Some of the best lunch restaurants are downtown and in the Design District, and unless you happen to work nearby, you usually don't hear about them. When it comes to luncheonettes, nobody pays much attention, and that's a darn shame. But not for long, thanks to DePasquale and her like. Even in Miami, when you can't always tell who's female and who's male, gender barriers are still in place. Would you care for a suggestion on a bottle of wine?" Congratulations, you've just insulted Laura DePasquale, one of the only licensed female sommeliers in the State of Florida. " "I'm sorry," said female interrupts smoothly.
When she reaches your table, you begin to order: "My date will have the seared. Spotting a female striding around the floor, you beckon to her. You explain some of the more outlandish dishes, then look around for the waitress. You open the menus and begin to discuss the food. Once inside you relax with a Cosmopolitan at the bar, and voilĂ ! - the table is ready. You score a reservation at Norman's, pick said date up in your new Lexus SUV, and then nonchalantly toss the keys to the valet when you get there. It's tough to impress the dates these days but you can do it. And we'll drink martinis here and eat fish sandwiches (okay, maybe just one, since they're currently so big) no matter who owns it, or cleans it up, or installs weird artwork, or dirties it again.
But as far as landmark bars built around banyan trees go, we'll take this one. Some glitches will always affect this restaurant: It's hard to find the neighborhood could be better the river traffic could be less noisy. It's almost like a marriage that way - love it or leave it. In fact we've seen this place through good times and bad, through Twenties' gas stations and fish sandwiches (courtesy of its first owner), through gondolas and gigantic sculptures of animals standing on each other's backs (courtesy of the previous owner). As one of the only, and certainly just about the oldest, riverfront restaurants in Miami, we almost owe it our patronage. And part of the eatery's perseverance has to do with its location. This restaurant has had more lives than Shirley MacLaine.