Cacao 1737/Coral Gables
<a href=www.sun-sentinel.com>The Sun Posted April 11 2003
Cacao 1737 Cuisine: Contemporary South American Where: 141 Giralda Ave, Coral Gables, 305-445-1001 Cost: expensive Credit cards: all major Hours: lunch Monday-Friday, dinner Monday-Saturday Reservations: recommended Sound level: moderate Bar: full service Smoking: areas allowing and prohibiting Wheelchair accessible: yes Children's facilities: yes Complete restaurant info
Everyone loves chocolate, and with health experts even talking about the benefits of what may be the world's favorite confection, it is possible to wonder why we haven't seen anything quite like Cacao 1737 before. Chef Edgar Leal, a culinary star in Venezuela before moving to Miami two years ago, is the innovator, teaming with Venezuela's El Rey chocolate and the Bodegas Pomar winery to create a restaurant aimed at featuring chocolate as one of many ingredients in a variety of dishes.
There are smug diners who will think that Mexico already gave us mole, but few know that bitter chocolate is actually a fairly minor player in this complex sauce. Leal makes this sort of complex blend in dish after dish and does it subtly enough that, once seated in the calm, well-appointed dining room, one isn't so much aware of a concept at work and an intriguing mind in the kitchen.
It is a considerable leap from concept to balance on the plate however, and not everything that issues from the kitchen at Cacao has the balance the concept requires, nor does everything have a strong chocolate presence. Take a starter of duck escabeche with a white chocolate and carrot mousse ($11). It sounds odd, but the sauce actually works beautifully -- the carrot adds sweetness, and the chocolate gives a velvety texture. It's the duck that doesn't fly: this escabeche is so tart, the duck is more pickled than marinated and so acidic not even white chocolate can give it balance.
Salmon ceviche with guacamole ($8) is nearly flavorless, but arepa chips with diced chicken and creamy avocado mayonnaise ($9) is subtly appealing in flavor and texture, and a plate of empanadas ($10) -- beef, chicken, seafood and vegetable -- were delicate and ever so light without a hint of greasiness. A salad of watermelon and goat cheese ($6) also made for a nice contrast of temperature and texture. I had great hopes for a seafood-stuffed yucca ($14), but the nondescript seafood mixture had a nebulous, fishy taste without any real focus.
Main courses are also inconsistent, though some are quite good. The matambre ($23), a long and slow-cooked flank steak with a citrus marinade, was terrific. The flavors were deep and rich without losing a sense of balance. Rabbit with yucca gnocchi ($18) was tender and served as a good foil for a slightly sweet mango sauce.
Less successful is a hollowed round of gouda cheese stuffed with chopped pork ($17). The pork is well-flavored, but like so many dishes at Cacao, this one is very salty. Perhaps the kitchen thinks salt helps temper the sweeter side of chocolate and some of the other ingredients, but it overpowers everything. Many of the dishes would be considerably better if they didn't seem determined to raise our sodium levels.
Cacao 1737 is as remarkable for its incongruities as for stellar success. Bodegas Pomar apparently doesn't have distribution in the United States so, though it is a partner in the restaurant, its wines haven't been included on any of the wine lists I've seen. El Rey chocolate intended to have a boutique next door to the restaurant, but so far that hasn't opened either, and there's no sign anything will happen soon on that front.
There's a lovely wine cellar off the main dining area that practically begs diners to order something interesting from the small wine list, but several white wines I ordered were not chilled, I was told. On the other hand, the serving staff offers to decant practically any decent red they do sell, and that's a great thing (and the decanters are lovely). Service is friendly and the chef makes a point of greeting diners throughout the evening. He's such a pleasant, eager-to-please fellow you want to thank him even when you weren't blown away by the food. Cacao has a lot of potential to be a warm, friendly place, as smooth a chocolate ganache. It just isn't there yet.
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If you would like to contact freelance writer Lyn Farmer, e-mail him at diningout@sun-sentinel.com or write to him in care of the Sun-Sentinel.