A friend is looking for a rec. to an upscale restaurant to take family before ballet

[Carlos Miller]

Pat Barbanes, whom some of you might know, and lives up north somewhere, is bringing his wife and daughter down to Miami tomorrow night for the ballet at the Arsht Center.

He asked on Twitter for an upscale restaurant that would impress his daughter because this will be her first ballet.

I told him Michael's Genuine because even though that is not upscale, people seem to dig it (well, except Gus, but that's another story altogether).

Me being the hole-in-the-wall type restaurant guy, I'm not really sure which upscale restaurant to recommend to him, so I brought his question here.

Any suggestions?

The ballet starts at 7:30. Ideally, it would be nice to have something within short driving distance.

Here is out Twitter conversation.

https://twitter.com/#!/pbarbanes

[Christy]

Micheal's Genuine has amazing food, but a plain atmosphere. For that "fancy dinner out" feeling I'd go to one of the restaurants at The Fountainblu. My pick would be Gotham Steak or Scarpetta. It would be pretty easy to get a reservation that early. For downtown, Mischy's is excellent, but not a good choice if the daughter is a picky eater.

Whatever you do save room for the brownies from Barton G that they serve during intermission! Best brownie ever, well a tie with Michelle's homemade brownies.

[Jess]

Barton G has a restaurant in the Arsht Center. It is called Prelude. That is the best choice, as it is Barton G and already in the theater.

[Matt Meltzer]

NUTCRACKER!!!!!!

Karu & Y used to be a really good spot for pre-PAC dinners. Sad it closed.

Jess' suggestion is probably the best, as it's sort of one stop shopping and ensures you won't miss any of the show.

Though El Rancho at Bayside isn't a bad option and very close.

That said, we should take a lesson from the fact that we have had a world-class PAC for 5 years now and we can't think of ONE nice restaurant around it. This is yet another reason I'm not buying the whole "Marlins Stadium will revitalize Little Havana" BS. That concept of businesses springing up around venues just doesn't seem to work here. I wonder why?

[Jess]

The only thing near Arsht is the beer place round the back that serves 100s of beers from around the world.

Otherwise, in that area... totally no hope. It is just plain scary at night too.