{"id":272,"date":"2009-12-15T22:27:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-15T22:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mrnystyleandtravel.com\/?p=272"},"modified":"2016-11-16T20:04:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T01:04:42","slug":"pee-wees-playhouse-miamis-barton-g-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/?p=272","title":{"rendered":"Pee-wee\u2019s Playhouse: Miami\u2019s Barton G. Restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\u00a9Barton<\/a>

\u00a9Barton G.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Pee-wee\u2019s Playhouse<\/i> of South Beach restaurants, Barton G. The Restaurant offers the same brand of childlike delight that Pee-wee Herman afforded millions of children and adults every Saturday morning.\u00a0 Everything\u2019s hyperbole.\u00a0 \u201cWow\u201d is the only response.\u00a0 It\u2019s a room full of wide eyes and slack jaws\u2014as the parade continues past your table.\u00a0 It\u2019s a front row seat at a circus\u2014and cotton candy is only one part of it.<\/div>\n

Located in the same space that once housed the notorious Gatti\u2019s, back in 1925, and then later Starfish during the years that South Beach was first becoming known for its razzle-dazzle approach to beauty, food, and style, Barton G. perpetuates Oscar Wilde\u2019s maxim that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.\u00a0 And everyone talks about Barton G. The Restaurant; everyone has an opinion\u2014and particularly those who have yet to dine there.<\/p>\n

The truth is, Barton G. is a lovely room\u2014on an evening when the chattering masses are located elsewhere.\u00a0 And even when the restaurant is crowded, there\u2019s always the romantic outdoor patio, one of the more verdant spaces on the sandbar.\u00a0 As for the staff, they are every bit as friendly and enthusiastic as the playmates who frequented Pee-wee\u2019s playhouse\u2014if somewhat less outrageously costumed.<\/p>\n

Even if you arrive at Barton G.\u2019s with a chip on your shoulder or in need of attitude adjustment, there\u2019s something about the general level of fun conveyed by the staff, and the ongoing party around you, that all but coerces you into having a good time\u2014and particularly if you start with a round of cocktails from the Below Zero Nitro Bar.\u00a0 These are cocktails infused with liquid nitrogen, a cryogenic fluid with a temperature of minus-320 degrees Fahrenheit.\u00a0 A shot of nitro and the alcohol freezes, causing the cocktail to fog like dry ice.<\/p>\n

Warning: don\u2019t drink until the fog clears.\u00a0 According to our waiter, one woman chose not to heed counsel, and instead inhaled her drink, fog and all\u2014only to pass out completely in her plate of mashed potatoes.\u00a0 Something about the nitro briefly clinging to your lungs.\u00a0 Best advice: wait for the fog to lift.\u00a0 Enjoy the spectacle\u2014and then sip.<\/p>\n

Second warning: these are pricey elixirs, approaching forty dollars a pop.\u00a0 Chalk the cost up to a lesson in molecular mixology, for these drinks are stunners\u2014and particularly one called Sin-Sation, which is nitrogenized Absolut Vanilla vodka and Rose Petal Nectar, topped with champagne.\u00a0 With the extreme freezing, the Absolut Vanilla vodka becomes a vodka ice pop\u2014on a rosebud stem.\u00a0 Three of these red roses clustered in a drink, fogging like the Lady in the Lake\u2013and you\u2019re ready to play Sir Lancelot, vying for the sword.\u00a0 These are high-octane cocktails, in every sense of the word\u2014for as the alcohol melts, the drink gets stronger.\u00a0 Watch your mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n

Better yet, start with the G Fries Quartet, four immense cones of finger food, including kettle chips, shoestring fries, sweet potato fries, and mini hash browns\u2014all served with special sauces.\u00a0 This is the kind of rarefied bar food you won\u2019t find at Hooters.<\/p>\n

By now, nearly everyone even vaguely interested in the restaurant world has heard about Barton G.\u2019s over-the-top presentations: a wheelbarrow for garden gnocchi, a mousetrap for mac-n-cheese.\u00a0 Barton G. makes eating fun\u2014and particularly for those who might have been finicky eaters as children.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing too challenging on Barton G.\u2019s menu, nothing too esoteric or exotic. The Zen Tuna Trio, for example, comprising tuna tataki, tuna carpaccio, tuna tartare taco, with a ponzu sauce might be just the thing for your aunt from Oklahoma, who only ate sushi once before\u2014in Houston.<\/p>\n

Given that Barton G. Weiss made his name on events production for high-level corporate clients such as Cartier, Coca-Cola, Van Cleef & Arpels, amongst others, it\u2019s perhaps understandable that flash and sizzle are Barton G.\u2019s modus operandi.\u00a0 Who wants another rubber chicken black-tie banquet\u2014when instead, you can have lobster pop tarts\u2014served with a toaster at table?\u00a0 Lobster and gruyere in a flaky crust with hollandaise, brandy tarragon, and lemon caper sauces: it\u2019s the sort of meal that brings out the inner child and satisfies the indulgent adult.<\/p>\n

For those desirous of something more straightforward, there\u2019s a perfectly competent chopped salad, as well as a nice burrata and tomato salad, served with focaccia croutons.<\/p>\n

Portions are ample\u2014even without the frou-frou and the gadgetry\u2014so be forewarned.\u00a0 If you want dessert\u2014and what kind of playhouse would this be without dessert?\u2014save room for the beignets.\u00a0 With a choice of chocolate, vanilla, and classic, these are the sort of beignets that return you to Caf\u00e9 du Monde in New Orleans\u2014or maybe straight back to the nursery.\u00a0 This is serious comfort food, with a side of sauces (warm fudge and home-made raspberry jam) that beg for finger lickin\u2019.\u00a0 Go ahead, why not\u2014you\u2019re at Barton G., where everyone\u2019s having fun.<\/p>\n

LINK: Barton G<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pee-wee\u2019s Playhouse of South Beach restaurants, Barton G. The Restaurant offers the same brand of childlike delight that Pee-wee Herman afforded millions of children and adults every Saturday morning.\u00a0 Everything\u2019s hyperbole.\u00a0 \u201cWow\u201d is the only response.\u00a0 It\u2019s a room … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[40,398,133],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurant","tag-barton-g-restaurant","tag-miami-beach","tag-south-beach"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/Barton-G..jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31sdB-4o","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10860,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions\/10860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrnystyleandtravel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}