The only guide you’ll ever need to MIAMI’S NEWEST RESTAURANTS
You are an adventurous eater. You want to be the first to dine at a brandnew restaurant.
You have come to the right place.
Every week we get reams of pitches for new restaurant openings in Miami-Dade County, all of them promising something new and exciting. We’ve sifted through them and picked out the ones that caught our eye as we wrote about them for the Miami Herald. All of them are less than a year old.
Some of these may go on to become among Miami’s hottest restaurants. Others inevitably will be a flash in the pan. Several have already made it into Miami Herald Food Editor Carlos Frías’ list for How to Eat Like A Local in Miami. This list and Carlos’ recommendations are also available online, where they are interactive — searchable by price, neighborhood and the type of cuisine you’re interested in. It takes this print list to a new level.
All of the hot trends are here. There are new “speakeasy” omakase restaurants, Japanese “chef’s choice” experiences, like Blind Tiger, tucked away in an Aventura strip mall, or El Secreto, hidden inside the Faena Hotel.
There are new concepts from proven favorites. Finka founder Eileen Andrade’s new tacos-andmore spot Barbakoa is a highlight in the Doral Yard.
It’s all here, from Haitian-Jamaican-Caribbean fusion like Manjay in Wynwood to pandemic babies like Old Greg’s Pizza in Midtown.
Of course, there are big, buzzy new spots, too, like nightlife impresario David Grutman’s The Key Club in Coconut Grove. And spinoffs of New York concepts, like Major Food Group’s Dirty French steakhouse in Brickell.
For the diner who wants to be able to post “first!” on Instagram, it’s a great guide to help you be among the earliest to discover Miami’s best new restaurant.
Amal
3480 Main Highway,
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Coconut Grove; amalmiami.com, 786-3690846
From the Toronto-based Ink Entertainment Group, which brought Miami Beach Byblos and Meet Dalia, comes Amal, a fine dining concept that highlights shareable Lebanese cuisine. The word “amal” means hope, according to restaurateur and Ink CEO and founder Charles Khabouth, who says he hopes
to recreate the “hopeful,” upbeat spirit of his Lebanese roots throughout the restaurant. The menu, designed by Chef Wissam Baki, who has 15 years of experience, including working at the InterContinental in Beirut, focuses on dishes designed to be shared, the sort you’d find on any traditional Lebanese
table.
Barbakoa by Finka
8455 NW 53rd St., Suite G106, Doral; thedoralyard.com /barbakoa
Barbakoa, located in Doral Yard’s outdoor Backyard area, is the first full-service restaurant at the Yard, a hub for food vendors, live music and other community events. The cuisine features LatinAsian fusion, but there’s a nod to Miami tradition, too: The beloved Islas Canarias croquetas will be on the menu (Islas Canarias was opened by Andrade’s parents in 1977). Blind Tiger
18167 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura; blindtiger experience.com
The sleek new omakase restaurant bears little resemblance to its crowded host, Reunion Ktchn Bar, which is also home to a secret cocktail bar. It’s an intimate space, seating only 26 diners (eight at the bar, 18 in the dining area). The creation of culinary couple Cesar Olivo and Adriana Perez Benatar and partner Samuel Perez Benatar, who opened Reunion Ktchn
Bar in October 2019, the restaurant will have two