The interior of La Pecora Bianca at the Shops of Merrick Park in Coral Gables.
Liz Clayman
Yet another restaurant from New York, this one Italian, is opening this week at an upscale shopping destination in Coral Gables.
La Pecora Bianca has opened its first South Florida location at The Shops at Merrick Park, its first expansion outside New York, where it has nine locations.
Coral Gables was the right place for the expansion, said restaurant founder and owner Mark Barak, who opened the first Pecora Bianca in 2015 in the NoMad neighborhood of New York City. There are now locations in Midtown, SoHo, Bryant Park, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, the theater district and Lincoln Square.
“We’ve been very deliberate about where La Pecora Bianca goes next, and Coral Gables felt right,” he said. “There’s a real appreciation here for restaurants that are beautiful and energetic but also become part of people’s everyday lives.”
La Pecora Bianca Miami. Photo: Liz Clayman Liz Clayman
“We wanted this restaurant to feel unmistakably like La Pecora Bianca while creating something that really belongs in South Florida,” he said.
The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating for 300 diners, with a full wrap-around bar with 20 seats. There’s also a dining room for private events.
Culinary director Ed Scarpone, who developed a menu of restaurant favorites as well as new specialties for a Miami audience, will lead the kitchen.
The bar at La Pecora Bianca in Coral Gables. Christian Gonzalez
Diners familiar with the menu will find favorites like vodka rigatoni, whipped ricotta and tiramisu for two and something called Too Much Fried Mozzarella (which does not seem possible, really). The restaurant’s popular chicken vodka parmesan is on the menu, too.
Other choices include dishes such as cacio e pepe arancini, linguine vongole, campanelle al limone and fusilli giganti. The menu will also include seasonal salads and Neapolitan-style pizzas like a truffle pizza with black truffle and ricotta and a Diavola pizza with vodka sauce and hot honey.
New dishes for Miami include a giant carbonara raviolo, lobster spaghetti fra diavolo and tomato and melon carpaccio.
Semi private long table at La Pecora Bianca. Liz Clayman
As for as drinks go, the wine list leans Italian and the cocktails aperitivo-style, though there is a rotating cocktail menu. The Spritz Bar, for example, features drinks like the Portofino Spritz with cucumber, gin, St. Germain and prosecco, and you can absolutely order an affogato espresso martini.
La Pecora Bianca will open with dinner service only but will eventually add brunch and lunch.
Outdoor tables at La Pecora Bianca in Coral Gables. Christian Gonzalez La Pecora Bianca
Where: The Shops at Merrick Park, 360 San Lorenzo Ave., Coral Gables
Hours: 4-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; lunch and brunch service will be added eventually
Reservations and more information: lapecorabianca.com or 305-686-8173
Connie Ogle loves wine, books and the Miami Heat. Please don’t make her eat a mango.
Dining and Cooking