Cacao Restaurant

Ah... oh... no.... Cacao, one of the best restaurant in Miami, is closed!

Chef Edgar Leal has gone back to Caracas. Somebody gotta get him and bring him back!

We came with a couple of friends who recomended this restaurant. l love to be WOWED... and here l was.

Tasteful, classy and totally fab decor greets you as you enter, making you feel fabulous yourself. Once in, the service is prompt and warm. KUDOS..

l had the Pan Seared Salmon Fillet.. it was perfect. The food is gourmet in every way. The staff will be more than happy to recomend a fantastic wine to go with your meal. We had an apetizer (fish ceviche with guacamole) that was crazy good, and our meals couldn't have been more perfect.

Will you impress anyone you bring here? ABSO - FREAKlNG - LUTELY!!

I am humbled by the greatness of this place. I mean, this is the result of a vision and a dream. What do you get when you mix discipline, experience, fearlessness and talent ? Enter Chef Edgar Leal - his restaurant Cacao is the result of many years of experience and dedication. Chef Leal is a graduate of the prestigious CIA and even intern in EL Bulli under Ferran Adria himself.
His presentation is flawless which clearly shows the pride Chef leal takes in his work. He masterfully mixes tropical flavors with old world cuisine and the end result is fantastic !!!
We are certainly fortunate to have a place like this in our area - it is a must in everyone's list !

I love when food is celebrated.
Plating 5 stars
Taste 5 stars
Service 5 stars
Cute Latino male servers 5 stars
If you haven't noticed my previous reviews, I tend equate food to sex. So, if you are a bit... shy, please turn on you parental controls. I did post some G-rated pictures.

I started with a trio of ceviche. Ceviche is just one of those things that can easily all taste the same. Especially, when all you taste is over use of citrus juice. Chef prepared this trio very differently. I was able to taste the beautiful flavors with the raw fish. Just like good foreplay.

My husband started with the pumpkin foam and tangerine juice. Rob C. is right, its more like a pureed soup. Regardless, it was velvety cream in my mouth. Going all the way down my throat, it was worthy of making promises to my husband.

Dinner: I had the short rib ossobucco. Its rich, luscious and hearty. Have a good red wine. This is dish is just fantastic.
My husband had the stuffed quail. Apparently, this is the recipe that was used in the movie Chocolat. The quail itself was perfectly seasoned and exceptionally succulent. But, the stuffing was okay.

Dessert: Well, by this time truthfully I don't remember it. I had lots of wine, lots of food. Frankly, I went home and had dessert there.

It gave us the best dining experience in Miami.

The place was stunningly nice and we soaked in the beautiful Latin atmosphere throughout the night.

We decided to share one dish from each course so we could try more while still get room for dessert.

*Salad with Grilled Provolone Cheese and Chimichurri Sauce
*Caldo "Feijao" - Black Beans and Linguisa Sausage
--Velvet texture black bean soup with subtle taste"
*Baked Argentinean Cheese and Beef Empanadas
*Warm "Cachapa" Corn Soufflé with Guayanes Cheese
*Shrimp, scallop with asparagus and quinoa grain (a popular latin grain)
--The seafood was perfectly done, fresh and tasty. The quinoa grain was chewy and had a good taste. "


The chef split every dish for us and artistically presented them to us. He brought us an unprecedented gourmet experience with his creativity in the Latin cuisine.

We concluded our dinner with Venezuelan Chocolate "Marquesa" and "Maria" cookies ice cream. We totally couldn't resist this delicious extravagance. Or we were just enchanted by the substances in the Cacao???

Cacao is an outstanding restaurant in the middle of the largely textbook Gables dining district. It's sleek and modern in decor, service is attentive but not overbearing, helpful, and deferential.

This restaurant did everything right that Caffe Abbracci (see one of my other reviews) did wrong. A corvina ceviche appetizer was nicely citric and tart, and contrasted by a more basic guacamole and thin, thin, light chips. I'm not used to eating entire appetizer plates, but this one justified the effort.

Braised veal cheeks were fall-apart tender, not fatty, and not oversauced. Vegetable sides were perfunctory, but fresh and artfully presented on the plate. We didn't order dessert, which may have been a mistake, given the restaurant's name. Prices are completely reasonable given the high quality of food and service.

What makes this review kind of funny is that I intended to take my out-of-town friend to City Cellar on Miracle Mile, which apparently recently closed. Really glad we came here and not to another cookie-cutter Gables joint.

I came here with a fellow foodie friend of mine looking to enjoy a nice meal on my expense account. The immediate impression was that this looked like another hot restaurant to take a friend, date, or business partner to, what with the hip decor and all. We went on a Saturday night at 7pm, but there weren't a huge amount of people inside.

We were quickly seated and received the menu and wine list. The wine list was extensive, but somewhat above moderately priced, although neither of us actually ordered any vino. The menu included a nice list of exotic appetizers as well as meats, poultry, and fish.

Presentation was excellent, and besides the appetizers and entrees, we also received special favor from the kitchen before ordering and a rum soaked gelato serving between the appetizers and entrees.

The salad I had to start was very good, the greens were fresh and the goat cheese and dressing were delicious. I ordered duck for my entree, my friend ordered veal. Both were beautifully presented and very tasty. Vegetables included with my slices duck were standard, but the orange white chocolate sauce included with the duck was not. The duck was fantastic, very tender, cooked to order, and tasty. The veal was also very good, and was cut-with-a-fork tender.

Service was fast and concise as well.

Overall, it was an excellent meal and was an excellent value. The $40 bill was $20 less than I would expect for a meal of that kind. If you're up for a special meal, for a reasonable cost, try Cacao.

Cacao is what sweet, sweet food memories are made of. I've never had Venezuelan food before, and Cacao gave me one heck of an introduction.

I was initially attracted by the Miami Spice menu, but after seeing the rest of the offerings, that went out the window. I wanted free range to test the different items on the menu that were calling my name...

Black Bean Foam - A very simple appetizer, but by far my favorite part of my meal. It tastes so unbelievable home-y. If it wasn't $12 each, I would have definitely eating two bowls of this. So good, I believe I proclaimed, "I want to brush my teeth with this so bad." while eating it.

Corn Souffle - This reminded me of an arepa, but without all the things that make arepas gross. Breaking off a piece of this with your fork and rubbing it on one of the various sauces is comes with is to die for.

Shrimp and Scallop Quinoto - The least memorable. It was really great, but the appetizers outshine this one. The Quinoto risotto was a little too salty for my taste.

And finally, LA CREME DE LA CREME.....the dessert.... MARIA COOKIE ICE CREAM. Yes, you heard me right. My favorite childhood midnight snack made into a fancy dessert. Every bite made me want to shed a tear of joy for having been able to eat this.

In the end, not even the $150 bill could put me down. One initial look at the bill made my eye twitch momentarily, but that feeling soon went away once I realized the earth-shattering meal I just had. I woke up the next two mornings thinking of Cacao. Now that is a fancy dinner that's worth it, and one I won't regret when I get my credit card bill.

Cacao is hard to measure because it has very high expectations for itself and occasionally delivers, but there is also some inconsistency through their tasting menus that drag down the whole experience. A very average, and poorly constructed dish will follow a fantastic and simple one, and if not for a very nice wine list you'd be left scratching your head and wondering if it was worth the high prices.

We found the service to be fine, though the wine steward might consider dressing a little more professionally (my brother thought he was some guy who wandered in from off the street). This is a special occasion restaurant and corporate lunch spot, and definitely worth trying to form your own opinion.

Cacao does modern interpretations of South American cuisine. I think that would sum it up well.
The first time I was there, two of the people I was dining with were from Venezuela, and the chef at Cacao is apparently a celebrity there. He came out to the table and talked to us about his favorite things on the menu. He was very passionate about his food (to the point that we all were a bit jealous of the adoration he has for his job, food, and culture) and it pretty much set the tone of the dinner. We did the tasting menu - I recommend that - and every course was a knock-out.
It's one of our go-to places when in Miami.