THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Bambu

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Bambu Restaurant Review:

Rob Boone and über-proprietor Kareem Masri have teamed up with Hollywood it girl Cameron Diaz to create this instantly successful Pan-Asian fantasy restaurant. It is theme park-ish, upscale but gimmicky, with a tense, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses demeanor. Curiously young beautiful people line the bar (where cocktails start at $12 a pop). The high-octane atmosphere is not for the amateur bar-dweller, but bartenders are remarkably accommodating. The dining room service is less so, where one gets the feeling that the proprietors invested all their energy in the décor, with food and service as an afterthought. Boone’s thought-provoking menu proves that his past experiences (in the kitchens at Norman’s and Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago) have educated him well. But Bambú’s dishes are more impressive as printed menu items than they are on dinner plates. Bambú’s identity crisis (it has the vibe of a nightclub/lounge, not a restaurant) competes with Boone’s ability. Contrived, somewhat passé Pan-Asian fare is no way for a culinary hopeful like Boone to be displaying his talents. By all means come for the people-watching and the finest display of Bal Harbour couture, though.