THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Americana

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Americana Restaurant Review:

The Restyled American cuisine served up here includes modern twists on comfort foods such as mac 'n' cheese, made with raclette and crumbled spice bread, and even Oreos, which are battered and fried into beignets. Ironically, The Ritz-Carlton's reputation and prices dictate the sort of contemporary, cutting-edge approach to cooking that represents the antithesis of comfort. For instance, tuna casserole turns into minimalist components of freshly seared tuna, crispy noodle cake, snow peas and ginger aïoli---this obtuse deconstruction takes the diner so far from the original that any nostalgic link is lost. Is that a bad thing? Not if you have a sense of humor, and certainly not when you're depending on the skilled hands of chef de cuisine John Suley, who is capable of making you forget about the supposed emotional connections to the dishes and care only about the effect they have on the taste buds. In other words, there's some undeniably tasty cuisine here, like a main course of American Kobe meatloaf and Kobe tenderloin with mashed potatoes---the one dish that succeeds in summoning the past while simultaneously improving upon it. The romantic, candlelit dining room is warmly dressed in 1950's supper club style, the retro décor perfect for Art Deco South Beach.