Seventeen Restaurant (17), Miami Beach, FL [Review]

Seventeen is one of only a few kosher restaurants in South Beach, but it not too far from the Kosher hub of Miami Beach only 24 blocks north.

The restaurant was formerly Tfor2 (originally from Brooklyn), and many of the remnants from that restaurant remain, including signs and items on the menu (like a Kings Highway roll). Irregardless of that, the restaurant has plenty of its own merits that make it a popular destination for the kosher diner in Miami.

On a recent Saturday night, we sat at an outdoor table (adjacent to the parking lot behind the restaurant), although it was (partially) sheltered from the cars and potential sudden rain shower (it rained for about 5 minutes). The restaurant was packed both inside and out back.

There are 2 menus that define 17′s cuisine: Italian and Japanese. The Italian menu gives you a choice of pasta, pizza, fish, and an array of other dairy appetizers. We opted for Japanese (which basically reads like a sushi menu), and they did not disappoint.

Starting with the Ichiban Tuna, the tuna tartar and avocado dish was a refreshing palate cleanser that wasn’t too heavy or too explosive in your mouth. It offered the right flavors and differed from a traditional sushi roll.

We ordered 2 rolls of sushi, including the fancy “Kings Highway” roll – which was a special tempura roll topped with coconut and walnuts – which we loved – and served with their special eel (fake) and shizo sauces – which I prefer to soy sauce.

Additionally, we tried the butternut squash pumpkin soup which was equally delicious.

The only drawback to such a meal was the cost. Sushi is never as filling as pasta, yet it is just as expensive, so this meal was a treat for us, and I was more than happy to spend my money on a good meal.

Definitely worth a try, decent place for a date as well.
Walking distance to the beginning of Lincoln Road and the movie theater.

Staying at “The Crown” Churchill Suites in Miami Beach, FL

Many of you remember the Crown as a Jewish hotspot on Collins Avenue, which it was … for decades. My grandparents used to frequent the Crown Hotel for years, enjoying its prime location on the corner of 41st street and Collins Ave, as well as right off of the Boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean (although I think the boardwalk was, and perhaps still is, the bigger attraction for them and many Jews traveling down to South Florida).

I remember from my early teens the hotel’s Jewish “scene” on Shabbat, its large minyanim, kosher dining room and kitchen, and its busy pool area, which my family often used and rented chairs at, despite staying at a different location. It was an old-school place, with an old-school Jewish vibe.

What was once an old-school Jewish hotel, is now a residential tower with rentable units overlooking the ocean, walking distance to Miami Beach’s kosher hub.

Today, the hotel is no longer. It is now a mix of short term rentals and condos. The building has retained its overall look and feel from the outside, except it’s now blue, not pink. The radio-looking-tower still remains as a distinguishing external feature.

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Kosher Finds @ JetBlue’s T5 JFK Terminal ✈

JetBlue’s T5 JFK terminal is well stocked and Kosher-friendly.

If you’re hungry and flying through JetBlue’s new (and beautiful) T5 terminal at JFK Airport, you’re in luck! I did a scan of the new terminal’s offerings and to my surprise, I found numerous Kosher options offered at all of the terminal’s CIBO Express shops*. The main CIBO Express shop is more of a food court type of store located in the center of T5. One of the open refrigerated areas contains 10 different offerings from FreshKo (cobranded with CIBO Express) with a Star-K hashgacha. 

Here’s what I found in one whole section of the main (and even the smaller of the) CIBO Express shop:

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