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(Free-Press-Release.com) September 18, 2008 -- MIAMI-DADE REVIEW
Brazilian churrascaría has an Italian accent...

BY VICTORIA PESCE ELLIOTT
velliott@MiamiHerald.com

In a town where so many Italian restaurants are owned by Argentines, it's nice to welcome a Brazilian version to the mix. Who knew Brazil was home to more descendants of the Boot -- some 25 million -- than even Argentina?

The combination is an easy sell at Maino Churrascaría on the lonely northern edge of the Performing Arts District, even if the results are a bit uneven.

With its rough-hewn stone walls and caffe latte-colored marble floors, Maino may look like an elegantly restored Italian farmhouse, but the flat-screen TVs and shimmering onyx salad bar lend it an urban air.

The menu

is a cozy marriage of classic Italian dishes by chef Gaetano Alberto Pesce (no relation to the famed artist-architect or to me, as far as I can tell). The native of Genoa and veteran of South Beach's Paesano's produces pastas, including gnocchi blanketed with Gorgonzola sauce, that are satisfyingly rich and homey if a bit heavy.

It's worth a trip for his exquisite, baby black mussels in a rich, wine-splashed sauce with a garlicky onion and red pepper bite. Ours disappeared in the time it took our waiter to uncork the wine. Still, I am stumped as to why every dish is garnished with piles of curry powder, cayenne and flecks of an indeterminate, once-green herb.

Fresher greens can be found at the extensive salad bar, along with abundant platters of

egg salad, chicken salad, olives, roasted peppers, cheeses, brasaela, fresh mozzarella over tomatoes and loads more. It's best at lunch when the salads have just been laid out, but there are good options throughout the day. Ask for a sliver of the beautiful half-wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano full of creamy-crystally intensity -- great with the basket of hot, puffy bread.

Both are super with a glass of red wine from the young but respectable list, from a $26 Brazilian Assemblage to a $245 2005 Far Niente Cab. Nearly 100 bottles are well selected but unfortunately marked up three to four times retail in most cases. The temperature runs high, too, so ask them to ice down your bottle for a few minutes.

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Editorial Link : http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/restaurants/miami-dade-dining/story/689354.html