Photo courtesy of Perfecto

By Richard Temple | Contributing Writer 

It takes a great deal of chutzpah to call your restaurant ‘Perfecto.’ However, the eponymous Spanish tapas restaurant on Brickell Avenue manages to get away with it as the food is as near perfect as it gets.

Perfecto {50 Brickell Avenue, Miami; 305.372.0620} is the offshoot of a restaurant in Barcelona, which probably explains why the tapas are so remarkable.

Brickell Avenue at night is not exactly a hot spot for restaurants, so to succeed. a restaurant there has to be both consistently good and different. And Perfecto scores on both fronts. The presentation of the dishes is superb as is the taste and the originality of the cooking.

The success of Perfecto, which is owned by Catalan Restaurateur Oscar Manresa, can be attributed to the extraordinary range of tapas produced by Chef Angel Gonzalez, who is originally from La Rioja.

Canelon de Aguacate (Photo Courtesy of Perfecto)

I don’t know if Chef Gonzalez would call it his signature dish, but for me the standout is Avocado Cannelloni made with tender slices of avocado wrapped around crab meat, tomato, and coriander–Cannelloni with not a glimpse of pasta in sight. It tastes as good–no, better–than it looks, which is saying a lot. The Octopus Perfecto is another superb dish.

For the dedicated carnivore, there’s a divine Steak Tartare made with tenderloin and truffled egg yolk. You will also probably want to experience the Crispy Suckling Pig with mashed potatoes and olive sauce.

Tartare de Tomate (Photo Courtesy of Perfecto)

There’s a nice terrace with live music if you don’t want to eat inside and valet parking, which is a must on Brickell.

They say you eat first with your eyes and then with your palate. Well, the presentation of the dishes at Perfecto is certainly a pleasure to behold. There’s also a good wine list with a number of interesting and not over-priced Spanish wines, including some attractive Ribereas del Duero, which are some of my personal favorites.

Perfecto’s is a great place to go with friends and share lots of delicious and unusual dishes.