Bagatelle Miami: Bringing More Bubbles To The Beach

Ah, Bagatelle. While I have never attended one of your wild champagne brunches, I fell in love with your cuisine in New York City. So when I was invited to check out your brand new Miami Beach location, I shimmied out of my bikini and into three-inch heels faster than you could say "crudo de Madai et pastèque" (or not, depending on how well you speak French).

The dish follows an emerging culinary theme this spring of thinly sliced fish heavy on the citrus and various geometric accents, comprising Madai snapper, watermelon cubes, japelepño, and espellette pimento. Another citrus-packed dish of the sea, the ceviche de fruits de mer, is sharp and tangy, made with cilantro, bell peppers, corn, and aji rocoto. To balance it out, we tried the gnocchi truffles a la Parisienne, made with truffle sauce, parmesan, and some crunchy, cheesy bits. I inhaled this like it was a calorie-free Krispy Kreme, and later learned that it's made from the same dough, pate a choux, that they use to make pastry in France.

Of their new location, owner Remi Laba said that, at one point or another, all of Bagatelle's clientele converges in South Beach.

"Miami Beach is a vibrant city with great events such as Art Basel, Ultra Music Festival, Boat Show, and Swim Week with a "joie de vivre" that our brand embodies," he said. "New, exciting developments like Edition Hotel, Faena, and more that will make this area very bubbly."

We were also fortunate enough to sample executive chef Matthieu Godard's filet mignon sauce Périgueux and cedar wrapped Florida red snapper, served with quinoa tabbouleh, avocado espuma, and tropical sauce vierge.

Dessert was a decadent hazelnut chocolate crisp served with chocolate ganache; ricotta panna cotta served with macerated strawberry, tomato, and lemon rose sorbet; and a jar full of warm, sweet, fluffy Madeleines, otherwise known as one-bite, powdered sugar-dusted pillows of heaven.