FIU Hospitality School is a local, somewhat hidden, gem. The school is largely responsible for the South Beach Food & Wine Festival and is a highly regarded hospitality school.
The hospitality students hone their craft at a working on-campus restaurant which is open to the public weekly throughout the academic year. They take turns working the kitchen and the front of the house. Chef Mike Moran oversees the students at both the restaurant and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. He will usually visit diners at the lunch, and he radiates with pride for his students.
I was recently invited to a round table lunch with some other area food writers and bloggers. The interior is conference room-bland, but the students’ earnest and gracious demeanor helps convince you that you are in a fine dining establishment. Miami needs more of this gracious, un-smarmy hospitality.
The lunch is a three-course meal with a choice between two entrees. Diners also get house-made bread, house-made iced tea, a glass of wine, and coffee or tea. Past menus included entrees such as duck confit with dirty rice and orange gastrique, tostaditas of Gulf crab with guacamole, baked red snapper, Thai curry chicken with jasmine rice, and braised lamb chop with lentils and country vegetables. The first course is sometimes a salad and other times a soup.
At my lunch, the meal began with golden brown sesame seed breadsticks and vine-ripened cherry tomato and baby greens salad.
I was most impressed with the main course and dessert. I had a grilled veal chop with wild mushroom ragout and mashed potatoes. The veal was savory and unctuous, and I am a lover of all things unctuous. The potatoes were satisfying and made more delicious by the rich, brown sauce from the mushrooms. The mushroom ragout was made with thyme, bacon, garlic, shallots, leeks, onions and white wine. Everything was beautifully presented.
I was full by then, but I had to eat this amazing dessert. This photo actually shows the dessert already sampled; I forgot to take a picture before digging in. Homemade vanilla ice cream was crowned with a blackberry cobbler and streusel topping. The ice cream was delicious with the satisfying crunchy bits of cinnamon and brown sugar streusel. The cobbler was made with blackberries, tapioca and lemon zest.
For $15, this is not a Man on the Street lunch, but I think you get a very solid value for the money. The portions are hearty, service is great, and the food is of high quality. The next lunch is on Thursday, May 29. Call (305) 919-4500 to for reservations, schedules and menus.
When: Thursday, May 29 — The lunches are usually weekly, on alternating Tuesdays or Thursdays
Where: FIU Hospitality and Tourism Management School, Biscayne Bay Campus, 3000 NE 151st St (off US1). There is visitor pay-and-display parking by the library and student health center.
Price: $15 for three-course meal with bread, iced tea, wine, coffee/tea
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Thanks for the praise! The FIU School of Hosp. Mgt has always been outstanding, and one of the true “gems” of not only the university, but all of Miami!