In seeking out new restaurants and culinary concepts, we often discover really fun, different things to do and eat.
Big Pink, 305-532-4700, 157 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, in South Beach's South of Fifth Area. is a hangout with late-night hours offering an extensive comfort food menu, including "TV dinner" specials and huge portions at affordable prices. The comfort food is all house-made — thick potato chips with spicy ketchup, and crunchy/creamy polenta fries. Order the Pink Daddy Mack burger on a brioche bun, a big salad, and one of their great cocktails. It also offers vegetarian options.
(Credit Irene Moore, Photographer)
Amavi Tzatziki & Pita; Tuna Crudo
Amavi, 305-728-0516, 3252 NE 1st Ave., Ste. 109, Midtown Miami features Mediterranean flavors and showcases a stylish atmosphere that transitions seamlessly with curated music, standout cocktails, and a lively crowd fueling both relaxed evening dining and energetic nightlife. There's even a fashion runway for chic fashion shows.
Amavi's menu reflects wide, Mediterranean influences that follow a culinary trail from the Aegean Coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Greece's colorful marketplaces, emphasizing a wealth of flavors that the East and West bring together.
For starters, try the whipped roasted eggplant and bell peppers with pine nuts; the burrata with seasoned tomatoes, olive oil and basil; or the bluefin tuna crudo with taggiasca olives and garlic crisps. Try the Amavi Mediterranean salad with tomato, cucumber, and walnuts; kofta skewers with tzatziki and charred tomatoes; malfadine, slow cooked rib ragu and wild mushrooms; and for mains, grilled branzino with fresh herbs, butter, and pearl onion; lamb chops and slow-cooked short ribs; and pistachio ice cream or blood orange granita for dessert.
(Credit Irene Moore, Photographer)
Ready to Roll: Nami Nori "Starter Set" for Making Sushi Rolls
Nami Nori in the Miami Design District, (786-598-8848) 156 NE 41st St., Miami, is a casual yet elegant temaki bar specializing in open-style sushi hand rolls. Start with the shared spicy tuna dip, and the Yellowtail ceviche. Nami Nori is known for guests making their own open-style temaki, offering a variety of fillings and flavors, including vegan options. You're brought a special box from which you take your nami seaweed to make your temaki. Unlike maki rolls which are cylindrical and sliced, temaki is eaten by hand, more like an ice cream cone. Choose from three sets of ingredients to make your temaki: A Signature Set with tuna poke, X.O. scallop, coconut shrimp, salmon serrano, cucumber and black sesame; the Starter Set, a California roll with tuna, avocado, yellowtail, scallion, salmon, cucumber, and spicy tuna. The third set is the Vegan Set with avocado toast,' eggplant, tofu, chimichurri, sweet potato tempura, cucumber, and black sesame.
WHAT'S NEW
(Courtesy of Lily's Hand Made Ice Cream )
Lily's Wolverine Delight & Cinderella Ice Cream Flavors
Lily's Handmade Ice Cream, 305-749-6395, 14871 Biscayne Blvd., North Miami, in the Biscayne Commons Shopping Center didn't open in time to include in our celebration of ice cream in our July issue, but they’re open now.. Voted number one Best Ice Cream in South Florida by the Sun-Sentinel, Lily’s is a true family affair, run by the Gilinsky family. who built the shop from scratch with passion, persistence, and a true love for America’s sweetest summer indulgence. Known for their focus on creativity and quality, Lily’s offers both classic and unique flavors with wild names like Gator Tracks with cookies and cream; SoFL Swamp, with chocolate cookie pieces and chocolate chips; and Worms in Dirt, a classic vanilla with crushed Oreos and gummy worms. Each batch is made fresh in-house using all-natural ingredients, with no preservatives or artificial flavors. Like their Delray location, the North Miami Beach store features the brand’s 12 signature flavors alongside 4 rotating flavors that change monthly, offering customers something new every time.
Be sure not to miss Isabelle’s at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, 305-644-4680, 3300 SW 27th Ave, Miami, as they launch the Lennox & Grace Candlelight Dinner Series — an intimate, limited engagement dining experience that pairs the warm, inviting glow of Lennox & Grace candles with the debut of the restaurant’s new menu. The candlelight dinners will be offered on Thurs., Sept.18 through Sun., Sept. 24. Each evening is designed to delight guests with culinary excellence and refined ambiance.
Something new has arrived in Miami, unexpectedly French and kosher. Paris-born and self-proclaimed “Kosher Queen” chef Olivia Ostrow, the culinary personality behind Miami’s acclaimed Ostrow Brasserie, is leveling up with a new restaurant, Maison Ostrow, 786-803-8092, 10666 79th St. Causeway, Ste. 102, North Bay Village is certified kosher by the ORB. This sun-drenched French-Mediterranean kitchen and bar blends Parisian elegance, Riviera soul, and Ostrow’s signature flair for bold flavors and “crazy, conversation-starting” art.
The menu celebrates Ostrow’s French-Jewish roots and Mediterranean influences with dishes like Ora King salmon carpaccio with citrus and truffle, tuna tartare on brioche with quail egg and caviar, dry-aged steaks, whole grilled fish platters, homemade pastas, cod beignets, and her decadent bread and butter service, calling it a “love letter to the Mediterranean.” The restaurant features indoor dining with a full bar, a chef’s table offering a rotating chef’s tasting menu and a terrace with glimpses of Biscayne Bay, designed for long brunches and spritzes at sunset.
(Courtesy of Delilah Miami)
Menu Items at Delilah Miami
Chef Mitchell Hesse has recently taken over the helm at Delilah Miami, 305-400-4657, 301 Brickell Key Dr., Miami. The Brickell supper club has officially unveiled a new menu that captures Miami flavors and honors Delilah’s signature menu items.
New menu highlights include a refresh of Delilah’s famed seafood tower, now a dazzling centerpiece with shrimp, oysters, lobster, hiramasa ceviche, crab salad, tuna, dill aioli, Delilah mignonette, and cocktail sauce. Two new, refreshing salads join the menu, including the avocado and citrus salad and tomato and mozzarella salad. Small plates invite sharing, from the twice cooked octopus appetizer with potato, fennel, olives, peppers and harissa aioli, to sides that shine on their own: charred corn and roasted squash.
For entrees, find indulgent additions like the lobster mafaldine with zucchini, spicy vodka sauce and crispy basil; and seasonal roasted chicken with farro, butternut squash, leeks and truffle chicken jus; pan seared snapper with summer caponata, clams and soft herbs. To finish, a new delicate lemon olive oil cake offers a bright, elegant finale.
Downtown Miami’s culinary scene is sizzling, and Miami Worldcenter, 305-895-8914, 652 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, the city’s newest 27-acre, $6 billion destination, is home to some of the most exciting restaurants that are offering unbeatable seasonal menus.
With six new restaurants opened in the past year, Miami Worldcenter continues to evolve as one of the most exciting lifestyle hubs in the city, becoming a can’t-miss dining destination.
Earls Kitchen + Bar, 645-202-1488, 150 NE 8th St. Miami; Serafina, 305-902-1851, 652 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, and Sixty Vines, 786-607-7846, 150 NE 8th St., Miami are participating in Miami Spice for the first time, along with Brasserie Laurel, 305-330-9048, 698 NE 1st Ave., Miami, marking a new chapter in Miami Worldcenter’s emergence as a top spot for dining in the heart of Downtown. Miami Spice runs through September 30 and offers food lovers specially priced three-course menus for brunch ($35), lunch ($35), and dinner ($45–$60). Meanwhile, Maple & Ash, 305-901-8885, 699 NE 1st Ave., Miami is bringing its Chef’s Tasting Menu to the table, offering a chance for diners to experience the signature experience for less.
Irene Moore is a Miami-based writer and certified sommelier whose vivid descriptions take readers through culinary cultures around the world.
(Irene Moore)
Irene Moore