REVIEW: Ember & Vine Brings Global Flavors and a Napa-Inspired Feel to Coral Springs

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Ember & Vine in Coral Springs {photos by Han Okcuoglu}

Ember & Vine is the newest restaurant from Eddie and Christina Pozzuoli, the husband and wife behind P Hospitality and the team responsible for several South Florida restaurants, including Eddie & Vinny’s in Coral Springs and Dear Olivia in Parkland.

After taking a trip to Napa Valley, the couple came home with the idea of bringing some of that feeling to Coral Springs without making it pretentious or overly formal.

The result is Ember & Vine, a globally inspired restaurant whose menu draws on influences from around the world rather than trying to fit neatly into one cuisine. The name fits the concept. Ember represents warmth and gathering, while Vine represents the ingredients and wine. Their slogan is “Made to Gather,” and the entire dinner menu is built around sharing and trying a little bit of everything.

Chef Jeff Tunks is the culinary director for P Hospitality and the person behind much of the culinary direction here. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Tunks has more than 40 years in the restaurant business and previously led the kitchen at Corvina Seafood Grill before working with the Pozzuolis on their concepts. He also has an impressive resume from his years in Washington, D.C., including DC Coast, TenPenh, and PassionFish. This isn’t a chef who just recently showed up in South Florida.

Garden Breakfast Wrap.

We actually visited Ember & Vine on two different days because breakfast and dinner feel like two completely different experiences. Breakfast and lunch are much more casual. You order at the counter, get a number, and they bring the food to your table. The menus are smaller, but honestly everything we tried was superb.

The decor is probably the first thing you notice. Deep greens, warm wood, wood chandeliers, and gorgeous waterfall granite make the restaurant feel extremely classy without being stuffy. It is tasteful and soothing, which is not always an easy combination to pull off.

Southwest Short Rib Wrap.

For breakfast, the Southwest Short Rib Wrap ($14) was smoky and punchy. Slow-cooked beef short ribs, crispy potatoes, peppers, onions, scrambled eggs, and queso fresco are wrapped inside a grilled flour tortilla. The salsa has just enough heat to wake things up without overwhelming the wrap. It is one of those salsas where you immediately want another helping to dip the wrap into because it complements everything perfectly.

The Garden Breakfast Wrap ($13) uses roasted seasonal vegetables, crispy potatoes, scrambled eggs and fresh goat cheese inside a toasted whole wheat tortilla. The goat cheese really comes through beautifully. It is tight, compact and hearty without being overly heavy.

The French press coffee ($13) was another standout. It serves two people, and I had mine black specifically so I could really taste the coffee. You can tell they are using quality beans. It had enough flavor that I didn’t feel the need to add anything.

Truffle Caesar Salad.

Dinner is where the Ember & Vine concept really starts to make sense. Eddie and Christina’s When most people hear fusion, they think about two cuisines being combined. Ember & Vine takes a different approach, marrying multiple cuisines and influences from around the world. That is why the shareable small plate format works so well here.

The happy hour is more drink-focused than food-focused, with things like six-ounce wine pours for four-ounce prices and $4 off specialty cocktails. We tried the house-infused cherry bourbon cocktail with homemade whipped cream, and it was absolutely exceptional. One of the better bourbon cocktails we’ve had in quite a while. The cherry infusion added depth without turning it into a sugary bourbon drink.

We started dinner with the Truffle Caesar ($19). It is definitely anchovy-forward, which I actually liked, and the Little Gem lettuce was bright and crunchy. The black truffle Caesar dressing, truffle-seasoned sourdough crumbs, and freshly grated black truffle pecorino gave it plenty of flavor without completely burying the lettuce.

Beets.

The Beets ($19) were our favorite dish of the night. They are almost presented like a beet carpaccio, with the red and golden beets sliced incredibly thin and arranged across the plate. The whipped feta gives a great burst of salt, while the pistachios add crunch. The light shallot vinaigrette is intentionally understated because the beets, feta, and pistachios are already doing most of the work. Simple, but really well executed.

Duck Pappardelle.

My wife absolutely loved the Duck Pappardelle ($29). For me, it fell a little flat, especially after the beets were so flavorful. The house-made pappardelle itself had exactly the right texture and clearly wasn’t some store-bought pasta. The slow-braised duck ragù was fine and the orange-herb ricotta was actually very good. I just wanted the sauce underneath everything to sing a little more.

Korean Short Ribs.

We also tried the Beef Short Ribs ($37). The meat itself was beautifully cooked and practically falling apart. The Korean kalbi marinade and dark, earthy tamari reduction had plenty of flavor. My problem was the presentation. The sauce pools underneath the crispy Korean scallion pancake, and by the time you work your way through the dish, the pancake can get a little soggy. This is one of those dishes you need to eat quickly. It wasn’t bad by any means, but with so many other options on the menu, I probably wouldn’t order it again.

Then came dessert.

The Butter Cake Pop ($6) is basically P Hospitality taking its famous butter cake and making it even more ridiculous. If you’ve had the butter cake from Eddie & Vinny’s or some of their other restaurants, you already know how decadent it is. Now imagine that butter cake rolled into a little bite, dipped in salted caramel glaze and finished with white chocolate pearls.

It is a sugar overload for such a small bite, and somehow it works. It was unreal how good it was.

What I really like about Ember & Vine is that it doesn’t feel like another restaurant trying to be one specific thing. You can come in for a French press coffee and breakfast wrap in the morning, grab lunch, come back later for a cocktail, or sit down at night and order five or six completely different dishes from around the world and share everything.

Having Eddie and Christina behind it also gives the restaurant an advantage because they already understand Coral Springs.

Eddie & Vinny’s has become a major part of the local dining scene, and Ember & Vine feels like the Pozzuolis taking what they’ve learned from that restaurant and trying something considerably different.

There were a couple of dishes that didn’t completely land for me, but there were enough that did that I left wanting to come back and work my way through more of the menu. And that may be the best compliment I can give a restaurant with this many choices.

Ember & Vine

(954) 775-8445

5920 Coral Ridge Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33076

Mon – Thurs 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Fri 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Sat 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Sun 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

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Author Profile

Han Okcuoglu

Han Okcuoglu is a curious foodie, Turkish-American and resident of South Florida for over 35 years. He graduated from FAU with a degree in Information Systems Management. He also writes food reviews on various websites and social media groups. He loves to see new restaurants and mom and pop shops get the attention they deserve and flourish.