Wade and Haslem's new 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen is hot

I have to admit, watching Dwyane Wade stroll in to his new restaurant 800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, followed by his co-owner, fellow Miami Heat teammate and close friend  Udonis Haslem was pretty cool. Then when they took the time to stop and chat with everyone at each table, well that was a total slam dunk.The media preview dinner was a star-studded evening filled with plenty of food samplings from the extensive menu. Watching the staff in the open kitchen making pizzas and preparing all the other wonderful food we sampled was exciting too.They say right on the menu "Our Food is Meant to be Shared" and I can see why. Portions are substantial which is why they brought out full portions so we could all share family style. That's what made the night so much fun. Sitting around a table, digging into these dishes with fellow food writers who all love a good meal was a great experience. I had to pace myself because they brought out a good amount of appetizers and it was really difficult to not finish every single one. They doled out UD's woodfired wings with Calabrian chile and gorgonzola dip, La Frieda grass-fed beef meatballs served with grilled bread, fresh fish ceviche and tuna tartare. A slider version of DWade's woodfired burger served with bacon, truffle cheese, heirloom tomato, roast garlic aioli and red oak lettuce was delicious but I could only take a few bites. Remember...pacing myself.Once we were seated the food kept on coming and once we'd sampled a few more items, Wade and Haslem both came by our table and spent time shaking hands and taking selfies. They were personable and humble enough to ask for our honest feedback, a refreshing thing from two NBA Champions.Here's what was served family style at the table, truly one delicious dish after the other.    First was a selection of appetizers, including the spreads and crudite with skordalia, eggplant, spicy feta and crispy vegetables served with warm pita, woodfired whole cauliflower served atop a golden beet tahini and a woodfired whole jumbo artichoke topped with pecorino and a side of lemon butter for dipping. We also tried their traditional chopped salad, crispy and topped with oregano vinaigrette and the Greek tomato salad with heirloom tomato wedges, peppers, cucumbers, red and white onions, a salty wedge of feta cheese and sharp Greek olives.  The menu then moved on to a variety of main dishes, pizzas and a few sides. The honeycomb lasagna for two, named that because the presentation resembles a bee's honeycomb, was cheesy and tasty. The roasted chicken, served with a Peruvian green sauce and roasted vegetables was perfection. We were also served several pizzas and my favorite was the tarturo topped with wild mushrooms, truffled pecorino, roasted garlic and arugula. Mushrooms and truffled cheese? That's all I needed to hear. Seriously. As if that weren't enough, out came a few sides and dessert. We had the elote creamed corn with jalapeno, cotija cheese and cilantro (another of my favorites), along with oyster mushrooms with serrano creme fraiche and furtiake and for dessert their key lime pie.I know, I'm stuffed all over again just reading this, and dreaming of course of the tarturo pizza and elote corn. They officially opened on Sept. 20 and with a menu like this, Aventura's got it's newest hot spot.800 Degrees Woodfired Kitchen, 2956 NE 199 St., Ste. c-3, Aventura, 305.902.4363