Who wants to drive to the mainland after hitting the shows all day during Miami swim week? Good thing the beach offers plenty of new options. Here are six to get started.
THREE LITTLE PIGS: Fussy French is the last fare, and a corporate chain hotel is the last location one would expect the Pubbelly trio to head for the latest installment in its Brooklyn-in-Miami empire — by way of a Puerto Rican toque. But L’echon Brasserie in the Hilton Cabana Miami Beach features just that, with coquilles St. Jacques, confit de canard, tart tatin and more.
Info: lechonbrasserie.com
ROCK STEADY: Southern chef Kris Wessel named his restaurant, Oolite, after the state’s porous limestone foundation. His healthy menu is free of gluten and refined sugars, so feel free to order dessert. With touches of Caribbean (curried goat and guava) and New Orleans (barbecue shrimp), it comes as close to home cooking as it gets.
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Info: ooliterestaurant.com
MET LIFE: Metropolitan by COMO, the Singapore-based hospitality group’s first footprint in the U.S., is an unbastardized throwback to the days of Gianni Versace’s South Beach. Italian designer Paola Navone created minty-fresh, Art Deco interiors, where restored terrazzo meets new elements like a gin-stocked zinc bar, and extend to Traymore seafood restaurant and Shambhala Urban Escape rooftop spa.
Info: comohotels.com
FIRE STARTER: Don’t let Alton Road’s construction dust keep you away from the Drunken Dragon’s lair for hipster Korean barbecue replete with DIY grill tables and banchan (sides) from pickled daikon to bok choy. The chef, an alum of Asian powerhouses Nobu and Zuma, also knows his way around Japanese and Thai dishes, not to mention a lobster roll with sriracha-infused aioli.
Info: drunkendragon.com
BORDER ORDER: At Mexico City-based Porfirio’s first U.S. outpost, street standards like Veracruz-style deep-fried crab tacos and corn covered in chili powder and cheese are served in stately surroundings with art works by Isabel Garfias. Mezcal concierges’ duties include fetching patrons’ bottles from personal lockers.
Info: porfiriosrestaurant.com
NEXT: 1826 Restaurant & Lounge >>
3-H CLUB: Within 1826 Restaurant & Lounge’s glittery, glass tower overlooking Collins Avenue, the two-Michelin-starred chef Danny Grant divides haute cuisine into the Harvest, the Hook and the Hunt. The festive atmosphere calls for bubbly before the parade of exquisite dishes like cucumber and almond gazpacho sprinkled with gin snow, and foie gras with strawberries and baby onions.
Info: 1826collins.com