Sandwiched between a slew of up and coming Midtown restaurants, Sustain hold it’s own. With a farm to plate concept, Sustain supports and sources from local farms and purveyors—which is easier said than done in the middle of Miami—and provides fresh plates for sophisticated palates.

 
The atmosphere is trendy without being cliché, and surprisingly upbeat without being overwhelming. Miami Pudding Publisher, Esteban Garcia, and myself had the pleasure of dining at Sustain last week, and it made us realize a few things: first, we love food, and second, we need to do more restaurant reviews.

 
Once we were seated, Beverage Director, Daniel Toral, visited our table to suggest a few wines and plan our menu for the evening. Even though their Miami Spice menu was full of decadent choices—in contrast to some of the Spice menus we’ve seen—we opted to let Toral and his Executive Chef, Alejandro Pinero, choose our courses, which included:

 
Turnip Carpaccio with LA lump crab meat, sweet summer Florida corn, Fresno Chile, micro greens, and avocado.
Grilled Octopus with cannellini beans, pickled onions, and radishes.
Fresh Burratta on a caramelized crostini.
Local Yellowtail Snapper on a bed of roasted fennel, crispy leeks, and saffron bisque.
Heritage Berkshire Pork Trio featuring Benton’s smoked bacon wrapped loin, pork cake, and sausage.
“Key Lime Pie,” a deconstructed version of the classic.
Pecan Pie that’ll make you want to slap your mother, and your grandmother.

 
Although their menu changes with the seasons (and specials change more often than that), there are a few staples, like the Fried Chicken that we heard about after the fact, and Snapper, which you can’t go wrong with.

 
Sustain also houses one of the happiest happy hours I’ve heard of in a while, featuring half price wines and cocktails and $3 light bites, their happy hour runs everyday from 5-7pm, and draws an eclectic group of midtown Miami-ites looking for a solid bite in a low-key atmosphere.

 
For more information on Sustain, check out the website or give them a ring at 305.424.9079.