Fall is finally here and with it comes seasonal menus, exciting new chefs and family-friendly events. And with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, let's explore options for the big holiday meal before savoring a taste of what’s new in the corridor’s foodie scene.
Local restaurants are offering Thanksgiving brunch, lunch or dinner, plus there’s catering service and takeout if you still want to host the holiday but don’t relish spending all day in the kitchen.
Expecting a crowd at your table? Don’t fret, help is here: Bill Hansen Catering (305.751.1101) is offering a Thanksgiving dinner menu for $42 per person (plus tax, service and delivery charge) for a minimum of six people. The menu includes turkey, wheatberry-cornbread stuffing, pan gravy and kumquat-cranberry conserve. Sides are mixed greens with almonds, squash bisque, sautéed asparagus, Doris Italian Market sausage stuffing and roasted sweet potatoes. The sublime endnote is pumpkin cheesecake with mascarpone and toasted pumpkin seed. Pre-order by Friday, Nov. 17; delivery is Wednesday, Nov. 22, noon to 6 p.m.
(Courtesy of Bill Hansen Catering)
Bill Hansen Catering will deliver Thanksgiving for six or more to your door one day prior to the holiday.
Semilla, a French-American bistro in Miami Beach is also offering catered Thanksgiving dinner you can pick up that day. Read more about it in this month's edition of Chef Share. You may also dine in.
Say goodbye to lumpy pie dough and hello to your one-stop shop for Thanksgiving desserts: Fireman Derek’s, with locations at 2545 N Miami Ave. in Wynwood (786.703.3623) and 3435 Main Hwy. in Coconut Grove (786.502.2396). Treats include pumpkin pie – made with flaky crust and a creamy, custard pumpkin spice purée filling topped with fresh whipped cream and crunchy streusel – and pumpkin cheesecake made with an airy filling topped with a house-made praline and caramel sauce drizzle.
(Courtesy of Fireman Derek’s)
You can order your holiday table’s pumpkin pie from Fireman Derek’s online beginning Nov. 1.
Other desserts from this former Miami firefighter-turned-pie connoisseur include pecan pie, apple pie, carrot cake and salted caramel pie. Preorders for Thanksgiving open online Wednesday, Nov. 1. Specify your date and time for pick-up in Wynwood or Coconut Grove; Fireman Derek’s will be closed Thanksgiving Day.
Perhaps a delicious brunch that gets you and your holidaymakers fed and home in time to enjoy the football games happening that day is more your speed? If that’s the case, Jaya at The Setai (855.923.7899), located at 2001 Collins Ave. in South Beach, is offering a holiday version of its signature jazz brunch from 11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Priced at $125 per adult and $75 per child ages 5-12, brunch is served in the courtyard with endless Roederer Champagne, traditional Thanksgiving dishes and a variety of Asian, seafood and dessert stations alongside favorite breakfast classics.
(Courtesy of Bourbon Steak)
If turkey with all the trimmings isn’t what you’re looking for on the big day, Bourbon Steak offers a menu full of delicious alternatives, like tuna sashimi, oysters and filet mignon.
If you prefer dinner, there are holiday classics and an exotic à la carte menu ranging from tandoor oven delights to Jaya’s signature Peking duck. The à la carte Thanksgiving dinner service is offered from 6-11 p.m.
For those who don’t want the traditional turkey, there’s always steak. Michael Mina’s acclaimed American steakhouse, Bourbon Steak (786.279.6600), at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa, 19999 W. Country Club Dr. in Aventura, is offering a different kind of Thanksgiving celebration Nov. 23.
Appetizers include tuna sashimi, prime steak tartare and the chef’s oyster selection. Entrées are filet mignon, Amish roasted half-chicken, branzino and glazed short rib, accompanied by truffle mac and cheese, potato purée and creamed spinach. End the evening with pumpkin pie, cranberry beignets or Valrhona chocolate bitter orange cake. The Thanksgiving Day menu is priced at $180 per adult.
What's New
(Irene Moore for Biscayne Times)
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Octopus on chickpea purée at Osteria.
One of the Graspa Group’s popular Italian restaurants, Osteria (786.634.1005), located in Miami’s Upper East Side at 8001 NE Biscayne Blvd., has a new fall menu and chef. This place is one of those hidden neighborhood gems, and Fabrizio Carro, formerly of Via Verde Italian Cucina, has recently taken over the helm in the kitchen.
The fall menu features antipasti such as polpette, meatballs in tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese; scallops gratinate; and grilled polpo (octopus) with chickpea purée. Mouthwatering pastas include fettucine ai funghi and tagliolino cacio sal e pepe, which is prepared fresh tableside. The branzino della chef is a whole fish, deboned, deheaded and served tableside by Carro with a grand flourish.
Desserts include a new-to-the-menu cherry cheesecake – the chef swears it’s “addictive” – and a transcendent tiramisu, also prepared tableside and in the classic method: ladyfingers soaked in espresso, piled up high with mounds of rich mascarpone and finished with a generous dusting of cocoa powder.
The magic is back with chef/restaurateur Cindy Hutson and her longtime partner Delius Shirley, who have been a monumental duo on the Miami culinary circuit for years. Now they’re reigniting the local dining scene with a limited-time pop-up of their iconic restaurant, Ortanique (305.458.8422), one of South Florida’s most revered and missed restaurants, which was shuttered during the pandemic. It’s taking over the former QP Tapas space inside MKT Kitchen at 1831 Ponce de Leon Ave. in Coral Gables.
Dinner is available Thursday to Saturday evenings through Dec. 16, with two nightly seatings and a two-hour time limit. The pop-up offers a three-course prix fixe menu of some of Ortanique’s most popular favorites, priced at $98 (including tax but excluding bar and gratuity).
If you’re tired of the same old bar scene, head to Esotico Miami (305.800.8454) at 1600 NE First Ave. for something different. This fun restaurant/bar hearkens back to the Tiki culture fad of the 1950s and ’60s. It’s co-owned by the Graspa Group and Daniele Dalla Pola, a longtime connoisseur of exotic cocktails and an authority on authentic Tiki culture.
Menu specialties by Argentinean chef Joan Solis, an expert in Asian Pacific cuisine, include the Ooh Mami sea bass with ume and herb-and-pickled-plum sauces, and Oko’A fried rice with filet mignon, served with hondashi marinated rice. The main event is the extensive menu of Tiki cocktails – expect pyrotechnics – such as the Mokopuni Tiki Bowl, the Nu Mai Tai and a classic Singapore sling.
In the back is the Koana Room, a “hidden” den filled with Tiki memorabilia. Handcrafted cocktails are made with recipes that go as far back as the days of Trader Vic’s and the famed Waikiki Beachcomber. The intimate space, headed up by Dalla Pola’s son, Billy, features more than 500 varieties of rum and is open Thursday through Saturday, only.
Miami’s Basque restaurant Leku (786.464.0615), located at 100 NW 23 St. in the Rubell Museum, recently hosted the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America, held in 20 cities around the country. This was its first time in Miami, and the event highlighted our exciting local food community by spotlighting independent restaurants and chefs.
Featured eateries included Rosie’s, chef Akino West’s Southern comfort food restaurant in Little River, a winner of a Bib Gourmand award in the Michelin Guide; Ocean Social at the Eden Roc, helmed by chef Tristen Epps; Tacombi, Mexican food by Carmen Miranda at several locations; Phuc Yea, Cesar Zapata and Ani Meinhold’s Vietnamese restaurant in Miami’s Upper East Side; Tacotomia, chef Karla Hoyes’ taco restaurant in Julia & Henry’s downtown Miami food hall; and Drinking Pig BBQ in North Miami, helmed by chef Raheem Sealey.
Irene Moore is a Miami-based writer and certified sommelier whose vivid descriptions take readers through culinary cultures around the world. Her feature articles have appeared in print publications, travel guidebooks and websites in the U.S. and Europe.
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(Courtesy of Ortanique)
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Conch fritters at Ortanique.
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(Courtesy of Esotico)
Esotico’s extensive drinks menu includes the Tiki Bowl cocktail.
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(Courtesy of the James Beard Foundation)
The James Beard Foundation’s Taste of America – a big-time annual foodie event – was hosted in Miami for the first time, at Leku in the Rubell Museum.