Traveling through Italy can change the way you look
at an Italian menu by revealing how particular regions of the country
provide the essential ingredients that make everything taste so good!
South Beach foodies flock to the quieter west side of the city to enjoy
the soulful regional Italian entrees and carefully edited wine list at
Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante. In many European wine regions, an enoteca
is a wine repository where local vintners bring their best wines to make
it easier for travelers to discover new regional pours. Sardinia
embraces this concept by collecting Italy's smaller labels and offering
them to guests as part of a popular monthly wine series or as
specialized pairings with lunch or dinner.
Escape the buzzing Ocean Drive strip and discover
the residential sections of the city where locals gather to enjoy the
daily happy hour from 5-7pm and take 50% off the entire wine list every
Tuesday. Sardinia's selection of antipasti, smoked meats and cheeses
pair perfectly with any sundown sip. To encourage sampling new vintages,
wines are offered in a quartino, an osteria-style presentation that does
not require the purchase of an entire bottle. Guests can craft a tasting
platter of house-roasted vegetables, imported cheese and piquant olives
or linger over entrees prepared in the wood-fired oven.
Partners Pietro Vardeu and Antonio Gallo have
crafted a cozy clubhouse atmosphere on a quiet South Beach street that
has gradually become one of the hottest dinner districts in the city.
Capturing the flavors of Sardinian cuisine, the house specials of roast
branzino in a salt crust, tender suckling pig or savory rabbit ragu are
not the usual menu staples found elsewhere in town. Summertime fare like
distinctive house-crafted pasta, crisp flatbread style pizzas and
grilled baby octopus taste like a visit to the Italian shore. The staff
is friendly and well informed about the food and wine which makes it
easier to taste new things each time you visit.
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