Transformative And Tempting

Chef/restaurateur José Mendín bid a sad farewell to La Placita earlier this year but now there’s something to celebrate.

Mendín, along with Executive Chef Santo Agnello, Sergio Navarro, Jose Luis Serrato, Julian Gil and Antonio Ortiz welcome diners to Patio Isola and its Italian comfort cuisine. The 8,000-square-foot eatery, the sister restaurant to Casa Isola in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour, showcases lush vegetation, rustic wood furniture and fixtures, a cobalt and white color scheme and seating for 60 indoors and 140 outdoors.

“The space offers great open areas; we always saw it as a perfect place to showcase outdoor dining,” says Mendín in a press release. “We’re keeping the cozy, homegrown mood that La Placita established but taking it in a different direction.”

The menu includes Arancini Isola, Carpaccio Milanesa and Soft Polenta al Funghi as well as signature pastas ranging from Rigatoni alla Vodka and Ravioli Bianconeri to Pappardelle alla Bolognese. 

The restaurant’s pizza oven will turn out specialty housemade pies including

Vecchia Signora — braised short rib with Taleggio white sauce, truffle oil and pecorino and the MiMo Pie featuring roasted chicken, baby kale, ricotta, mozzarella and pecorino. Calzones and salads will be available along with antipasti plates such as Brooklyn-Style Baked Clams with oreganata, garlic and olive oil.

An Italian-inspired cocktail program rounds out the menu.   

Patio Isola is located at 6789 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For more information, visit  casaisolamiami.com.