Pasta Takes Center Stage at Niven Patel's New Restaurant Erba

Miami chef Niven Patel doesn't play favorites when it comes to his restaurants, but he does have a dish that he likes to cook the most — and that's pasta.

"There's something therapeutic about turning a ball of dough into delicate sheets of noodles," he says while slowly feeding dough through the rolling machine 20 to 30 times, a process he'll repeat until the base for the ravioli is just right. "It needs to be thin and tender, almost leathery. Just enough to give you a mouthful and to melt in your mouth."

Patel is having fun at his fourth and newest restaurant, Erba. Located in Coral Gables, Erba is the chef's interpretation of Italian food with a Miami twist.

"We are not trying to be Italian, nor are we taking ourselves too seriously," Patel shares with New Times.

Instead, the chef's goal is for diners to feel welcome and at home, an ethos that is reflected in the inventive yet approachable food and drinks menu, the whimsical design of the dining room, and even the soul music that plays in the background.

Inspired by the chef's formative years working in a small trattoria in Florence, Italy, Erba sets the stage for ingredient-focused fare inspired by Italian cooking techniques. When he built the menu, instead of starting with a selection of dishes, he came up with a list of ingredients that he was most excited to showcase, informing the creation of every bite he was inspired to create.
For example, Patel was keen on incorporating conch into the menu. It's delivered as a riff on linguine alle vongole, replacing the obvious clams with Bahamian conch and the traditional linguine with bright-green mafaldine — curled, ribbon-shaped noodles made with spinach — and finished in a white wine sauce.

"While the resulting dish may not look at all like the original inspiration, the flavor combinations will certainly make one reminisce about it. That's our goal with many of the dishes on the menu," he adds.

Making the most of seasonal ingredients like white Alba truffles (available from September through December), Patel decided on a truffle-centric ravioli dish.

Paper-thin layers of fresh semolina and egg-yolk pasta are cut into circles and filled with dots of whipped buffalo ricotta, Parmesan cheese, and truffle trimmings. The dumplings are then cooked for exactly one minute before getting tossed with a lemon sauce and more truffle trimmings, and then finished tableside with — you guessed it — shaved white truffles.

The resulting mouthful melts against the palate. The sauce doesn't cling but rather complements, allowing the truffle to shine. Simple and light, the ravioli won't leave a diner stuffed.

It's a good thing because there are many other things worth trying. The menu boasts eight different types of pasta made from scratch daily, and those interested in savoring a varied selection can opt for Erba's $45 pasta-tasting experience, available from 5:30 to 7 p.m. daily.
Right in step with the rest of his restaurants, Patel uses ingredients from his Homestead farms. Having an abundance of eggplant this summer (more than 200 pounds harvested), he preserved part of it for several months in a blend of balsamic vinegar, honey, fennel seed, and olive oil, rendering it tender, tangy, and sweet.

That marinated eggplant now stars among the appetizers, making it a perfect pairing for the housemade focaccia, which is a reason to visit on its own. According to the chef, the bread took nearly two months to perfect, only reaching a satisfactory point two days before opening day.

"Since we start every meal with complimentary focaccia, I wanted to get it right. The perfect balance of texture, airiness, and lightness," he shares. Fluffy, golden-crusted, and with soft pockets of olive oil throughout, upon tasting, it's safe to say he succeeded.

But bringing the classic flavors of Miami was also important to Patel — a way to make this cuisine his own.

Take his use of hearts of palm, an ingredient that can be found in abundance in Miami that does equally well replacing the classic artichoke for his giardiniera starter. Or the tiramisu inspired by the sugary foam atop a cortadito, incorporating the flavor along with a splash of rum for a decidedly Caribbean touch.

"People may associate me with Ghee and Indian food, but my whole career before that was about ingredient-driven, seafood-centric, Italian cuisine," sums up Patel. "To me, Erba is a way to continue to build on my passion for making pasta and Italian food. This has always been a dream of mine. Erba has been over two years in the making, and I'm so proud of having created a special place in such a great community as Coral Gables. I want people to come and enjoy the fruits of our labor with our interpretation of Italian food using Miami ingredients."

Erba. 227 S. Dixie Hwy., Suite 100, Coral Gables; 305-712-7788; erbamiami.com. Sunday through Thursday 5:30 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 11 p.m.