Felice marries a neighborhood feel with top Italian fare
There are not a lot of sidewalk cafés in the Brickell district, let alone on Brickell Avenue itself, and not a lot of restaurants that feel like a neighborhood hangout. Felice provides both and manages to do so with an understated elegance that makes dining there both down-to-earth and sophisticated. It’s the kind of place where a Campari is de rigueur but where everyone knows your name.
Felice is not a chef-driven experience, but rather part of a polished national chain that specializes in food from Italy’s Tuscan region. Its crowd-pleasing dishes have been formulated in a corporate kitchen but are therefore delivered with consistent, orchestrated quality. If you are a regular – and there are plenty already at this five-month-old newcomer to Brickell – you know what to expect and that you’ll get it.
Being northern Italian food, think truffles, flat noodles, and wild boar meat rather than pasta with red sauce and meatballs. Tuscan Italian food is more rustic, and we think more flavorful, than Southern Italian fare. At Felice, we tried a handful of appetizers and entrees and were impressed by more than a few. I’ve always considered fried calamari a benchmark for any Italian restaurant; it can so easily be over-battered and over-fried. At Felice, theirs was light and crisp, and deftly coupled with fresh baby artichokes fried with equal finesse. A dash of lemon and parsley and you have perfection.
We also liked their homemade veal meatballs (like Mama made them) and their tuna carpaccio (with an influential tomato tartare), but their baked eggplant parmigiana was the star – thinly sliced eggplant layered with Parmigiano-Reggiano which, like any cheese lover knows, can come only from a designated area of Northern Italy and must be aged at least two years. Of the two pastas we tried, the traditional veal ragu fettuccine held its own, but the Pappardelle con Salsiccia was superb. With sweet Italian sausage, braised endive, porcini mushrooms, herbs, and truffle sauce, it was rustic and robust, right out of the hillsides surrounding Sienna.
We also tried two entrees, the light, thin chicken paillard, decorated with medallions of roasted yellow squash and zucchini, and the flavorful black truffle NY strip, topped with cremini mushroom, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and crispy sage. At 14 ounces, it was more than enough for two diners, and at $58, the most expensive item on the menu. That is part of what makes Felice a neighborhood place– its prices are a good value rather than a gouge. All the pastas but one (seafood) are in the $20s, and main courses range from $26 to the above-mentioned beef.
The sides are a little pricey at $14, but one is outstanding – the black truffle creamed corn. I am no fan of creamed corn, but this dish arrived in a terrine, a crisp crust to it and suffused with the aroma of truffle. A fascinating flavor profile. And I cannot offer sufficient praise for their pistachio pie with whipped cream, like nothing any of my fellow diners had ever tasted.
Felice also scores well with subtle house music and demure lighting, especially in the main dining room, where high ceilings and multiple clusters of sculpted lights create an airy, romantic space. You can feel comfortable here with a suit or an open-collar shirt, and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient, just the way you’d like it in a neighborhood hangout. The wine list is well curated, but while it has some affordable prices it’s mostly for the stout of heart – not that we didn’t enjoy our $169 bottle of “Super Tuscan” Il Pino, 2022, which they decanted.
Felice is a welcome addition to the Brickell dining scene. It’s on the south end of Brickell Avenue, gratefully away from the hubbub of Miami Avenue. Take someone there and they’ll think you have an inside line to the local culinary scene.
