Joey Aventura (786.763.2300) at the Esplanade at Aventura Mall, located at19505 Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 1150, is the first Joey Restaurant Group outpost in Florida. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the group includes 27 premium casual restaurants located across Canada and the United States, including Washington, California, Texas and now Miami.
As you enter the restaurant’s impressive two-story atrium with floor-to-ceiling windows, you’ll see the buzzing round bar with a dramatic chandelier above, where mixologists are shaking up handcrafted cocktails. Don’t miss the Watermelon Drink made with Absolut vodka, fresh watermelon, agave syrup, mint and lime juice.
Executive chef Matt Stowe, a “Top Chef Canada” winner, has brought 18 years of experience to some of North America’s best restaurants. He shared his recipe for roasted corn guacamole with us just last month.
Stowe’s globally inspired menu focuses on Asian, American and Mediterranean cuisine. Begin with tasty appetizers such as Japanese gyoza pork dumplings with hot mustard and Szechuan chicken lettuce wraps. The sushi cone with tempura prawn, avocado, spicy mayo and tobiko is also a real winner.
Can’t decide between steak and pasta? Choose both: the ravioli bianco brings together perfectly grilled sliced sirloin, shrimp, crispy onions, grana padano cheese, and truffle beurre blanc. Fish entrées include salmon with truffle beurre blanc and sake-glazed Chilean sea bass with wok-fried vegetables.
And don’t even try to resist the yummy desserts, which include hand-folded baked apple pie with toasted almonds and Tahitian vanilla ice cream, and warm Italian donuts with vanilla mascarpone cream and lemon curd.
We also heard wonderful things about restaurateurs Sandy Sanchez and her chef-partner husband, Ben Rablat, and visited their SilverLake Bistro (786.803.8113) at 1211 71st St. in Normandy Isles to see what the fuss was about firsthand. The popular, North Miami Beach neighborhood eatery is the couple’s second local venture, after the former Los Angelenos – who met while working in that city’s Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza – opened their still-operating French bistro La Fresa Francesa in Hialeah in 2016.
They opened SilverLake Bistro two years later, an homage to California cuisine elevated by their added French twist – a natural fusion, given that Rablat grew up in Paris.
When you walk in, you’re struck by the welcoming atmosphere and cozy vibe. The menu offers American and French bistro dishes, such as brick-fired oven artisan pizza and mussels with saffron, tomato, olives, fennel, garlic and white wine sauce. Mains include steak frites, scallops with black rice in seafood broth with gremolata, roasted half-chicken in beer brine and the famed SilverLake burger, rated as one of the best in town. (We were tipped off that you should add bacon to it).
(Courtesy of Normandy Gourmandy)
Restaurateurs Sandy Sanchez and Ben Rablat, partners in life and business, at their Normandy Gourmandy gourmet market.
You’ll be tempted to become a regular here – the service is warm and friendly, and you’ll want to come back and try everything on offer. And that burger is worth stopping in for every week!
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At Normandy Gourmandy (305.289.3378), located at 932 71st St., also in Normandy Isles, expect the same warmth and conviviality that makes SilverLake Bistro a neighborhood hot spot. Sanchez and Rablat’s new gourmet market and wine store is a much-anticipated destination that features delicacies from around the world.
(Natalia Aguilera/Courtesy of Elcielo)
One bite of any of Elcielo’s specialties and you’ll understand why the restaurant received a coveted Michelin star.
Equal parts tasting room, foodie mercantile and gift shop, not only are upscale items like truffles and caviar available, but also affordably priced, high-quality oils, frozen canapés, cheeses, olives and a well-curated selection of wines. They even have special jerky treats for their indulged pup clientele. The market is open Wednesday through Sunday; pop in for scheduled and impromptu wine tastings and product samplings of everything from truffle potato chips to imported French cookies.
Miami’s Elcielo (305.674.1701) – which has taken over the former space of The Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS South Beach Hotel at 1701 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach – is a Colombian restaurant that was awarded a Michelin star in 2022.
Elcielo was brought to Miami by celebrity chef Juan Manuel Barrientos Valencia, known in the culinary world as “Juanma.” Born in Medellín, Colombia, he began his career in 2005 alongside renowned chefs Iwao Komiyama (Argentina) and Juan Mari Arzak (Spain).
(Courtesy of Breakwater Hospitality Group)
Regatta Grove offers an embarrassment of foodie riches, including chef Janine Booth’s Sunny Side Up Aussie Bites.
He is the founder of Elcielo restaurants in Medellín, Bogotá and Washington, D.C.; the Elcielo luxury boutique hotel in Medellín; and prominent eateries and bars in Colombia such as La sere, Cuon, Kaime and Elcielo Classic in Medellin, and AO in Bogotá.
Elcielo opened in Miami’s Brickell area eight years ago, offering a tasting menu at $197 a person. It quickly became a top culinary destination, leading the way to that Michelin star. The restaurant offers the option to dine à la carte, a first for the Elcielo brand. Favorites include the ribs in guava and tamarind, corn caviar, and truffle buñuelos with torched foie gras. The brand’s other Michelin-starred location is in Washington, D.C., the first-ever awarded to a Colombian restaurant.
For lovers of the boating life, the Breakwater Hospitality Group recently launched Regatta Grove (305.707.4667), located at 3415 Pan American Dr. in Coconut Grove. The nautically themed open-air restaurant is situated along the Grove’s Biscayne Bay shoreline and features amazing waterfront views, with bars offering premium spirits, wine, beer and tropical cocktails.
(Courtesy of Chotto Matte)
Try Chotto Matte’s beef tataki during its wallet-friendly “Chotto Hour.”
Regatta Grove offers local foodie a Who’s Who of “Top Chef” competitors and Michelin-starred or James Beard Award-winning chefs, including Janine Booth cooking up her native Australian fare at Sunny Side Up Aussie Bites; Jeff McInnis at Tackle Box featuring local seafood from fish tail sliders to chilled stone crab and caviar; Jose Mendin at The Piefather, serving pizzas with imported Italian toppings; Kenny Gilbert at House of Birds Drop Biscuits dishing up artisanal fried chicken and drop biscuit sandwiches; and Jeremy Ford offering burgers – including a sublime soft-shell crab burger – tacos, truffle fries and crispy onion rings at JJ’s Guilty Pleasures. Ford earned his first Michelin star in 2022 for his South Beach restaurant, Stubborn Seed.
If you’re heading out to indulge in happy hour, a great spot to land is Chotto Matte (305.690.0743), located at 1666 Lenox Ave. off Lincoln Road in South Beach, which has launched a new “Chotto Hour.” This hidden gem brings us founder-director Kurt Zdesar’s unique vision of authentic Nikkei cuisine, which incorporates bold Peruvian flavors with Japanese techniques. The London-based Zdesar established Nobu in London, which received the UK’s first Michelin star for Asian cuisine.
Tuesday through Friday from 5-7 p.m., Chotto Hour offers 2-for-1 deals on cocktails, spirits, wine and Nikkei bar bites. Enjoy $4 nibbles like spicy edamame or shishito peppers; the $8 Chotto ceviche made with branzino sashimi and leche de tigre, Peruvian corn and cilantro, and the salmon tostada with cauliflower crema and queso fresco; and $13 bites like the popular Nikkei gyoza or beef fillet tataki.
And don’t forget that Miami Spice is still running this month, when you can indulge in three-course specialty menus at great prices in restaurants all around town. There’s a special $10 valet parking rate for Biscayne Times readers at Mehzcla at The Balfour Hotel, located at 350 Ocean Dr. in South Beach; the regular rate is $30. Tell the concierge we sent you.
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.