Recently, I had the honor of eating at Carbone Vino in Coconut Grove which had recently opened in December 2024. They describe themselves as a nostalgic, yet elevated Italian American concept serving Italian fare and wine in an elegant space. I bet they spent a whole bunch of money with a marketing firm coming up with that description!!
I reality, the space is gorgeous and it really is elegant. The vibe is a more casual environment than their Carbone restaurants. I can only say that the food exceeds the vibe and elegant space. All in all, they really deliver on this new restaurant.
Appetizers
Since we had a bunch of people, we were able to sample a whole lot of things. To start, we had the Octopus, Baby Eggplant Scapece, the Baked Clams, Tuna and Salmon Crudo.
We were in heaven to start. Each dish was great. Actually, the bread could have been the best I ever had. No photo since we gobbled it down right away. Out of the appetizers, the only one I thought was just ok was the Baked Clams since it was just average. This could be the last thing I ate that was just average. The best items were the Eggplant and the Octopus. They were off the charts. I do not even love eggplant so if I am raving then they must have been unbelievable.
Pasta
We moved on to a pasta course which consisted of Spicy Rigatoni Vodka (a staple), the Tortellini Tartufo Nero and Pumpkin Agnolotti (I think)
All of these pastas were excellent. I am hard pressed to rate one above the others since I may be insulting some dishes. With a gun to my head, I will have to vote the Tortellini as the best but we are really splitting hairs here.
Entrees
If this was not enough, we then had some entrees. We ordered the Whole Branzino and the Veal Parmigiana.
Once again, Carbone Vino delivered. I especially liked how the branzino was served skin side up. Typically, it is reversed. I have to say that the fish was perfect and I did not even add any of the three sauces offered. They really nailed the branzino. As to the veal parm, they delivered a perfect dish. It was so tasty, that even after eating all of the appetizers and pastas, we ate this dish so fast. Given the fact that it was a perfect dish, I have to rate the veal parmigiana as my preferred dish.
Dessert
By this time, we were stuffed but need to continue on with our food extravaganza!! So onward and upward with dessert. We were told to order the Cannoli Sundae and we added the Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake along withe the San Gennaro Zeppole.
The presentation award goes to the Zeppole’s since they placed some wax paper on the table and then poured the Zeppole’s on it along with the powdered sugar. Reminded me of the fried dough I used to get when I went to carnival just extremely better. The Chocolate Mousse Cake would have been the star because of the chocolate chips on the side. They were so rich that they could have been their own dessert.
The reason why the Chocolate Mousse Cake was only considered excellent was the Cannoli Sundae was out of this world and was the best by far. I can assure you that there was nothing left over when we were finished. But then again, there was nothing left over from everything we ordered since we were in heaven with all of the food.
Our conclusion was this was the best food experience that we have had in year. Could be the best new restaurant in Southern Florida. I know I would vote for it. Their attention to detail was incredible. This was the dining experience that you crave and dream about. I would not walk but run to Carbone Vino for the best meal in Coconut Grove!!