Miami Beach 01

On June 18, 2021, my wife and I became proud owners of a condo in Miami Beach. I hope to add many things Miami Beach here, but I'm starting with a very modest post. 

The industrial revolution and the many advances in materials --- plastics, metals, concrete, etc. --- that occurred during the revolution led to a new movement in architecture called Art Deco. I wasn't aware that I was born and lived in a premier Art Deco city, Bombay, until I actually visited Miami Beach in 2005. The visit was prompted by a college football bowl game between Penn State (Joe Paterno) and Florida State (Bobby Bowden) that was held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL, a suburb of Miami and within a 1-hour drive of Miami Beach. I was staying in Miami Beach in a chain hotel probably around 35th and Collins. What struck me was that in late December when we were freezing in Philadelphia, in Miami Beach people were thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather in t-shirts and shorts. The evenings were cool and just gorgeous, while the day was warm and sunny. 

But, what stood out most was the architecture. I was transported back to suburban Bombay. The shapes, colors, and features of the building were identical to the ones that I was surrounded by in Mumbai. This was a much cleaner version of Mumbai with swaying palm trees, late-night life that extended into early hours, and a cosmopolitan population.

Here's an example of a building at 5970 Indian Creek Drive that's very close to where our local home is located:

Let me point out a few architectural features that makes it a solid "Art Deco" specimen:

• Plain white concrete construction with a steel skeleton (hidden of course)
• Light colors. In a previous incarnation this building was white with pastel yellow.
• Balconies galore with metal balustrade particularly at the top third.
• Plenty of glass to let light in. Much of it is not visible in this photo taken from the street.
• Concrete overhangs over/underneath windows.
• Bold geometric streamlined curves.

One of the nice additions to this building is a bunch of palm or coconut trees planted on site. Of course, they could have been there all the time and the building contractor took care not to cut them down. But the trees add so much to the building!

This particular building is quite new, probably constructed in the early 2000s in the Atlantic Heights section of Miami Beach. There are hundreds of old beautiful Art Deco specimens scattered throughout the city and in a future post I hope to share some of them here.

 

Marchu Pichu: A new cocktail creation

• 2 oz. dry gin
• 0.5 oz Ancho Reyes Verde Poblano liqueur
• Juice of half a lime, fresh squeezed
• 4 oz. tonic water
• ice
• Long red chili ("Marchu" in Gujarati) for garnish

Fill half a mixing glass with ice. Squeeze half a lime onto the ice. Add the Ancho Reyes Verde Poblano liqueur and the gin. Stir with bar spoon until it's all chilled. Pour into a tall glass. Add as much of the ice from the mixing glass as you want -- you can even add more fresh ice to your tall glass if you like your drink really chilled. Pour tonic into the tall glass and stir it all. Garnish with the Marchu.

The basic gin and tonic is a pretty refreshing drink on a hot summer day. It's one of many British legacies with a connection to India -- the Brits found that their tummies had a hard time with all the tropical bugs that inevitably entered the food chain in India. The quinine that was present in tonic water (it was a different kind of tonic water in that there was much more quinine in it then than there is today) helped their tummies with all the tropical bugs and with malaria also.

Sometimes you long for something different from a basic gin and tonic. Necessity is the mother of invention they say. I just happened to have bought this Ancho Reyes Verde Poblano liqueur which is a gift from Mexico to the rest of the world. This liqueur is spicy and vegetal -- I would not recommend it as a digestivo -- it's just too vegetal and spicy. But...in a cocktail...it does wonders. 

The above recipe was not...ahem...as a result of trial and error. I "invented" it at first shot and it knocked my socks off. This is a keeper!