Since 50 Best Restaurants launched its Latin American edition in 2013, Parador la Huella has landed among the top 25 year after year. Opened about 15 years ago, the Uruguayan eatery known as the restaurant at the “end of the world” has become one of the most difficult places to book a reservation in all of South America. The beachside spot in José Ignacio – the brainchild of Alejandro Morales, Martín Pittaluga,Gustavo Barbero, and Guzmán Artagaveytia – has clearly made its mark in Uruguay. And after opening a spinoff restaurant this summer, it’s shooting for similar results in Miami with Quinto La Huella.
Located on the fifth floor of the East, Miami hotel in Brickell, Quinto’s success might seem like a long shot in a city not typically known for Uruguayan cuisine. But the restaurant is drawing customers both from Miami and Latin America, according to USA Today. “The Florida offshoot has proven so popular that fans are flying in from Latin America to eat here,” Larry Olmsted wrote in a USA Today article. “It’s easier to get into than the original, and it serves all the classic recipes.” Seafood and beef make up most of the 40-item menu. But Nano Crespo – the Argentine chef who heads the Miami location – says it’s far more than a parrilla. Items like octopus with potato confit, onion tarts, arroz negro with squid ink, ravioli ricotta, and the Volcano Dulce de Leche cake allows it to step out of Uruguay’s beefy reputation.
The Miami restaurant doesn’t have the same beach views that the original’s known for, but it works to create a similar ambience. For one, there’s indoor and outdoor seating, and the same parrilla (made by the same designer) is Quinto’s centerpiece. Quinto flies in most of its lamb, wine, and olive oil from Uruguay – which gives the sister restaurant the same authenticity as Parador. USA Today describes the food “as real as it gets.” Most of that has to do with Quinto paying such close attention to the ingredients it uses. It prides itself on using sustainably sourced organic, local, and free-range products. So it avoids things like threatened Chilean sea bass, but will use wild salmon from Alaska when in season. “It’s very true, artisanal,” Crespo told Ocean Drive. “Very simple and casual, yet purposely crafted, letting the ingredients speak for themselves.”
Check out a few of Quinto’s mouthwatering dishes below:
Quinto La Huella, 788 Brickell Plaza, Miami, FL, 33131.
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