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”.

We walked up a staircase to get to the restaurant and bar, through intimate spaces with their velvet or brocade banquettes and chairs in mauve and light violet, adorned with tufted round pillows, windows draped with fancy scalloped curtains, and theatrical yet tasteful lighting.  And then there were the lovely table lamps I coveted with hand painted paper shades. We were taken to a choice round table with a front row view of the pianist and celloist with a singer that brought to mind Josephine Baker at a Miami speakeasy. To our other side was a marble platform where one of three dancers dressed in head to toe sequins and a hat to match was shimmying away. In the back of the room, beyond our view, was a long bar that has to be one of the hot spots in town. The cover of the menu quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Carpe Diem for herself and laissez faire for others”.

Delilah Miami is the latest outpost of h.wood Group following Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It has only been open for two months and when we went on a Tuesday night, its seats were full at 7 p.m. as was the bar. The crowd was eclectic – small groups of women friends celebrating, corporate types on a business dinner, and couples – alone and in pairs. No photos are allowed to put famous clients at ease (they provided me with the photos in the post).

The executive chef is Daniel Roy, formerly of The Matador Rom at the Miami Beach Edition hotel and Stubborn Seed. The menu is divided into chilled seafood bar, entrees appetizers, steaks, salads, sides and dessert.

We started with the dish that has gotten a lot of buzz – the chicken tenders. They’re oversize (portions are good sized here) chunks of chicken that are crunchy yet moist and tasty, served with house bbq sauce and buttermilk ranch dressing ($27). I opted for the stone crab salad made with little gem lettuce and laced with small pieces of stone crab throughout, topped with sunflower seed bread crumbs and a light and flavorful salad dressing ($35).

Mr. W chose the charred Romanesco, a vegetarian offering, that was a towering heart of cauliflower seasoned with harissa celery leaf pesto, herbs, and topped with crunchy garlic crumbs. ($32). I chose the locally caught red snapper that was in a light chili garlic sauce and garnished with peas, carrots and potatoes bravas. The fish was very fresh, moist and perfectly cooked. ($53)

Two of our favorite dishes were the macaroni gratinee that was a new favorite version of a variation on a mac and cheese, here made with mimolette cheese fondue and black truffle bechamel. It had a crispy crust that gave it an exciting texture ($22). The carrot souffle tasted like a sweet potato souffle with a clever and yummy twist, candied corn flake topping ($23).

Dessert was their key lime pie which has the right blend of creamy and dense, with a serious pastry crust . We finished off the meal with another one of their “buzzy” dishes, Kendall’s slutty brownie. It’s a favorite of Kendall Jenner who hosted a party for her tequila brand 818 at Delilah Los Angeles. “They have the intimate vibe that I love” said she. The dessert is a chocolate chip cookie, brownie, vanilla ice cream, topped with an oreo cookie and then drizzled with chocolate fudge. How does she stay slim?

The wine list is extensive and serious, what you’d expect at a Miami speakeasy. A glass (5 ounce) starts at $19 and bottles at $85, but most are three figures. Cocktails are $20.

The dinner we had including a cocktail and glass of wine each and all of the dishes I mentioned costs about $300 plus tax and tip.

There’s valet parking for $25. The restaurant also has its own boat slips so guests can arrive via boat and moor on site.

Delilah Miami, 301 Brickell Key Drive, Miami. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. There’s also a late night menu that kicks in at 10 p.m.