Stubborn Seed

For our trip to Miami, Florida, we booked a series of restaurants to try out. Our first restaurant was Stubborn Seed. This was highly rated by various Miami bloggers and food reviewers as a consistent Michelin dining restaurant. This restaurant also holds a Michelin Star for both dining and sustainability. It was quite easy to get a reservation a few weeks ahead of time, so we stopped by on a Wednesday evening at 5:30 PM.

Ambiance & Service

The interior was quite dark, but were seated in a square table facing the window of the kitchen. The decor felt modern and woodsy, reminded me a bit of The Smyth in Chicago for some reason. Otherwise, the restaurant service was quite good, and it was interesting to see the Miami locals come out to dine.

The music was definitely on the louder side, but not uncomfortably so. They were good at filling waters and keeping the sequence and timing of dishes on point.

For the unprepared, the bill came with a Miami Beach tax, so that’s in addition to the sales tax.

Food

We went for the 9-course tasting menu, which was $175 per person.

The Bread was infused with sun-gold tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, and thyme. It was served with their housemade butter and some maple gel for more sweetness. The bread tasted of cheesy notes, and it was delicious with the butter.

The Big Mango Tree ($20 - left) came with Diplomatico Planas rum, green chartreuse, elderflower, mango, coconut milk, fresh lime, and basil. My partner really enjoyed this because they are a fan of the coconut milk and mango flavors.

The glass of Sancerre ($26 - right) came from La Foret Gasselin, Loire Valley, France 2024. This sancerre was bright and crispy with notes of apple on it. It wasn’t the best sancerre I’ve had, so it was a middling offering.

The Ginger & Citrus Cured Japanese Yellowtail came with tomato consomme, French Farms watermelon radish, kombu citrus granita, and soft herbs. The yellowtail was very delicious, especially with the concentrated tomato consomme.

The Truffled Jalapeno Cheddar Fritter (right) came with truffle emulsion and winter black truffles. The truffle flavors on this were very mild. It was earthy and not pungent. The cheddar was fairly prominent.

The Binchotan Kissed Florida Oyster (left) came with beef tallow & shallot vinaigrette and turnip foam. This one was pretty good as it tasted somewhat meaty with the sharp acidity to cut through.

The Hudson Valley Foie Gras Torchon came with spiced gooseberry jam, peanut miso crumble, and Sullivan Street sesame sourdough. This was a play on peanut butter and jam. I actually enjoyed this a lot because it had some nice crunchy notes, and the gooseberry jam and peanut miso crumble definitely made it very playful. When topped onto the bread, it was a delightful harmony.

The Cabernet Sauvignon Blend “Unshackled” ($18) came from The Prisoner, Napa Valley, California 2023. This was a wine full of ripe blackberries and cherry aromas, with notes of pepper, tobacco, and mocha. It’s a somewhat heavy, velvety feel that also brings a lot of harmony to each sip. It definitely was good and would blend well with red meats. The blend consisted of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc.

The Braised Leek & Gruyere Raviolo came with potato espuma, crispy smoked beef bacon, shallot garlic sofrito, egg yolk, and potato nest. This was surprisingly one of my favorites for the night. The raviolo was cooked perfectly, as the egg yolk just bled into the broth when you cut down the middle. Along with everything else, it was a nice mashed, starchy explosion.

The Lime Jalapeno Gusher came with apple passionfruit tarragon granita. This was interesting because for me I did not get a symphony of flavors. Instead I was first hit with the passionfruit tartness followed by the apple sweetness followed by the jalapeno kick to the very end. The sensations each followed after each other as opposed to all coming at you at once. It was also a palette cleanser, so I felt it definitely made my palette go for a ride.

The Florida Genuine Red Snapper came with charred baby bok choy, marinated sweet tomatoes, roasted pearl onion, toasted hazelnuts, and umami beurre blanc. The red snapper was quite meaty and tasted pretty good. I thought it was slightly overcooked as the fish meat was dry and had a shredded texture. Maybe that was intentional, but I’m not sure. The sauce and everything else blended nicely though.

The Wagyu Beef Tartare came with milk bread, crispy leek, leek & kohlrabi kimchi, crispy leek, and fennel gel. This one was decent, though I felt the seasoning overpowered the beef tartare. It definitely tasted Asian inspired, but a little on the salty side.

The Koji Marinated Lamb Loin came with charred cipollini, toasted pine nuts, lion farms mushrooms, koji nut squash puree, sour cherries, and allspice jus. We thought this was decent though not our favorite. We’re not a fan of lamb generally, but the meat was quite tender and flavorful. However, the koji nut squash puree had some distinct flavors that clashed a bit with everything else. The allspice jus was also decent, though not memorable.

The White Ember came with coconut semifreddo, passionfruit curd, soy crumble, white chocolate, soy ice cream, and passionfruit veil. This dessert was interesting because the white chocolate shell was not super sweet and neither was the rest of the ingredients. In the middle of this was a passionfruit liquid that was pretty good.

These chocolate hazelnut cookies reminded me of chewy chocolate chip cookies but also with hazelnut and salt. I felt like they might have overdid the salt, as it was way too pronounced as I was eating more of the cookie. Had it not been for this over-seasoning, I’d love to bring a bag of these home.

Overall Impression

We were pleasantly surprised by Stubborn Seed and its menu. Even though there were some parts of it that were not seasoned to our palette, we very much enjoyed it because it offered a different taste than what NYC had to offer.

Yelp & Google Jabs

The biggest let down was the ravioli which was meant to have a runny egg yolk inside but when we broke it apart it was quite set.

Our raviolo was fantastic, and it was cooked perfectly. The egg yolk was very runny and was delicious.

The food was ok, nothing blew me away and it was a bite of each thing.

This Elitist did the summer menu, which seemed to be about 6-courses, excluding the dessert. It seemed to me they offer more portion sizing for less courses than for the larger ones. For ours, we were sufficiently full after the entire 9-courses, even if it was a bite or 2 per course. If you come with a super heavy appetite, then fine dining is probably not the best option.

Revisions

1. Dec 17, 2025 - Initial revision.