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Category: Food

Salty Flame is a playful take on a traditional American steakhouse, together with a contemporary favorite, Asian influenced dishes . Plus it ticks off all the other right categories: very good food, friendly and attentive service, an attractive ambiance, loungey music but easy conversation, and value. It’s on Brickell Avenue, a neighborhood where value isn’t easy to find.
A reader suggested that I take a first look or relook some of the classic restaurants in Miami and suggested Graziano’s. Surprisingly, despite having iived here for over 20 years and heard good things about it, I never made it to one of their 11 restaurants, markets and pizzeria. Guess it’s because a blog is about news, and classics seldom make news. Thinking about the idea, together with hearing about new additions to the menus, gave me the added push to check it out. And glad I did, trying the Grazianos restaurant Coral Gables,  as I found a family owned restaurant group with an inspiring history, very popular eating spots and markets, delicious food, and  reasonable prices.
Delilah took me to my dream of spending a retro evening in the 1920’s at a glamorous Miami speakeasy complete with the jazz band and singer, dancers,and an art nouveau décor, and with a locally inspired menu. From what I’ve seen, it has to be unique in Miami. Mr. W called it  “big city 20’s elegant”.
Miami is sunshine, swelter, beaches, body-con locals, and bedazzled tourists, But there’s more to this city, too. Miami is always busy reinventing itself. The vegan scene alone has gone from huh? to happening in just 20 years, even earning Miami a spot among PETA’s Top Ten Vegan Destinations.  We do award-winning vegan burgers and bowls, but what’s really exciting is the way the local vegan scene has been showing its true colors — and flavors. The Magic City is just a hop from the Caribbean and  Central and South America. Miami’s vegan restaurants are bringing that to the table with street eats and splurges, wellness and wowl.Here are my picks for the best vegan restaurants in Miami.
The “Messi of Wines”, Alejandro Vigil, has opened an outpost of his Michelin Star Mendoza restaurant in Upper Buena Vista and it, too, is a winner. Also named Casa Vigil, the winery restaurant features a Mediterranean and Modern Argentinian influenced menu and a very good deal made for a celebration in its five course tasting menu with unlimited wines.
When we walked into Rao’s Miami in the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the newest outpost of the 127 year old iconic Italian restaurant founded in New York, I smelled Italian comfort food. Then I saw the bright red and rich wood décor with historic photos adorning the walls,  and the patrons’ contented faces, many of small groups of friends or business associates enjoying their southern Neopolitan cuisine. Yes, I thought, no wonder co-owner Ron Straci says Rao’s is where every night feels like a Sunday dinner.
New Miami restaurants all around town, popular French bakery and cafe from New York, eating spot for Asian street food,  Spanish popup in the Grove, review of the Sprouts new location, Bahia Nights at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, and more,  all in Eating News for February 2024.
On a Tuesday night, almost all of the 366 seats were filled indoors and outdoors in this waterfront landmark building in Edgewater. People were loving Casadonna. David Grutman, known for Komodo, Swan, Papi Steak and others, knows what Miamians like. Together with Tao Hospitality Group, they launched Grutman’s first Italian offering, where they showcase classics from seaside towns Naples, Taormina, and Positano among others, and describe the ambiance as “seaside dolce vita”. The décor, which warranted a major feature in Architectural Digest, is reason enough for a visit for dinner or brunch. The menu is very well curated, with many Italian favorites, along with their own novel signature additions.
Downtown Miami is on the move, slowly but surely. That will surely accelerate with the staged opening of The Miami Worldcenter, but in the meantime there’s a growing number of interesting, reasonably priced restaurants, trendy bars, shopping, and of course Miami icons for culture and the performing and visual arts. Here’s a guide to what to do in downtown Miami,  some of my favorites – new finds and the tried and true. For the listings for the arts and entertainment, you can find current and upcoming exhibits and shows highlighted. Want to know more about the restaurants? There's a link  to the places I've written about .  This is number four in my series of A Day In. Enjoy, and go check some of them out!
I can’t wait to go back to The Wrapper Miami, the first eatery in Miami serving Lebanese street food, the specialty being a solid variety of yummy wraps and bowls. They get it right, even their fellow Lebanese in their online reviews give it a “5” and say it’s the real thing. Not surprising, because the two owners Eli and Jimmy are Lebanese and are so true to serving the real deal, one of them calls his mother in Lebanon if he has any questions about how to make the dishes. And while you're in the neighborhood, check out The Athens Juice bar.