RUSTIC ITALIAN FOOD IN MIAMI
Chef Mike Pirolo & Macchialina
ike Pirolo is at the bar. It’s 1am and the kitchen is still bustling with activity. He is sipping on a La Chouffe which he promptly claims to be the best beer in the world. We’re at Macchialina, a relative newcomer to the Miami food scene that has quickly built up a reputation for serving perhaps the best Italian food in the region. Mixologist and bar manager, Will Rivas, finishes pouring my beer and rolls the bottle over the counter to get the yeast out. This is a small gesture but a good example of what makes Macchialina the place it is — a great attention to the small details.
As you walk in to Macchialina you might as well be in Soho or Brooklyn —exposed brickwork, a large bar as the centerpiece and in the back, an open kitchen. General Manager, Jennifer Chaefsky, runs the front of the house adding a key ingredient to the warm and friendly atmosphere.
When Scott Conant looked to Miami for his second Scarpetta restaurant it came as no surprise he asked Pirolo to be the head chef — after all, he had already helped start the award-winning restaurant in New York. After 5 years, it was time to move on for Pirolo and Macchialina was born; in many ways the polar opposite of Scarpetta’s gleaming kitchen and fine dining atmosphere.
Seeing him cook and manage the kitchen at Macchialina it’s easy to forget that this is the same person that managed 18 cooks in what is arguably Miami’s top Italian restaurant. This thought is soon shattered when I see he has 3 cooks plating a single dish demonstrating elite cooking in a small, rustic environment.
The Short Rib lasagna is perhaps the closest to a signature dish at Macchalina and came out of years of trial and error; when Mike was working in NYC, before Scarpetta, every time someone left the restaurant he would make a lasagna, experimenting with different styles. This was a late addition to the series and one that is wildly popular.
erhaps more Queens than Italy, Pirolo is still distinctively Italian. At least his cooking is — his sense of humor is almost British; a dark dead-pan approach that demands that you pay attention.
His food, while deceptively rustic and simple at first glance, carries a lot of finesse and grace. There is a precision at Macchialina that elevates the food beyond what meets the eye and there is a sense that what you are eating is perfectly what is is supposed to be; as if any change to the dish would throw it off wildly.
Pirolo spent the first 8 years of his life in Italy, with his family and grandmother. Every day was a different project. One day they’d be jarring artichokes, the next day pickling and, of course, peeling tomatoes with his brothers and sister and setting them to dry in the sun. It’s hard to imagine a childhood more geared toward becoming a chef.
Later in life, Mike came back to Italy for a 6 month cooking internship that ended up lasting 3 years. He tells me he cannot think of anything he would change today and he is happy he chose this over culinary school. He would sleep and eat in whatever kitchen he was currently working in —carefully selecting the best Italian restaurants from the countryside north of Naples.
t’s noon and the restaurant is closed. The only people here are pasta chef Francisco Fernandez and his brother. A Latin DJ is speaking fast on a cheap digital radio in one corner as Francisco brings out a large lump of pasta dough the size of a basketball. In minutes he has worked it out to a sheet of pasta that looks to be at least 16ft long. He makes all the pasta for the restaurant and you can tell that Chef Pirolo is very happy to have him.
“My pasta chef gives me a thousand reason why a new dish can’t be done. He is a genius but he kills me.” laughs Mike, telling me about working with Francisco.
Chef Pirolo’s love for simple ingredients and Francisco’s artistry with making pasta have produced some of the most beautiful and deceptively simple-looking dishes on the menu. It takes a lot of confidence to serve such simple food.
hen you spend time with chef Pirolo it’s clear he is cooking exactly what he wants to be cooking, and it comes from a deep respect for Italian food and traditions. Dishes like Tagliolini ai funghi and the Beet filled Mezzaluna are perhaps some of the best Italian food I’ve ever had.
Macchialina is fast becoming an important restaurant in Miami’s growing food scene. In a city that so often caters to tourists and the nightlife scene, restaurants like this help create a sense of community for local residents.
Mike may have left Italy wanting to cook everything but Italian food but now, at this stage in his career — having cooked fine dining at Michelin star restaurants in both Philadelphia and New York — he is most definitely leaning into his heritage.
“Every time I go to Italy I come back and I do fundamental changes to my cooking…I have the simplest calamari with a lemon wedge, cooked to perfection…that is what Italian cooking is about.”
ou will go and eat at Macchialina of course. And when you do, here is my guide to a fantastic meal:
Order a glass of red wine and the Creamy Polenta with Sausage Ragu and Cipollini before you even look at the menu. Don’t forget the Grilled Country Bread.
Next you’ll get some smaller plates like The Baby Artichoke and Sugar Snap Pea Salad, The Broccolini al Cesare with Toasted Garlic and Parmigiano and the Local Burrata.
Your pasta of choice is Tagliolini ai Funghi with Abalone Mushrooms and Parmigiano as well as the Beet Filled Mezzaluna, Hazelnuts, Brown Butter and Ricotta Salata.
If you are still hungry (unlikely) the Honey Roasted Chicken with Creamy Polenta and Charred Scallions is fantastic and so is the Yellowtail Snapper.
Obviously do not leave without eating the excellent Tiramisu and Banana Bread Chocolate pudding.
Roll out into the warm Miami evening, happy.
Photos and words by David Lundblad
Macchialina
820 Alton Road,
Miami Beach, FL 33139
info@macchialina.com
