The Forge
Miami Beach
There are usually some clear signs when a restaurant is on a
roll. Lots of busy signals for the reservations phone number. A crowd
around the maître d'. An overwhelmed valet parking business,
with the Ferraris, Porsches and Rolls-Royces lined up in the prime
spaces outside the front entrance. Some restaurants would be happy
with any one of those three scenarios. The Forge, in Miami Beach,
often faces all of them on the same night.
With good reason. Recently named one of Wine Spectator's top
steak houses in America, The Forge combines extraordinary aged beef
with one of the largest wine lists in the world. On top of that, the
restaurant recently opened the Cuba Club next door, an upscale cigar
room with a members-only humidor room, and a full-service bar and
restaurant open to the public.
At The Forge, red meat dominates the menu. You can feast on
prime rib, sirloin, "Super Steak" (a New York strip),
Porterhouse (a 48-ounce behemoth for $68.95) and filet mignon as
well as the requisite lamb, buffalo and venison. Unlike many
steakhouses, however, the Forge prides itself on its non-meat
offerings; you can choose from a full range of fish, including
Florida snapper, tuna, Gulf shrimp and lobster. Chicken and duck
dishes are available, too. In addition, The Forge's appetizers set it
even further apart from most steakhouses. Everything from Forge's
house salad to the jumbo stone crabs (in season) are prepared
well and worth the extra calories. Desserts are steakhouse
appropriate, too: the signature soufflé of chocolate and Grand
Marnier requires 30 minutes to prepare, so order it early; but don't
overlook the chocolate velvet cupcake or The Forge's Blacksmith Pie, a
concoction of chocolate chip crust with a dark chocolate filling.
The wine list is almost too much to handle. If you ask to see the
reserve list, which has long been a winner of Wine Spectator's
Grand Award, get ready to spend your entire evening trying to make up
your mind. Suffice it to say that the Bordeaux section, which runs 41
pages, includes every major first growth from every major vintage back
to the turn of the century--and then some. For instance, if you want a
bottle of the 1822 Lafite Rothschild, a mere $75,000 will have it on
your table. Of course, there are many more affordable wines from
Burgundy, Alsace, the Rhône, Germany, Italy and a section on
California wines running more than 50 pages.
If you're looking for one of the most extraordinary "scenes" anywhere
in the world, check out The Forge on Wednesday nights. The restaurant
becomes a stop on the South Beach party whirlwind, even though it
normally stays 40 blocks to the south. Masterminded by Shareef Malnik,
The Forge's owner and son of the founder, Alvin Malnik, the evening
goes by the name Models' Night, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to
say that almost every pretty face in Miami puts in an
appearance at one point during the evening. And you can still get a
great meal.
There's also the Cuba Club. The cozy annex, located behind an anodized
metal door down the block from the restaurant's main entrance,
houses a beautiful temperature- and humidity-controlled humidor room,
which is reserved for members. There's also a full-service restaurant,
with a different menu than The Forge, featuring traditional French
cuisine. Non-members are welcome in the bar and the restaurant, with
reservations. The club has one of the most outrageously gaudy, yet
appropriate, bars on the East Coast. The gold leaf and dark wood
combine to create a turn-of-the-century elegance with a hip 1990s
atmosphere, with the energetic P.J. behind the bar and a pool
table off to one side. Maître d' Roger Bouillon keeps a humidor
with a full line of Davidoff cigars available for customers.
In short, The Forge offers more than just a steakhouse
experience. It has become the quintessential restaurant for the
millennium, offering great food, wonderful people-watching and the
ideal location to sit back, light up and enjoy a great smoke.
--Gordon Mott
The Forge
432 Arthur Godfrey Road
(305) 538-8533
Dinner: $60 per person, without wine
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