South Beach/Miami Beach, Florida, Restaurants
Barton G the Restaurant
1427 West Avenue
Miami Beach
305-672-8881
www.bartong.com/restaurant/
At this indoor/preferably outdoor garden eatery, run by a caterer/restaurateur who was formerly a Broadway set designer, dining’s a three-ring circus—sometimes literally; two giraffes (from the G-man’s personal zoo) greeted diners at the restaurant’s opening party, and remain a more remote presence on the labels of the place’s excellent new house wines. The playful food includes tuna and salmon sashimi snow cones, with wasabi-lime and gingered blood orange sorbets; a Swordfish Epee, grilled and served on a “gentleman’s sword” that has inspired inter-table fencing bouts; and a Big Top Cotton Candy dessert, accompanied by an over-the-top popcorn surprise.
Bond Street [at the Townhouse Hotel]
150 20th Street
Miami
305-398-1806
www.townhousehotel.com
Attitude tends to be ample at this loungelike spot, unless you’re a celebrity (or are as young, skinny, and glamorously-dressed as one), and prices match. But the sushi and small plates— mouthwateringly inviting items like whitefish sashimi with shiso sorbet, a sesame-crusted shrimp roll with orange/curry/Dijon mustard sauce, yellowtail snapper, or lobster tempura with drizzles of yellow tomato dressing and chive oil-- are arguably the most solidly and elegantly creative Japanese raw fish dishes in South Beach.
David Bouley Evolution
1669 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach
305-604-6090
www.bouleyevolution.com
The evolution is actually quite subtle at famed chef David Bouley’s first restaurant outside Manhattan. Some dishes are lightened, reflecting the tropical setting and the chef’s current obsession with healthy eating, but many are duplicates of acclaimed NYC creations. They’re even served in distinctly different dining areas similar to Manhattan’s main Bouley and the more informal Upstairs at Bouley— Bouley Burgers, pristine sushi, and simple small plates in the comfie Etoile lounge, the chef’s equally personal but more formal French-influenced fare in Evolution’s dining room. Still, famed NYC creations like Lobster In An Exotic Manner, with its tropical mango and papaya garnishes and ginger/vanilla glaze, seem to personify Miami heat. And décor, suitably, is a sophisticated yet festive 21st century Deco throughout, making the place feel Floridian despite lack of an outdoor dining area.
Creek 28 [at the Indian Creek Hotel]
2727 Indian Creek Drive
Miami Beach
305-531-2727
www.indiancreekhotel.com
A little jewel that would probably be overrun if it was located five or six blocks south in Sobe, this eatery is, instead, one of the beach’s best-kept secrets. The chef’s Kira Volz (best known for her stint at the Abbey Hotel’s restaurant, years ago), and food’s a tasty Mediterranean-influenced mélange—dishes like sumac-spiced pita wedges with three dips (tangy white bean puree, red pepper and walnut spread, and thick homemade minted yogurt), butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter sauce, or an intensely flavorful monkfish stew, with mussels and choizo, in rich saffron broth. The indoor dining area’s claustrophobic, so definitely eat outside, on the idyllic, lushly landscaped patio.
8 1/2 [at the Hotel Clinton]
825 Washington Avenue
Miami Beach
305-938-4040
There’s a small sidewalk café out front, and a loungelike indoor dining room/bar, but the hippest seats are the sheltered banquettes in the enclosed back pool courtyard of this “creative global” restaurant, a locals’ insider favorite. Chef/owner Jason McClain (formerly chef at the Pearl/Nikki Beach complex, and the Shore Club’s Nobu) serves tasting menus (that change semi-weekly) as well as a la carte creations influenced by regions from Asia and the Mediterranean to the American South and Southwest: Cajun crab cakes with charred corn relish and Key lime chiootle aioli; lamb carpaccio drizzled with Banyuls vinegar reduction, accompanied by hummus, zatar-toasted pita, and microgreens; rock shrimp tempura with creamy chili-garlic sauce.
Fifty [at the Ocean Five Hotel]
444 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach
305-532-2441
www.fiftyonline.com
The name’s a tribute to the USA’s fifty states, and so is the imaginative but accessible Progressive American fare at this stylishly sophisticated-looking indoor/outdoor garden restaurant. Dishes include an almost binder-free plantain-wrapped jumbo lump crab cake with beurre blanc and velvety avocado aioli, beef shortrib empanadas in smoked tomato bisque, tender pork osso buco (with squares of crispy crackling worth fighting for), and, for dessert, a selection of outstanding American artisan farmhouse cheeses—or warm pecan pie and homemade ice creams.
Joe’s Stone Crab
11 Washington Avenue
Miami Beach
305-673-0365
www.joesstonecrab.com
Serving their signature fresh—never frozen, as at lesser seafood joints—Florida stone crab claws (with homemade mustard sauce) since 1921, this restaurant is an oldie but goodie… with one not so good foible: loooong lines. Joe’s no-reservations policy can mean waits of well over an hour for tables. But impatient visitors can do as locals do: Grab an order of claws (or perhaps a chilled Florida spiny lobster tail, if it’s not stone crab season), plus Joe’s famous hash browns, creamed garlic spinach, and Key lime pie, at the adjacent Joe’s Take Away, for a seriously succulent al fresco South Beach picnic.
La Goulue [in The Bal Harbour Shoppes]
9700 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour
305-865-2181
www.lagouluebalharbour.com
Famed French chef Christian Delouvier’s first venture as a chef/owner is a mirrored warm wood-and-tile space so evocative that it feels like an instant trip to Paris-- and the creative yet comfortingly classic brasserie food, subtly lightened to suit Miami’s tropical environment, completes the illusion. Dinner standouts include bisque de homard, packed with huge chunks of lobster; grilled salmon and asparagus with airy mousseline sauce; a witty foie gras “hamburger”, with ringer apple and green grape catsup; a perfect moules/frites with mustard/saffron sauce; and a buttery-crusted tarte a l’oignon topped with caramelized onions, bacon, and Gruyere. Lunch and all-day snack menus offer simpler, but equally evocative, items: a frisee and lardon salad with poached egg, crudities with anchoiade dip, a crisp buttered baguette stuffed with slices of savory saucisson.
The Lido Restaurant’s Bayside Grill [at the Standard Hotel]
40 Island Avenue
Miami Beach
305-673-1717
www.standardhotel.com
There’s nothing more idyllically Miamian than eating outdoors in the dead of winter—when the rest of the country is frostbitten—in a tropically-landscaped waterside setting. At the Bayside Grill of the Standard, trendsetter Andre Balazs’ first spa hotel, diners can gaze at a panoramic expanse of Biscayne Bay while dining on dishes that range from spa-perfect healthy to downright decadent—the latter including possibly the most swoonworthy shoestring fries in the known universe, served with housemade ketchup plus lovely, lemony aioli. But many entrees are mix-and-match—diners choose their own sauce and side dish to compliment a main ingredient (meat, fish, or tofu) cooked on the humongous outdoor grill-- so avoiding dietary sin, while not recommended, is entirely doable.
OLA
1745 James Avenue
Miami Beach
305-695-9125
www.olamiami.com
Homeboy Douglas Rodriguez, who pioneered Nuevo Latino cuisine at Coral Gables’ Yuca in the early 1990s, is largely an absentee executive chef at OLA (Of Latin America), in its third location since opening in 2003. Décor’s rather uninvitingly old fashioned, almost tatty. But Rodriguez’ signature ceviches (such as salmon with apple, lime, and jalapeno sauce, plus jicama, sprouts and tarragon granite) are as tempting as ever—definitely, along with the delicately rich deconstructed Key lime pie, the Required Eating items here.
Quattro Gastronomia Italiana
1014 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach
305-531-4833
www.quattromiami.com
It’s hard to say which imported taste treats have had visiting and local glitterati drooling most since this hotspot opened late in 2006— authentic Northern Italian dishes (made mostly with ingredients flown in from Italy) like tender house-made fontina ravioli drizzled with white truffle oil, or the two cute-as-buttons 30 year-old identical twin chefs from the Piedmont. The mostly Italian wine list is also unusually appealing, full of savvy selections seldom found in Florida, and cocktails are most festive; the signature Quattrino aperitif (Campari, Aperol orange liqueur, Chardonnay Mila, and fresh Florida grapefruit juice) is especially stimulating.
Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante
1801 Purdy Avenue
Miami Beach
305-531-2228
www.sardinia-ristorante.com
Though this stylish neighborhood bistro opened in the fall of 2006 with no major p.r. push, WOM rapidly insured big buzz-- proof that food that’s simple but pretty perfect can pack the house on its own. Featured here are Sardinian specialties, many cooked in an open wood-burning oven—roast suckling pig flavored with rosemary and the island’s myrtle berry liqueur; salt crust-baked branzino (Mediterranean sea bass); numerous luscious vegetable anitipasti (cippolline al forno, brussel sprouts with guanciale, among others). Counter seating, facing the busy wood oven, makes dining alone amusing. And sebadas (sweet pecorino-stuffed fritters, with Sardinian honey) are a seductive finish that require no human company.
The Restaurant at the Setai
2001 Collins Avenue
305-520-6400
www.setai.com
The good news is the glamorous global-fusion food, the most impressive being Pan-Asian creations like wok-seared spiny lobster with fresh water chestnuts and ginger, diver scallops with trendy XO sauce, or delicate duck consommé with a shrimp mousse-stuffed chicken wing. The bad news is, you may have to sell the kids into slavery (possibly mom and dad, too) to pay the bill. But more good news: the Setai’s original Caviar, Champagne and Crustacean Bar has been replaced with The Grill, making it possible to enjoy the Setai’s ultra-stylish setting for a less astronomical tag.
SushiSamba Dromo
600 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach
305-673-5337
www.sushisamba.com
This multi-level Japanese/Brazilian/Peruvian fusion eatery has hosted so many trendy nightlife events that people tend to forget that the food is serious stuff. But no more reminder is necessary than an astonishing assortment plate of contemporary ceviches or tiraditos (Latin-style sashimi on steroids, flash-marinated in various light sauces just before serving, rather than “cooked” sour by long citrus soaking)—the diner’s choice of four items like tuna ceviche (with grapefruit juice, red jalepeno, and almond) or kanpachi tiradito (with yuzu, black truffle oil, and sea salt). Cooked food like cornmeal-crusted calamari “chicharrones” with tamarind sauce, tomato salsa, and plantain are also habit-forming. Additionally, it’s a fun place for Sunday brunch, thanks to dishes like a wrap of crispy rock shrimp, roasted corn, and cherry tomatoes with spiced walnut and aji amarillo chile dressing, or warm churros with a pair of spiced caramel and Peruvian chocolate dipping sauces.
Table 8 [at the Regent Hotel]
1458 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach
305-695-4114
www.theregentsouthbeach.com
A spin-off of celebrity chef Govind Armstrong’s trendy Los Angeles Table 8, this sleek indoor/outdoor restolounge serves the same sort of no-nonsense ingredient-driven preparations that allow their top quality meats, seasonal produce, etc. to shine—in theory. In practice, food can be inconsistent—kurobuta pork juicy one night, overdone dry another—which is frustrating, since dishes like the naturally flavorful chop (accompanied by light gnocchi, sautéed black kale, and celeriac puree) can be delectable when the kitchen’s paying attention. Service can also be spotty, and music terminally loud—always a problem with eateries that double as nightclubs. Still, the place has been packed with A-listers from day one, as long waits for tables attest.
Talula
210 23rd Street
Miami Beach
305-672-0778
www.talulaonline.com
The married chef team of Frank Randazzo and Andrea Curto-Randazzo earned national accolades cooking different styles of food (he Southwestern, she MediterrAsian) at different Miami restaurants before teaming up at Talula. And the varied influences, as well as their common Italian-American backgrounds, make for a unique multicultural menu: cascabel chile-crusted BBQ quail with sweet potato agnolotti; ahi tuna tartare with Serrano chiles, crispy rice, and trout roe; foie gras with blue corn cakes, chile syrup, and candied walnuts; crispy-skinned yellowtail snapper with Key West pink shrimp and pignola risotto, complimented by anisette-kumquat beurre blanc and a raw chocolate/chile caramel.
Tamarind Thai
946 Normandy Drive
Miami Beach
305-861-622
www.tamarindthai.us
Astonishingly, the master chef of this little low-profile neighborhood Thai spot (located in North Beach, aka “Little Buenos Aires”) is world-renowned Southeast Asian cookbook author Vatch Bhumichtr, who has five very upscale Thai restaurants in England. Explanation: Fortunately for Miami, he’s a friend of Tamarind’s proprietors, from art school days. Expect some unusual signature dishes like tod man goong (shrimp corn cakes with plum sauce) and ped makham (roast duck with tangy-sweet tamarind sauce), plus many familiar curries that are simply far more skillfully conceived and executed most American Thai restaurant fare.
Pamela Robin Brandt is a Miami-based freelance writer who specializes in Deep Fluff (mainly restaurant reviewing, travel writing, and profiles of extraordinary people).
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Note: This information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the businesses in question before making your plans.