By E. Machado.
Some days it feels like the year has passed so rapidly, it has been one year since we opened Cortadito Coffee House & just like that we started 2021 with a January witnessing a 4th Cafe Americano & an April blossoming with PaperFish sushi bar.
Summer brought us great joy & for the first time a Key to the City of Miami Beach plus Hispanic Heritage month award for Oh Mexico, such a great way to begin the 25th anniversary celebration of Vida & Estilo in America.
And now, here we are writing about the end of the year & more importantly what is it that our guests prefer in our restaurants in hectic post-pandemic times. Some items will be best sellers forever. It is hard to compete with 96 years old American Breakfast.
However, some others like Cuban Sandwich did not make it to the list just because we don’t have a best of the year sandwich, or perhaps because we dedicated a whole Cuban Sandwich month earlier this year.
About our 1st time putting together this editor’s selection – VE Best of the Year 2021, criteria was certainly not just limited to $sales but to quantities of items sold & popularity. Some categories were filtered by cuisine & new of the year has been carefully selected by our team.
Here is the BEST of the YEAR 2021 – Editor’s selection.
PERFORMER OF THE YEAR – La Orquesta Cubana
Sellers. Havana 1957
Qty: 42,418
VE Top 10 Ranking # 3
This platter of Cuban classics is first a signature dish that brings 3 selections of traditional dishes in One, of which the (also) signature Havana 1957 roasted chicken with Cuban gravy, aka Pollo Havana, the Lechon Asado & the everyday more popular in menus across America Ropa Vieja. These 3 mains all are perfectly paired with white rice, black beans, salad & maduros scoring a $1.03 million in the year.
BREAKFAST OF THE YEAR – American Breakfast
Sellers. Cafe Americano
Qty: 130,251
VE Top 10 Ranking # 1
Back in 1925, 96 years ago, bacon and eggs became the iconic American breakfast thanks to Edward Bernays, also known as the father of Public Relations. The initial goal was to increase bacon sales & for that he worked with doctors to grow awareness about how a heavy vs light breakfast was better for the health. For Cafe Americano this item sales in 2021 are about $3 millions placing it at the top of the whole group.
COFFEE OF THE YEAR – Cortadito
Seller. Cortadito Coffee House
Qty: 22,810
Cortadito Top 10 Ranking # 1
For this category we did not focus on sales numbers of which American Coffee, Espresso & Colada would take the lead, BUT on the fact that this particular coffee drink sales proportionally rocketed after the homonymous coffee shop opened in Dec 2020.
LUNCH OF THE YEAR – Lunch Special
Seller. Mercato della Pescheria Las Vegas
Qty: 52, 505
Mercato della Pescheria Top 10 Ranking # 1
Whilst is not listed in the website, hence poorly organically promoted, this special made it to the best of the year for its great lunch selections, a food for every mood while in Vegas around lunch time, from wandering to gambling, from not much hungry to starving.
TACO OF THE YEAR – Baja Chicken Tacos
Sellers. La Cerveceria de Barrio, Oh Mexico
Qty: 12,704
Tacos Top 10 Ranking # 1
This was a tough selection because in Oh Mexico, the Bistec con Queso is so good & at La Cerveceria those Carnitas are to die for.
But there is something magical that happens when a perfectly garlic & herbs marinated chicken breast is combined with chihuahua cheese, crispy bacon, chipotle mayo, spices and we have a winner for both our Mexicans in the family.
MOJITO OF THE YEAR- Super Mojito
Sellers. Havana 1957
Qty: 103,276
VE Top 10 Ranking # 2
No doubt when in Miami, Mojito is a must-have. With such a variety of flavors from classic to fruity, truth is that the 22 oz Super M is the one our guests prefer the most.
Hey Bartender! It is hard to beat 300 daily Super M’s and shake it for this $2.05 millions winner.
PASTA OF THE YEAR- Linguini
Sellers. Mercato della Pescheria, Cafe Americano
Qty. 23, 333
VE Pastas Ranking # 1
Whilst spaghetti may be the number one pasta worldwide, in the world of VE, the longer & narrower relative is the absolute winner perhaps because of the excellency in flavor when partnered with different sauces. In Cafe Americano, we go with the Linguini Alfredo & at Mercato della Pescheria the absolute favorite is Lobster Linguini.
SUSHI OF THE YEAR- Paper Tuna
Sellers. Paperfish Sushi
Qty. 7,300
PaperFish Top 10 Ranking # 1
This signature maki with tuna tartar, avocado, torched tuna, nikkei sauce and chives made the best of year with an average of 32 rolls / day since PF opened in April & $128.5K of pure love for tuna.
SEAFOOD OF THE YEAR- Mediterranean SeaBass
Sellers. Mercato della Pescheria
Qty. 5,707
Mercato Top 10 Ranking # 2
Both foodies & eaters, describe the Mercato branzino as a deliciously must-get of clean taste, good texture on the skin, flavorful, moist & soft fish meat with perfect sides (arugula & shaved fennel).
COCKTAIL OF THE YEAR- Margarita
Sellers. Oh Mexico, La Cerveceria de Barrio, Cafe Americano. Barsecco, Havana 1957, Marabu
Qty. 97, 100
Margarita is the most popular cocktail nationwide, so it came as no surprise that it is also the VE cocktail of the year with an average of 300 classic margaritas / day. No, we are not including any flavors but classic. Oh yes! Margarita is the Numero Uno.
NEW COCKTAIL OF THE YEAR – Wasabi Martini
Sellers. PaperFish Sushi
Qty. 3,782
Labeled as the Martini that challenges your taste buds, this creation gets the VE award in NEW ON the Menu in 2021 with 3.7K cocktails sold since its introduction earlier this year.
NEW DISH OF THE YEAR – Black & White Pizza
Sellers. Barsecco
Menu Innovation has been declared the way to the future by 55% of eating-out enthusiasts in America, mostly because of the interesting foods that they can’t make at home. Our VE best of the Year recognizes the activated Charcoal pizza dough, caramelized mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bechamel, brie cheese, mozzarella, crispy prosciutto & micro arugula.
Officially introduced during Black Friday 2021. We wish all the BEST in 2022.
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