The Place: Speccio 9485 Harding Ave., Surfside, FL, 305-865-5653
The Bite: Cheesecake is among other oddities such as carrot cake and fruitcake. Certain things just shouldn’t mix. But at Speccio Café, a 13–year–old Italian restaurant in North Miami Beach, a different style of cake, a ricotta cheesecake, is served. Unlike its cold and dense cousin, this cake is served warm and with a golden–thin topping of honey.
The owner: “I don’t like cheesecake,” said Speccio owner Giovanni Fusillo, while at his restaurant during the lunch hour. Fusillo dislikes how the cold cheese seems to sit in his stomach all day. “But this one melts in your mouth,” he said.
Fusillo won’t give out the secret recipe, which came from his former chef’s Sicilian grandmother to whom he promised to keep the secret under wraps. “It takes a long time to cook,” said Fusillo. Even his chef of many years refused to sacrifice his family secret until his last day when he intentionally scribbled the instructions down on a sheet of paper for Fusillo, who had begged for sometime for the recipe.
Fusillo does, however, divulge how he’s able to make a smooth and soft texture. After slow cooking the cake, and then storing it away to chill and set, he zaps the cake in the microwave for 15 to 25 seconds before serving. That enables the cake to loosen and the ingredients to wake up, hence the melt–in–your–mouth characteristic.
The price: Slice $7. Cake $70 (serves 12).
** Photo: Strawberries and chocolate were added upon request**
