Stubborn Seed - Miami Beach — Restaurant in Miami Beach

Fine dining tasting menu with creative dishes in a fun lively environment, but service issues can where we were ignored halfway through our meal detracted from what could've been a stellar experience I'd expect from a Michelin starred restaurant.

Food: 4.5 Service: 2.5 Atmosphere: 4.5 Cost to worth it rating: 3 Return worthiness: yes (assuming service issues are fixed) Eve award: best foie torchon

Highlights: Tasting menu: unique, creative, complex, and a variety of high quality ingredients, Loved the attention to detail and mix of textures. -Technically 11 different items sounded like a lot but varied in portions and was just the right amount of food. Foie torchon: the best I've had. They used some Riesling for a bit of sweetness and the creaminess that came out of it was unreal. Upping the game was the crunch of pistachios in a thin bottom layer and topped with naturally sweet strawberry slices. Toast was thick and warm and a wonderful vessel to enjoy the foie with. Was mentioned it's a fancy peanut butter and jelly which was crazy yet tracked. 5 stars Striped sea bass: crispy crackly yet not fishy skin and delicate meat. Sauce around it was beautifully light and fennel onion dilly and had a slice of zucchini as the star. 5 stars Sashimi: incredible burst of flavors paired with the thinly sliced raw fish. Yuzu, starfruit, and nuac cham and a granita was a heck of a way to start things off. 5 stars Sungold tomato fruit pate: such fresh tomato flavor in a softer than gelee texture intrigued me. Bonus for the colors and presentation in a box. 4.5 stars Ricotta gnudi: manchego foam was a fun entry point to these cheesy dumplings. Loved the surprise squash pieces to balance out the heaviness and the heavenly hazelnut crunch. 4.5 stars Bread: warm olive bread with a somehow creamy feta spread was wonderful. 4.25 stars Wagyu beef tartare: very tender pieces of meat with the complexity of a kimchi spiciness via radish and kohlrabi, sweetness of a kumquat gel. and crispiness of delicate leek shreds 4.25 stars Wine pairings: some truly wonderful wines. Most notable was the Grenache. Light and smooth and surprisingly perfecr with the cheesy gnudi. Service highlight: Ricardo was the best He came in a little over halfway through to present our dishes. He was energetic, knowledgeable, and a delightful ray of sunshine to lift our mood as our experience was hitting a lull.

Midlights: Duck: enjoyed the combo of flavors will allspice and almond etc but the actual cook on the duck ate an odd combo of tough and fatty being hard to cut through and chew. 3 stars. Dessert: didn't care for the flavor combo. 3 stars

Lowlights Pacing: started out fine with the first few courses and then the time between courses was extremely long. This dragged out the experience, lost momentum, and left us with over 20 minutes several times without any wine or staff acknowledging the situation or even talking to us during the gaps. Inconsistent service: we had the bartender greeting and interacting with us at the beginning and then went mia. Thought it was odd he didn't check in or try to ease the impact of the lulls or offer anything to make our experience better. Being behind is understandable but ignoring your guests is not. Didn't get our pairing into halfway into the first main course Broccoli cheese donut: was curious about this but was so runny inside, closer to a croquette than a donut, and wasn't very flavorful. 2 stars Comms w restaurant before visiting: on the website it said you could have the bar menu at the bar. However open table forces you to make a selection for the tasting menu to reserve. When messaging the restaurant, they said the bar only has the menu. When I got there, we were only provided the full tasting menu.

Started off amazing and enjoyed most of the food, but service and lack of attention was a disappointment that didn't keep up with the rest of...

My goal of this review is bring attention to the tasting menu offered by Stubborn Seed. In my opinion, a grossly overpriced option that is feeding off the renown of its celebrity chef and in no way offers a culinary experience worthy of its $150 per person price tag.

My hope with any tasting menu is that you find something interesting that you will remember months or years after your visit. Sadly, Stubborn Seed failed in this regard.

I would like to start this review with two positives. First, the wait staff was professional and friendly. Secondly, the bar. The cocktail "Tears of My Enemies" was fantastic and the wine pairings were substantial pours for the upcharge.

Was dinner prepared competently? Yes, mostly. Was our dinner interesting and worth $150 per person? No, it was not. The main problem is the offerings were rather boring and basic for a tasting menu (please forgive me as I do not remember all the specifics of each course). "Course one", I put that in quotations because I swore this was an amuse bouche when it was brought out. One plate with a single cold-water oyster for each of us. One bite and done. I did not realize it was a course until the waiter brought out and announced our second course. This course was the menu item "Aged Cheddar and Jalapeno Biscuits". Let me remind you that this course is $8 on their menu and they added the bread and butter pickles, which is an upcharge of $8. However, the 2-top table next to us ordered this a la carte and received four biscuits. We only received two, so a $16 menu dish cut in half. Therefore, by my calculation, we are a quarter through our tasting and we have had one oyster and one biscuit worth $4 per person.

Third course. Perhaps the best offering of the evening. Blackfin Tuna Tartare. I believe this is a regular menu item normally priced at $21. Again, I want to say that is was good and prepared well, however tuna tartare with this flavor profile is available at almost any good restaurant. Fourth, medley of grilled mushrooms with green asparagus and some sort of foam. Rustic and tasty, I also enjoyed this dish. Fifth, I forget the type of fish, in broth with white asparagus (back-to-back dishes with asparagus?) The fish was slightly overcooked making it chewing rather than flaky. The broth was good. Sixth, the steak course was the standard 2-ounze cube of "Wagyu" beef with, if I remember correctly, a cauliflower puree for "mashed potatoes". Again, good, but special?

I guess they grew tired of us being there because the final two courses were dessert and delivered at the same time. The first item was a simple cream filled pastry that tasted as if it was made that morning and sat refrigerated until needed. The second dessert was a decent dessert but I believe it was a menu item that night because the table next to us; the same I mentioned before, received this dessert with a candle, I assume, free because it was her birthday.

That was it. To recap an oyster, a biscuit, and a pastry constituted 38% of our tasting menu. The remaining five dishes were fine but nothing special. They lacked any sense of originality or culinary risks. I had this all before (and is many cases better).

This is what ultimately was so disappointing; it is not the amount of money, but the value. If you give me a $50 hamburger, it had better be a darn good burger. If it tastes like every other burger I have had, why did I just pay $50? That is the point. Stubborn Seed appears on several top 10 lists for Miami dining. Perhaps culinary standards are lower there. I do not know if Jeremy Ford only gives his name to this establishment or actually trains the chefs, but if this is the best they can offer I would suggest taking your $500 meal elsewhere. At the very least only order off the menu, I figure a cocktail, class of wine, appetizer and entrée will put you at about $250 for a couple. Have an acceptable meal and...

I cannot tell you how much I loved this experience. I went Tuesday night - it's Thursday and I am still telling people about it. I'm on vacation by myself, staying in downtown Miami, and decided to pop over to Miami Beach. I wanted to treat myself to a nice dinner and I have heard nothing but good things about this place... there was an old man at the bar that arrived later -during my 3 hour stay- who said he didn't like the food...and would only get drinks. In my opinion, he has no taste.

1. Get a reservation. I did not have one. The stars aligned and with magical timing and the right conversations I was able to get in and get a seat at the bar. I also saw someone unable to be seated due to a lack of reservation. It sounds like you may be able to do first come first serve at the bar.... but there were also people with reservations at the bar... so unclear there. Get a reservation.

2. Stephen -who is behind the bar where I was seated- was amazing, makes delicious drinks, will offer you pairing recommendations and works very hard to make sure that everyone's needs are promptly met. I really enjoyed his candor and his hospitality during my 3 hours at this restaurant. It was very evident to me that he took pride in his work and wanted to make sure all the guests at the bar, as well as those seeking a beverage, had a great experience.

3. The food. I enjoyed literally everything I ate. I ordered the Chef's Surprise Tasting Menu ($150). I ate everything that was presented to me and I am still full today... I'm pretty sure the plates are to share...for a table (maybe?) 😅.... but I am on vacation....and I went all in. I do not regret my decision 😆😬...waist line might...but it'll be back in a couple days 😅. The kitchen graced me with an addition and I. Can. Not. Emphasize. Enough. How awesome and badass the chef crew is. It was lovely meeting Bryan. I liked the food so much that I wanted to hug him...but a handshake sufficed. ...I cannot reiterate how lovely this experience was. I would go dish by dish....but this would be twice as long and no one wants to read that... see attached photos. Apologies on some. I foolishly situated myself at the corner and had a light directly above me.

4. Atmosphere. It's warm and cozy. Proper amount of dimmed light...and when you start eating the delicious food everyone around you melts away.. I love the picture window into the kitchen. Dress nice-ish...its a nice place. Indoor and outdoor seating is available. Again...get a reservation. This is a good place to meet up with friends, for a first date, for an established couple...really whatever you want...I really enjoyed the decor and vibe. Everyone at the front of the house was professional and fast. Everything ran well and appeared well coordinated.

I took a menu to commemorate the experience. If you want great food, atmosphere and people...this should be a stop when you're in the area. I wish this place and all those helping to make it great nothing...