Basilico Ristorante

With so many excellent Italian restaurants in Coral Gables – Zucca, Tullio, Bugatti, Abbracci, Porto Sole, Fratellino, Luca Osteria, 450Gradi, etc. – you would wonder why another would open, especially in the same location on Ponce where Il Duomo dei Sapori recently closed, even keeping the same lighting and wall coverings. The answer is the menu designed by Rodrigo Gonzalez and Carlos Loya, the owners behind this newest incarnation of their popular local chain Basilico Ristorante (one is in Doral, another in Miami Springs). We recently visited for an afternoon lunch, warmly greeted and led to a comfortable booth.

Left: Basilico Gorgonzola Ravioli
Right: Crab Meat Ravioli With Lobster Sauce

We started off with the Carpaccio de Manzo con Scaglie di Parmigiano ($15), thinly sliced beef carpaccio topped with arugula, capers, and shaved parmesan cheese. The dish was light, savory, and the perfect set-up for the heavyweight stars of the show – the crab meat ravioli with leeks and shallots in a creamy lobster sauce topped with sauteed shrimp ($30) and the gorgonzola cheese and pear ravioli with figs and marsala wine sauce ($28). Both were extraordinary: the crab ravioli was richly flavorful with a deliciously salty bite from the lobster sauce, enhanced by chunks of shrimp, while the gorgonzola was lighter and sweeter, with the figs supplying a tangy balance to the cheese. Next time there’s a bottle of Chianti and a branzino with our name on it. – Luke Chaney

2312 Ponce de Leon
305.381.5604
basilicomiami.com