the seeds separate from the pulp and you have a puree consistency. Set aside.

Leave the Panna Cotta at least 6 hours in the refrigerator before you turn each cup upside down onto a plate.

Pour with the puree on the side and garnish with mint leave on top

By Christine Cutler

He loves to cook lasagna. He enjoys cleaning and gutting fish. He uses a potato peeler and kitchen knives. He sometimes invents his own recipes. He’s cooked with famous chefs all over the world. He’s Noah Bastiani, and he’s five-years old.

I met Noah’s parents, Federico Bastiani and Laurell Boyers-Bastiani, while I was living in Bologna shortly after Noah’s birth in October 2015. Since then, I’ve been to their home many times and shared meals with Fede, Laurell, Noah, and Matteo, Noah’s eight-year-old brother. During one of my visits, I noticed that while Matteo played with his toys, Noah played with pots and pans. At the time, I thought of how I used to bang pots and pans when I was a child. Fede told me, though, that even though Noah was not quite two-and-a-half, he was very interested in cooking with them.

Noah Cooks

“Noah started showing interest in cooking when he wasn't even two-and-a-half years old,” Fede said. “Laurell and I cook a lot, and he always watched us cook, took his little chair and stood next to us and watched us for a long time.” They bought Noah a toy kitchen with toy pots, pans, and utensils, and for a time, Noah

Chef Noah cooking at home (left); and Noah with his father, Federico Bastiani (right)

played with them. “But,” Fede continued, “he always went back to the kitchen and wanted to watch us cook. At that point, we thought we'd start involving him. He was almost three-years old by then.”

Because he was so young, Noah started by cleaning the lettuce and tomatoes. Those tasks didn’t hold his attention long, and soon Noah wanted to do more. One of the first things his father let Noah cook by himself was Cod ala Livornese, an easy fish dish that includes tomatoes, olives, and capers. Because the fish was already cleaned, all Noah had to do was put the spices on the fish and cook it.

Noah’s curiosity continued to grow, and soon he was wanting to do more. He had to learn how to use a knife. Fede told me that this was a very interesting experience. “When Noah started cooking, we didn't set limits on him,” Fede explained. “We wanted to see how far a four-year old could go. When he cut the first potato, we gave him a plastic knife. Noah quickly realized how difficult it was to cut things with a plastic knife. At that point, alone and independently, he took the real knife. When he did it, I was scared, and my first impulse was to stop him. I held back.

I saw that he was very determined and confident. I let him go, and he cut his first potato with a real knife.” Noah cut himself once, but he learned how to hold the knife correctly, so accidents are rare now.

Noah Learns & Explores

Noah and Matteo attend a Montessori school where the educational philosophy focuses on manual skills and independence. As Fede told me, “In the Montessori kindergarten, they use glass , not plastic, jugs and glasses because children must learn to handle delicate things. In addition, they keep spaces in order, play, and put things back in place. In the same way, it is important to keep the kitchen in order to find things and clean up everything when you finish.”

When COVID prevented the children from going to school, the kitchen became more important in Noah’s educational experience. "Cooking was a way to learn math. He learns subtraction (when you throw the pasta and you have to count the minutes left) and learns the decimals (learning to use the scale). Certain movements of his hand help improve manual skills which is then useful for writing. “Furthermore, cooking is also important for developing language, expanding one's vocabulary —knowing the varieties of vegetables, meat, dairy products. Above all, it is important to make him understand how long it takes to prepare food, and that teaches the concept of time. He learns logic because in the kitchen, you have to remember the sequences of the ingredients to compose the recipe. Order is important.”

But, Noah’s education didn’t stop there. Fede and Laurell used cooking to teach Noah about history. “We started the Noah The Food Explorer series where Noah explores history through the kitchen. A professor from Penn University taught Noah what they ate in England in the 17th century. Noah went to the Egyptian museum to find out what the Egyptians ate. A history professor taught him some recipes that the Romans prepared.”

And, not long ago, Noah and Matteo accompanied their parents to Dozza, a hilltop village in their region of Emilia-Romagna. While they were there, the grandmas of the village taught them to make tagliatelle and tortellini in

Photos (Clockwise from upper left): Matteo & Noah learn pizza-making skills at Rossopomodoro; Noah cleans shrimp; Noah at the Egyptian museum; Noah learns about cleaning fish at Pescheria La Cravette in Bologna; the nonne of Dozza teach Noah & Matteo to make pasta.

the Romagna tradition. It was not only a lesson in cooking but also a lesson in tradition and culture.

Noah Asks the Chef

During a visit to South Africa where Laurell grew up, the family visited Chef David Higgs, one of the country’s best-known and successful chefs. The huge kitchen fascinated Noah.

Back home after the visit, the pandemic made it difficult to go shopping. The family decided that Noah would video-chat a famous chef, open the refrigerator, and decide what they could make with the ingredients that were in there. A number of international chefs—including Higgs, Dominique Crenn (owner of San Francisco’s three-Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn), Vicky Ratnani (Best Indian Chef 2015), Cosme Aguillar (owner of Michelin-starred "Casa Enrique” in New York City), Michele Massari (owner of the

Photos (Clockwise from top left): Noah and Chef David Higgs, Chef Luca Giovanni Pappalardo, Chef Wandile Mabaso, Chef Masen, Chef Shiva, and Chef Emma Sintes.

La Lucciola in New York), and Chef Jerrelle Guy (author of Black Girl Baking from Florida)— participated.

Noah Teaches

Next fall, the Noah Cooks project will become an educational book for both children and parents. Fede explained that they wanted to show that the kitchen can be a learning tool for the growth of children.

“Noah is the testimony because we see him grow day after day. The kitchen has given him a lot of confidence; if he makes a mistake, it happens. He just has to do it all over again. At first, he is a bit frustrated, but then he understands. For this, we intervene as little as possible because we want it to be a self-learning process.”

The learning, Fede told me, was not limited to Noah. “I would like to say that it was a tool to

Recipe

Chef Noah shares one of the first recipes he cooked by himself.

Baked Sea Bass

Sea bass Garlic Coarse salt Pepper Parsley Cherry tomatoes Lemon

Preparation

Clean the fish. Chop the tomatoes and parsley. Mix them with garlic (whole or chopped), pepper, and salt. Stuff the fish with the mixture and a slice of lemon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Connect with Noah:

Noah Cooks 2015 Facebook Noah Cooks Website Noah Cooks YouTube Noah Cooks Instagram

Photos (From top): Noah cleans the fish; Noah about to learn how to filet tuna at Pescheria Tinarelli Andrea; Noah learning to plate at Pescheria Nogara; Noah cleaning shrimp for dinner; Fede, Laurell, Matteo, & Noah making pasta