Little Havana is a tightly knit neighborhood in Miami, Florida that is home to many Cuban, Central and South American immigrants. The name was given to this area after a marked increase in immigration from Cuba during the political changes there in the 1960’s. In 2017, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a member supported group created by congressional charter in 1949, declared Little Havana a national treasure.
During a recent trip to Miami, my dining companion suggested we get a bite in Little Havana and take a look around the area. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and most of the restaurants were closed.
After much inquiry, we came upon Doce Provisions (Doce) located on the 500 block of SW 12th Avenue in Little Havana. Doce bills themselves as serving locally-sourced, artisanal foods most of which is Cuban and Miami-inspired.
The restaurant is homey and accommodating, with indoor seating in addition to a very pleasant outside dining area in the back of the restaurant. The restaurant also has an open air kitchen. I really believe kitchens such as these where diners can watch their food being prepared help better connect restaurant patrons to their food.
After studying the menus my dining companion and I tried a number of items from Doce’s Lunch Menu.
We started with the farm greens, an absolutely beautiful dish both in presentation and taste. Assorted greens were served with radish, pomegranate seeds, chickpeas, roasted corn and a lemon vinaigrette. Outstanding!
We then moved on to trying Doce’s tacos, an order each of bbq short rib and shrimp po’ boy tacos. Two tacos came with each order. The shrimp po’ boy tacos, paying homage to those delicious sandwiches from Louisiana, started with fried shrimp. They were topped with radish, micro green cilantro, pickled onion and Cuban sriracha mayo. Cuban sriracha mayo is a locally produced condiment made Cuban with the incorporation of mojo flavors. The shrimp tacos were very good. Even better were the bbq short rib tacos. Doce’s short ribs, first beer-braised then barbecued, were topped with chipotle crema, corn salsa, pickled onion and fresno chili relish. This was another outstanding dish.
Wanting to try everything at this point, but knowing that there was no way that would be possible, we settled on Doce’s El Cubano. Doce’s version of this Cuban standard was made with smoked pork loin, salami instead of the traditional ham, homemade pickles, mustard and Swiss cheese. It was also outstanding, a great Cuban sandwich with a subtle twist.
Doce Provisions serves some really good food, a great mix of new and traditional flavors. I think saying you would come back to a restaurant in a place like Miami is significant as there are tens of thousands of restaurants there. As far as Doce is concerned, I will definitely be back.
After our lunch we wanted to walk off a bit of our food and went to look at Calle Ocho. Calle Ocho (SW 8th St.) is ground central in Little Havana. We stopped for a bit at Maximo Gomez Park, or better know as Domino Park, just off of 8th St. This is a historic landmark in Little Havana and was established in 1961. Dominoes are not really my thing. Watching these people though, I realized I was probably surrounded by some of the world’s best domino players, which was pretty impressive. This was a perfect end to our lunch in Little Havana.
That’s that for another post on Forks.
Doce Provisions
541 SW 12th Ave.
Miami, FL 33130
(786)452-0161
Doce Provisions Web Site
Monday-Thursday 12-3:30 PM/5-10 PM, Friday 12-3:30 PM/5-11 PM, Saturday 12-11 PM, Sunday 11 AM-9 PM; All major credit cards accepted.
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