The spicy grilled shrimp at 1 Bleu restaurant in the Regent Hotel. Photo: Emily Harris.
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The Big Review: 1 Bleu *½
By Victoria Pesce Elliott
No matter how good the food is, an empty dining room is a depressing place for a meal. At least at 5-month-old 1 Bleu, sweeping ocean views of Haulover Beach distract from the tumbleweeds blowing between the widely spaced, white-clothed tables. And apparently, through the kitchen. The much-touted, Cordon Bleu-affiliated eatery opened with Gerdy Rodriguez at the helm, but the hopscotching chef (Red Fish Grill, Norman's, La Broche, Café Sambal, Mundo, Karu & Y) was quietly let go in late June.
The kitchen has been limping along with no one at home on the ranges, and it shows. The menu still bills such out-of-season items as white asparagus, Homestead tomatoes and spring garlic. Still, with such alluring descriptions as spicy grilled shrimp with exotic fruit salad and Moroccan-spiced rack of lamb with celeriac puree, there would seem to be plenty of choices.
A foamy, glowing-green mojito offered as an amuse bouche in early July was so sour it made us wince. Plus, it was impossible to get out of the elegant little shot glass without a spoon, and none was provided. A Hawaiian yellowfin tuna carpaccio was fresher and more flavorful last month than last week, but still a decent way to start a meal, even with a soggy truffled potato chip. We also got complimentary deep-fried Manchego and ham tasters topped with perky micro greens on that visit, but nothing more than bread and butter on the next.
The spring garlic soup with escargot was weighty, with plump and chewy grown-up snails buried in a thick, khaki-colored roux. Organic field greens in a strong sherry vinaigrette are fresh enough, but not worth the $13 a la carte price. Sides like gummy Parmesan risotto ought to be better at $12 a shot. A velvety if over-sauced osso bucco is served over tasteless long-grain rice dotted with overcooked veggies. It arrived a full half-hour before my companion's fish -- extra time apparently devoted to defrosting the aging grouper and overcooking it into oblivion.
A petite grilled filet mignon is properly cooked but otherwise unremarkable. What did merit conversation were the waits between courses, which exceeded 30 minutes in some cases. We filled our time by studying the dreamy top-hits wine list, where by-the-glass selections ($8-$23) and half bottles make for a fine experience even with a more-than-healthy markup of 3 to 4½ times. And we had no complaints about the surroundings, with table settings of gorgeous china, Wedgwood silver and Riedel glasses.
The lovely tableau is presided over by a skeleton staff of genuinely sweet waiters, some of whom showed laudable grace under pressure, offering free glasses of wine and desserts as the delays dragged on.
A fridge-weary yogurt pannacotta with raspberries is dainty on the tongue but more like spa fare than an indulgence, and a complex dish with skid marks of chocolate and mounds of mousse looked more framable than edible.
1 Bleu at the Regent Bal Harbour, 10295 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour; 305-455-5400; 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. daily,
6-10 p.m. Sun-Thurs, 6-11 p.m. Fri & Sat; appetizers $16-$27, entrees $18-$34, sides $12, desserts $10-14
FYI: Full bar; corkage $35. Valet parking $10 with validation. AX, DN, DS, MC, VS
Published: 8/08
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