RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table
The Backstory: A sleek modern Italian restaurant in Wynwood, dōma has struck a delicate balance of chic and approachable, using a menu of familiar dishes with subtle twists and a staff that always remembers your name, making it one of the neighborhood’s rare modern classics.
The Experience: Pure Miami movie set, but not the kitschy, ‘80s Miami Vice kind. Here, it’s a different stripe, sophisticated, where attractive people fill tables in a buzzy, dimly lit dining room or out on a verdant patio. Everyone at dōma looks like a pro — people who know what they’re doing when they go to a restaurant. And the bar, despite having only a few seats, is exactly the kind at which you’ll meet someone interesting.
Dōma isn’t trying to reinvent Italian food, but intriguing adaptations like the gnocchi with porcini mushrooms and prawns, and the thick candele alla Genovese with beef ragu, offer surprising revelations. Black truffle-coated filet mignon is another favorite and not nearly as rich as it sounds. Confitted New Zealand lamb with tomato- and provolone-wrapped dough is one of those dishes whose novelty begs an order.
There’s a literal wall of wine when you walk in, so the immediate temptation is to delve into the wine list, which does, in fact, live up to the dramatic presentation. The cocktail menu comes with helpful illustrations, and while classics are well done, it’s worth a detour from the norm to their original drinks. Try the Miami Essence with vodka, pineapple juice, ginger syrup, Sicilian amaro, and ginger beer, served in a copper pineapple.
Why It’s FOUND: You don’t survive for seven years in turnover-happy Miami by accident. Without subtlety in all the right places framing its combination of stylish environs and excellent food that manages to surprise, dōma is easily one of Miami’s best Italian restaurants. –Matt Meltzer
→ Dōma (Wynwood) • 35 NE 26th St • Mon-Wed 6-1030p, Thu-Sat 6-11p • Call to reserve: (786) 953-6946.