Reviews Are In For Two Italian Newcomers

This week at the Miami Herald, its restaurant critic Victoria Pesce Elliott reviewed Brickell's Moyé and was impressed. Highlights of her meals included pastas that are, "beautifully handled, including tender spaghetti loaded with seafood," the house-made burrata and the vegetable flan, which she deemed, "a must-try with its smooth, custardy texture."

The only flaw she could find was, "that in a few dishes, plates are made to look pretty, but the food is not as fulfilling or hearty as you would expect," but overall she notes that Moyé is "the place to go now" and awards it three-stars.

At the Sun Sentinel, Siena Tavern, one of Miami's other Italian newcomers, didn't fare as well. Its food critic John Tanasychuk didn't seem phased by the restaurant's "celebrity" chef Fabio Viviani saying he wouldn't be able to point him out if, "if we were the only two people in my dentist's waiting room."  What impressed Tanasychuk was the restaurant's signature waygu meatball, the beef tartare and the chopped salad.

As for his many of his other dishes, he notes that they were served cold and under- or over-cooked, having him note that, "all this unevenness made us realize we didn't need to stay for dessert." Overall he gives the restaurant two stars adding, "Siena Tavern may eventually get it right. But I can think of at least a dozen places in South Florida where you can have a much better Italian meal. At least two of them are within walking distance from Siena Tavern."

• Moyé captures the foods and flavors of Puglia [Miami Herald]
• Fabio Viviani's Siena Tavern lacks star power [Sun Sentinel]