Rustiko: The Dairy Half of Harding Avenue

A pizza comes out of the wood oven at half past nine, and the smell of charred dough and truffle reaches three tables before the plate does. Across the street, through the window, you can see the purple light of Kosh, where the same owners are cooking ribeye and duck tacos. Rustiko is the other half of that arrangement, and on a Tuesday evening in Surfside it is the busier of the two. The room is small enough that the wood beams overhead feel close, the floor tiles are patterned in the way old Havana kitchens were, and the couches along the wall are deep enough that nobody in them is leaving quickly. This is a one square mile town with a single commercial street, and Rustiko has held the same address on it since January 2016.

The wood oven is the reason to come, and the pizza list is where the kitchen argues for itself. Seven of them, and four abandon tomato sauce entirely. The caramelized onion truffle builds on a creamy base with truffle pate, parmesan, fresh mozzarella and goat cheese, then finishes with balsamic glazed pearl onions that cut through the fat exactly where it needs cutting. The cheeses and figs runs dry figs and caramelized onions against feta, sweet against salt, and is the one the room orders when it wants dessert disguised as dinner. On the tomato side, the smoked caprese layers roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and smoked gouda under pesto, and the gouda is what makes it worth ordering over the version every other kosher kitchen makes.