Eating House

• Cuisine(s): New American
  Hours: Sun, Tue-Sat 6:30pm-1am
  Price: $$$ $$$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Vegetarian Friendly, Wheelchair Accessible
  Serving: Dinner, Late Night
  Alcohol: Beer/Wine
• Reservations: Not Accepted
  Parking: Meters

Description

The menu is a nightly changing compilation of 12 to 15 plates of food and three to five desserts. There is no specific ethnic motif, with the bill of fare laced with nuoc cham, red curry, chimichurri, Korean barbecue sauce, fried chicken, and French onion soup. If there is a theme that binds, it is fresh, locally sourced ingredients and a hefty handful of dazzling creativity from chef/partner Giorgio Rapicavoli. Everything is tasty here, but the best dishes have a jaw-dropping deliciousness and distinctiveness that strongly hint at Rapicavoli becoming one of Miami's most acclaimed toques. His rustic pasta carbonara -- with toasted bread crumbs, a hint of truffle oil, thick smoky bacon, and an organic egg yolk -- is the best rendition in town. Fried chicken thighs with buttermilk waffles and candied bacon likewise sets a new bar, as does a salad of ripe Homestead tomatoes with Asian accouterments and frozen coconut milk. There's a lot to like about Eating House -- the cool-without-trying-to-be-cool ambiance; the friendly, knowledgeable, and generally efficient service spearheaded by partner Alex Casanova; and more-than-fair prices (most plates $7 to $15, four or five larger composed plates $20 to $25). But the real magnet is that rare chance to dine on eye-poppingly good food prepared by a chef who is clearly on the ascent.