Foodie Find: Le Jardinier
Insiders have always known the Design District restaurant was a dining destination but now with a Michelin star, it’s shining even brighter
Miami – and restaurant Le Jardiner, in particular – is heading into the first high season after being recognized by the culinary authorities known for awarding Michelin stars. Just weeks ago, as the summer sun shone, the French reviewer for the first time explored our city and bestowed upon 11 establishments its globally renowned and potentially fate-changing symbols of ingredient quality, flavor mastery and cooking technique.
Insiders have always known Le Jardiner in the Design District was a dining destination but now with a Michelin star, it’s shining even brighter. The guide calls it “Stylish from head to toe,” saying “this dining room is a celebration of the seasons. The menu is a study of vibrant tastes and smart compositions that pack big flavor minus the heaviness.”
Le Jardiner translates to “the gardener” in French but it doesn’t serve vegetarian fare exclusively. Rather, menu items are driven by plants, meaning Chef Alain Verzeroli starts with seasonal produce and designs the dishes – meats, fish, grains and seasonings – around those fresh finds. His techniques are French.
For example, on one occasion the burrata was surrounded by summer peaches and more savory tomatoes. The tuna tartare rests on an avocado bed topped with crispy root vegetables, radish and a spicy drizzle. The flatbreads are piled with produce such as avocado, endive and crunch for walnuts. A fresh mushroom harvest inspired the Wagu beef and artichokes were simmered with farro to create a risotto the chef prefers to top with truffle.
For lunch, a prix fixe menu offers three courses for $55. Start with the likes of a golden beet salad with goat cheese and cocoa nib granola or rabbit and wile mushroom terrine with herbed greens and walnut raisin bread. The main course can be house made tagliatelle with sweet pepper sauce, corn and maitake mushrooms or European sea bass with chimichurri, cipollini onion and fennel salad.
Brett Graff is SocialMiami.com’s managing editor and has been a journalist covering money, people and power for over 20 years. Graff contributes to national media outlets including Reuters, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Maxim, and the PBS show, Nightly Business Report. A former U.S. government economist, her nationally syndicated column The Home Economist is first published in The Miami Herald and then on the Tribune Content Agency, where it’s available to over 400 publications nationwide. She is broadcast weekly on two iHeartRadio news shows and is the author of “Not Buying It: Stop Overspending & Start Raising Happier, Healthier, More Successful Kids,” a parenting guide for people who might be tempted to buy their children the very obstacles they’re trying to avoid.
