Egg & Dart Delivers on Apps & Wine; 1.5 Star Scalina Disappoints

Lee Klein says "mezze and wine are the way to go" at Egg & Dart in the Design District. "It is a clean, contemporary space with a subtly upscale feel — a way to dine on Greek food without having to worry about plates being smashed or ouzo-crazed tourists dancing on tables." After a spate of successful appetizers, Klein surmises that "We weren't nearly as smitten with entrees." Dessert, however, "very much impressed." Bottom line: "A Greek feast indeed — and Egg & Dart is a nice place to have one." [MNT]

Victoria Pesce Elliott checks out Scalina at One Miami downtown, "boasting a veteran chef who worked at a New York Italian hot spot" (Scalinettella). Along with the views and the "pricey menu," Scalina "starts to sound awfully familiar," following the "same formula used by the team next door at Il Gabbiano." Lunch service was good, but dinner's was another story. "Our dinner server’s biggest concern seemed to be how his hair looked in the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling windows. (Had he looked a little lower, he would have noticed that the zipper of his wrinkled black pants was at half-mast.) He neglected to give us the Miami Spice dinner menu and rolled his eyes when we requested it." About the food, though: beef carpaccio was "competent," paglia e fieno was "tasty," veal slices were "tender," mussels were "fishy smelling," spaghetti pomodoro was drowned in sauce," and markups on the wine were an average of "high four times retail." Bottom line: 1.5 stars. [Miami.com]