There’s no signal exterior, only a discreet door with the numbers 3190 stenciled throughout the glass of a restaurant tucked across the nook from Cutletthe buzzy Italian spot additionally constructed on just one dish and infrequently totally booked earlier than midday. But if you already know, you already know.
I step inside and am greeted not by a hostess stand or menus, however by a lipstick-scrawled mirror that reads: “Vino + Lasagna = Love.” That units the tone.
3190 seats solely 24 company and serves one entree: lasagna. That’s it. No menu, no supply, no QR codes. There’s one thing deeply comforting about being relieved of decision-making. Within moments of sitting down, a steaming plate of lasagna arrives in entrance of me, golden-edged and unmistakably selfmade. The meat model — the “Si Papa” lasagna — is impressed by Executive Chef Guilio Rossi’s daughter, now a prima ballerina with the Compañía Nacional de Danza in Madrid, Spain. As a baby, it was her meal of alternative earlier than dance class and every time her father requested if she wished extra, she’d beam and say, “Si, Papa.”
Courtesy of Gaby Cuadra
The noodles are simply skinny sufficient to soften on the tongue, the béchamel silky, and the ragù wealthy and slow-cooked. Every layer feels beneficiant however not heavy. There’s a vegetarian model, too, vivid with basil, and the inexperienced beans and peas snap towards the mushy layers of pasta. The entire factor is perfumed with olive oil and freshness.
As I push again my plate, the form of happy-full when your shoulders soften, the server seems with one thing I don’t anticipate: tiramisu. She carries out the whole glass baking dish and scoops a hefty serving onto my husband’s plate. Then she leaves the pan in entrance of me. She smiles knowingly, “Whoever gets the last serving gets the dish to clean out.”
Pillowy mascarpone, simply sufficient bitter espresso to maintain it from veering into too-sweet territory with delicate chocolate shavings dusting the highest — a luscious end to the country meal. “There are three things that should always be made in a big tray,” Andrea Fraquelli, one of many companions, says as he refills my glowing water. “Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna, and tiramisu. The pan is where the magic happens with those dishes. We wanted to honor that.”
That’s actually what 3190 is about: honoring the pan, the recipe that stays in a household for generations, the enjoyment of seconds, and a meal with out pretension. “Italian restaurants are meant to be generous,” Fraquelli says. “We leave the grappa on the table, we don’t measure portions, we feed you until you are full. With our restaurants, we want to bring that real Italian hospitality to Miami.”
At a time when so many eating places are designed round digital comfort or social media moments, this place affords easy, slow-cooked lasagna, pleasant service, and a bit of thriller.
“In a world where there’s a lot of noise, we found a niche,” Fraquelli says. “We make people curious, and they follow that curiosity to see if we really are doing what we say. I’ve always thought restaurants are born from one signature dish. I knew my uncle made the best veal Milanese and the best lasagna. I knew they would keep people coming back.”
And that’s what this seems like: a signature dish completed with sufficient soul to maintain individuals speaking. The lasagna and the whole expertise remind me why we exit to eat within the first place.
So, for those who ever end up at Cotoletta with no reservation, don’t be disenchanted. Let them information you a pair doorways down. Step by the unmarked door. Look for the mirror.
Say sure to lasagna. Say sure to tiramisu within the pan. Say sure like chef Guilio’s daughter all the time did: “Si, Papa.”
