Serious Eats
Serious Sandwiches: Flame of Forest Wrap at the Pineapple Blossom Tea Room in Miami Florida
You may be aware of the fact that Jamaica was at one time a British colony, and as a result much of the country grew up enjoying English style afternoon tea. I didn't, and perhaps that bit of knowledge would have made finding a place like the Pineapple Blossom Tea Room in Miami, Florida much less of a surprise to me than it was. A tiny little restaurant situated in a fairly unlikely part of of Miami, the Pineapple Tea Room is run by Jamaican chef Frances Brown and serves up a menu of elaborate tea services (complete with freshly baked pastries) side-by-side with a full offering of salads and wraps, combining the flavors of multiple countries under the Jamaican theme of "out of many, one people."
The fresh baked scones and extensive list of exotic teas are a perfectly adequate reason to stop into the Pineapple Tea Room for an afternoon snack, but at lunchtime, the wraps are the clear star—each named after a flower. One of my favorites is the Flame of Forest, which features poached shrimp wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla with mixed greens, avocado, English hothouse cucumber slices, Japanese style pickled ginger, and a sweet and spicy mayo, house-made from combining mayonaisse with sugar, vinegar, and crushed chilis. Ginger makes its presence known in a lot of the wraps, as does a tropical fruit salsa, evoking thoughts of Island lunch'ing in a way that makes sense in the context of Brown's philosophy. It's that same thought that has chutney dressing and guava vinaigrette added to what would otherwise be pretty standard smoked turkey or grilled chicken sandwiches.
You can't really go wrong with any of the sandwiches at the "not as strange as it seems when put into a historical context" Jamaican tea room in the middle of Miami. Wash it down with a ginger/pomegranate iced tea, and you've got the perfect summertime lunch.
Pineapple Blossom Tea Room
8214 Biscayne Bouleavard, Miami, FL 33138 map
Phone: 305-754-8328
Website: pineappleblossom.com