Smith & Wollensky continues to be a star in the overcrowded steakhouse sweepstakes for a simple reason: within the narrow confines of the category the restaurant performs with polish, consistency and quality.
RESTAURANT INFO
Cuisine: steakhouse
1 Washington Ave., Miami Beach
305-673-2800
Cost: very expensive
Credit cards: all major
Hours: lunch, dinner daily
Reservations: recommended
Bar: full service
Sound level: moderate
Smoking: outdoors only
Children’s facilities: yes
Wheelchair accessible: yes
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There are only so many cuts of beef, and imagination at a steakhouse is usually less important than the nuances of quality that come with the sort of careful aging on premises that is a hallmark of Smith & Wollensky. The eponymous Messrs. Smith and Wollensky may be creations of a market-oriented mind, but the quality and care are very real indeed.
When the original eatery was established in New York City, its owners wanted a catchy name that carried with it a sense of history and pedigree. They chose two names at random in the phone book and the rest is marketing legend. There are now Smith & Wollensky outlets in several cities, and if the company isn’t perceived as having the global reach of some of its competitor chains, that’s fine with them.
I think the passion of the staff is well-founded. There’s a professional attitude at Smith & Wollensky that is missing in the service staff of too many other steakhouses. The huge dining space may be divided into discrete rooms but it still takes a devoted staff to overcome the impersonal feel of the lackluster décor. It helps, too, that the restaurant opens out onto Government Cut, making a panorama that appeals to locals and tourists alike.
The menu is constructed tightly enough that it fits neatly on a single card often presented in a small picture frame. A few specials may be scrawled on a blackboard, but for the most part this is a selection pared to the bone. The Caesar salad ($9.50) is quite good — tart and like many of the customers, scantily dressed — and a solid competitor to the Wollensky salad ($10.50) that adds crisp-fried bacon to a mound of greens napped with mustard vinaigrette.
For heartier starters (one mustn’t forget how huge the main courses are), the crab cake ($13) is decent — it’s meaty and mildly flavored — and the lobster cocktail ($15.75) is de rigueur for many customers: a chick lobster tail simply steamed and turned out of its shell. A loftily priced starter ($53 or $98 depending on size) brings an entire tray of seafood to the table, with oysters, clams, shrimp and lobster vying for attention. It’s a showier display of plating ability than culinary wizardry, but it’s undeniably fresh and delicious.
The split pea soup ($6.75) that used to be a must try in my book has been pasty and overcooked on my recent visits, so I usually point friends to the pastrami-style smoked salmon ($12): It’s moist like gravlax and the spices are in perfect balance with the salmon’s natural flavor.
The meat options are either limited or carefully considered, depending on the diner’s perspective. I don’t mind a small selection when the raw material is so good. Steaks, aged carefully (and lengthily) in a locker next to the kitchen, are tender enough to give Kobe beef a run for its money. The filet mignon ($33) is the best example of the benefits of dry aging; much more flavorful than the cut usually is, it is so tender that it has an almost creamy consistency. The prime rib ($35.50) is deliciously tender. Among the beef cuts, only the tougher and less carefully butchered sirloin ($37.75) has failed to impress.
Other meat dishes include a good veal chop ($36) and a hefty portion of lamb chops ($36.50) cooked to a moist and very pink medium rare unless a diner insists on spoiling the dish.
Side dishes ($8.50) offer the usual suspects of mashed potatoes, greasy onion rings and indifferently cooked vegetables. But the truffled macaroni and cheese and perfectly crisped hashed browns are definitely a cut above the usual offerings.
Last year, the restaurant decided to jettison its huge international wine list to concentrate on American wines. It’s been a mixed success, with an effort to feature boutique wineries foundering because the restaurant doesn’t keep a constant supply. The mainstream offerings are pricey without the thrills other restaurants provide with their lists. Still, there are plenty of satisfying bottles available, and with food and service as good as this, including a knockout coconut cake ($8.50) for dessert, it’s hard to go wrong at this South Beach landmark.
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If you would like to contact freelance writer Lyn Farmer, e-mail him at or write to him in care of the Sun-Sentinel.
