The Early Word: Vagabond Kitchen’s New Revamp

It’s been roughly two months since Vagabond Kitchen & Bar closed its doors for a quick interior makeover and complete menu overhaul. Gone is its opening chef Alex Chang — who helped put the restaurant on the national radar with his boundary pushing cuisine — and enter was a new more "approachable" menu filled with French and American flavors by chef Roberto Dubois. So how are people responding to the change?

The Good: Miami.com’s Sara Liss seemed to like the new-and-improved menu with favorites consisting of the polenta that, "is made richer with a slow poached egg" and a duck confit that "is a nod to the partner's French origins." Overall, the menu revamp is a "simpler and more accessible approach to regional cooking." [Miami.com]

The (Mostly) Good: The Miami New Times, while admitting that Vagabond "might not serve food that makes you think" anymore, the dishes seem to still hit the spot. Its writer Laine Doss was a fan of the cauliflower steak describing it as "craveable" and the branzino as "solid." What didn’t work? The carrot risotto that "shows promise, but as it is now, it's too sweet." [Miami New Times]

The Praise: Yelper John D. updates his review saying that the cucumber gazpacho "was one of best gazpachos (maybe THE best) that I've tasted in my 72-year life." Now that's saying something. [Yelp]

The Pleasantly Surprised: Another Yelper noted that while she "usually cringe whenever I hear of a good restaurant being re-invinted, this one is a success." Her favorites included the "cooked to perfection" branzino and the "heavenly" french fries. [Yelp]