Can Miami handle a restaurant with only one main dish? This new Italian spot thinks so

If you venture into the charming new Italian bistro at the corner of Commodore Street and Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove, you’d better really like veal Milanese.

It’s the only entree Cotoletta serves.

The idea of a restaurant that serves one main dish — in this case a cutlet, the English translation of “cotoletta” — may sound more than a little odd. OK, very odd. But third generation restaurateur Andrea Fraquelli is determined that this is the way to bring back the “human touch” to dining.

Along with his partners Ignacio Lopez Mancisidor and Mattia Cicognani in 84 Magic Hospitality, he wants to bring the dish “back to its roots.”

“We’ve all had Cotoletta alla Milanese before, but rare in the way the Milanese intended,” he said. “ It’s been imitated and altered over the years, but here, we’re focused on doing justice to this dish.”

The minimalist menu concept was inspired by his grandfather Lorenzo, who emigrated from Italy to London to work as a busboy at the Savoy Hotel and eventually created his own UK restaurant chain. To persuade English diners to enjoy pasta and cotoletta, he served both on the same plate, which sounds pretty normal here but was apparently revolutionary in its time.

84 Magic took this simple idea and ran with it. Cotoletta is their first concept in the United States, but more are planned.

So here’s how it works at the restaurant, which seats 50 indoors and out: For $80, two diners share the cotoletta, cooked with rosemary and lemon zest by executive chef Guilio Rossi. They can each choose a side dish: spaghetti al pomodoro, fries or a salad of arugula, Heritage tomato and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Desserts are priced at $9, with choices like flourless chocolate cake, cheesecake with raspberry coulis or vanilla affogato supreme (gelato and a double espresso). There’s red or white wine (Chianti or Gavi) as well as Italian beer and prosecco aperitifs.

As part of the push to return the human touch to the experience, the restaurant isn’t listed on Resy or OpenTable, and you can’t go to a website to make a reservation. If you want to go, you’re going to have to call Cotoletta on the phone like it’s 1987.

But human interaction is the idea. Cicognani calls the bistro “a place of community.”

“The host will remember your name, your waiter will ask about your recent trip, and our partners will welcome you,” he said.

Cotoletta

Where: 3206 Grand Ave., Miami

Hours: 5:30-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Saturday

Reservations: 786-409-7151

This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 4:30 AM.