Chotto Matte turns one, throws itself a party
And what a party it was! The Japanese/Peruvian fusion beauty just off Lincoln Road turned one and it was one helluva party. I remember the first time I dined there after they first opened, I couldn't find the it because the restaurant's name was in plexiglass on a white wall. Well, the letters are now sharp black, plus I knew where it was because Chotto Matte is hard to forget.
We had no idea the feast we'd be in for with cocktails and an incredible menu tasting served family style. I loved the yellow/goldish balloons that were carefully nestled into netting for an eventual celebratory drop.
Gotta start with the cocktails which included the Fuji highball with Suntory toki, mint, soda water and edible flower; the Mama Rose with Hayman's gin infused with cucumber, wasabi and roses and the Nikkei Old Fashioned with banana infused Santa Teresa 1796 rum, orange blossom and honey poured over chocolate.
Now...take a deep breath...because this one's a doozy. Remember, they were celebrating a year open so, they were very generous with their samplings, the variety was truly immense. Here goes:
Sweet potato and yuca chips with guacamole and yellow tomato salsa to munch on, followed by shrimp spring rolls with shiitake and shiso ponzu salsa, shishito peppers and Nikkei gyoza with pork, shrimp and cassava served on aji amarillo (yellow pepper sauce) and sweet potato puree.
But hold on, there's more, because their menu is quite huge (don't be overwhelmed when you go there, just keep calm) so we also had...
Beef tataki in a smoked aji panca and passion fruit salsa and ceviche with branzino sashimi, sweet potato, Peruvian corn, cilantro, chive oil and citrus sauce. From the Robata Grill chicken miso with carrot, daikon and yellow chili salsa and marinated and smoked lamb chops with cilantro and Peruvian chili miso.
They also brought out an immense amount of sushi and sashimi plus rock shrimp tempura with huacatay and butter ponza and the Classic Tostadita with tuna sashimi on a corn crisp with jalapeño, cilantro and wasabi.
All of that, which we gladly shared, was followed by a decadent dessert platter with various flavored mochi, Peruvian chocolate cream served in a fancy dessert glass and brulee de la passion with almond cake, aji amarillo and guava sorbet.
We watched the balloon drop and then it was time to roll ourselves out of there but we were happy to do so!
Chotto Matte, 1664 Lenox Ave., Miami Beach 305.690.0743
