Chow: Blue Collar, A First Look
By John McCartney
Getting it right from the start is tough, especially in the restaurant business. When you open for the very first time to paying customers, you have to be on the ball. I usually never go to a restaurant on the opening week. Everything will be predictable. Servers going over their newly scripted lines of BS, timing issues with the kitchen, a stressed out poorly dressed floor manager, and the interpretation of the food will probably not be executed in the right way. It takes time to get into the right rhythm. It seems by the end of Blue Collars first week of business, Chef Daniel Serfer and his staff has found theirs.
This casual American eatery houses itself in the former American Noodle Bar space, in 67th block of the Biscayne Corridor. Its taken some time, but Biscayne Blvd. might finally be making the come back we have all been waiting for. The space is quirky, parking for maybe 3 to 4 cars if you’re lucky. All the additional spaces are taken by the guest, from the hotel that the restaurant is attached to. It would seem most of the hotel patrons are renting by the hour. So be patient and you’ll get a space.
Make your way inside and you’ll find a small blue and gray dining room, with 10 or so tables. The only décor in sight was a few vintage lunch boxes on the wall. Remember, we are here for the food, not a million dollar David Rockwell design. After sitting down you can be more then entertained by watching the cooks hustling through dishes, and expediting them out of the open kitchen. Did I mention there are only 2 of them, including Chef Serfer?
Take a hard study of the menu. One will quickly see that Chef Serfer really poured his heart and soul into it. He makes his presence known to his customers. He himself brought an amuse of Potato Pancakes with homemade applesauce to the table. Thanks Chef, get back in the kitchen, you have a packed restaurant! We came with 6 people for lunch and ordered family style. Starters included Shrimp and Grits ($11) golden buttery grits, giant chunks of crispy bacon, New Orleans BBQ Sauce, and perfectly poached pink shrimp. This tasted so much better then it was described on the menu. Pork and Beans, a real bargain ($7) a meal in it self. Berkshire sausage, white beans, fried egg and grilled toast. Looked like breakfast to me, but I hear they are opening for brunch…so it’s a keeper. Out of the five salads on the menu, the Zero Anchovy Cesar ($6) was the one we went with. It was a standard Cesar with Romaine, Garlic croutons, Parmesan cheese. Just had no anchovy.
During lunch they have a burger and sandwich menu with six different options. We ordered three of them to share. The Grouper Po Boy ($13) fried grouper, homemade tartar sauce, on agolden round bun. The fish was delicious. Battered, fried and perfectly tender on the inside. The Chef informed us that at night, it is served like fish and chips. I think that is a better fit then the sandwich. Philly Cheese Steak Greg’s Way ($13) I’m guessing Greg likes it with rib eye and homemade cheese whiz. I got a thing with cheese whiz, its called “Whizout”. Now on to the breadwinner, The Big Ragout ($13) slow roasted pork, veal, brisket, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, on a crusted sesame seed roll. Man o Man this is going to make these guys famous. I dare to say that it may have been the best sandwich I’d ever had.
Veggies anyone? Check the Veg chalkboard! Every side dish on the menu is a vegetable. All of them the same price. ($4) The ones that stood out were the Spaghetti Squash with butter and Parmesan, and this really taste like it sounds. Yellow Curried Cauliflower puree, a little heat on this one so watch out, and the curry is definitely there. Warm Bacony and Vinegary Potato salad. This one had grain mustard and again those giant bacon chunks. Another table favorite were the Sweet Caramelized Brussel Sprouts, so good your kids will eat them, at least mine did. Besides that little bacon bit, a vegetarian could potentially walk in the place and have a smorgasbord for under twenty bucks. Go get ya some of that.
For dessert we ordered the Berry Cobbler ($6) with seasonal berries and vanilla ice cream, it was solid. An eye pleasing Butterscotch Heath Bar Bread Pudding ($6) Challah Bread, and chili spiked whip cream. The recipe had to of come from somebody’s grandmother.
The best way to sum up this experience is to point you in the direction of the place. I used lunch as my starting point of becoming a repeat customer. What? No not what. Go! The Blue Collar is also open for dinner 7 nights a week and the menu looks exciting.
Blue Collar, 6730 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33138 (305)-790-5196
Nice work Chef Serfer!