& Jones brines her poultry for 24 hours with mustard and herbs, then fries it to a golden brown. Feeling spicy? Opt for the hot honey chicken, a Nashville-inspired classic that tin- gles the tongue. Pair your pick with a kale salad for a healthy balance or go all out by or- dering a side of loaded fries. (Seriously, you’re not here to count calories, are you?) BES T MAC ’N’ CHEESE Batch Gastropub 30 SW 12TH STREET MIAMI, 33130 305-808-5555 BATCHGASTROPUB.COM Mac ’n’ cheese may be the world’s most per- fect food: it’s cheesy, full of carbs, and offers the kind of pleasure only your love partner can offer. Batch Gastropub’s “Mac Attack” stands out like a perfect match on your Tinder app. “Gnocchi mac” is tossed with aged Gru- yère, which coats the pasta like Spandex on a butt-lift recipient. For a final kick, the dish is sprinkled with Doritos dust. You can custom- ize your Attack with any number of add-ons, including grilled chicken, pulled pork, steak, shrimp, herb fries, pecan-whiskey candied ba- con, an egg, and/or truffle oil (the list of op- tions is both exhaustingly long and exceedingly hedonistic). In fact, there are so many options, you’d wonder if Willy Wonka switched career paths. (Northerly South Flor- ida residents take note: Batch recently opened a second location in Delray Beach.) BES T POKE Poké-San 8300 NE SECOND AVENUE, SUITE 109 (IN THE CITADEL) MIAMI, 33138 305-209-0607 POKE-SAN.COM Choices, choices. That’s what we have at this poke restaurant tucked into the Citadel food hall in Little River, and it makes all the differ- ence. Can’t decide whether you want to start your bowl with rice or greens? They’ll let you do both. Want to add salmon or tuna? They’ll let you do both. Want to add all the veg or none? Sauces and/or seasonings? It’s totally up to you. Everything is fresh and cool as air-con- ditioning in South Florida. (With the excep- tion of that avocado half, which is always so perfectly ripe and soft you’ll be tempted to rest your head on it instead of your chopsticks.) BES T CEVICHE Ceviches by Divino 3 AREA LOCATIONS, INCLUDING: 1381 NE MIAMI COURT MIAMI, 33132 786-565-6030 80 80 CEVICHESBYDIVINO.COM Ceviche belongs in the same category as tacos and sushi: foods that our city excels at. But Drink Eat they’re not all great. At Ceviches by Divino, brothers Christian and Frank Encalada create addictive variations that combine hot and cold with dazzlingly fresh flavors. A short menu offers several authentic renditions: fat cubes of corvina marinated in fresh-squeezed lime juice and seasoned with Peruvian limo chili, fresh cilantro, and onion and served with slabs of sweet potato and choclo (Peru- vian giant corn). Try the trio de ceviches — smaller portions of the tracidional, an ají amarillo-spiked take, and the “Divino,” with tips toward tropical with a mango-and-avo- cado-kissed leche de tigre. BES T POP -UP Apocalypse BBQ 4178 SW 74TH COURT (AT UNSEEN CREATURES BREWING & BLENDING) MIAMI, 33155 786-332-2903 @APOCALYPSEBBQ (INSTAGRAM) When the pandemic hit, Miami native Jef- frey Budnechky’s work as a freelance mar- keter came to a halt. A self-described backyard barbecue enthusiast, he took his ten years’ worth of grilling experience and said, “F the apocalypse, let’s just make barbe- cue.” What began as a handful of orders and a 22-inch Weber Smokey Mountain has since turned into one of Miami’s favorite pop-ups, serving a variety of meats that now emerge from the chef’s professional smoker. Along the way — with a feature at the 2021 South Beach Wine and Food Festival under his belt — a promise was made to help define South Florida barbecue. To do so, Budnechky mar- ries the flavors of his Brazilian-Argentinian roots with his wife Lara’s Cuban heritage. That means pulled pork smothered in a co- lada-infused barbecue sauce dubbed “oro ne- gro“; massive dino beef ribs dusted in a homemade coffee rub and finished with a lacquering of the chef’s own Bustelo-infused cafecito sauce; and a four-hour, slow-smoked pork-belly burnt ends braised and glazed in his “Guava Lava.” Sides are Lara’s and her mother’s specialty: a simple choice of home- made mac ’n’ cheese or cornbread. Find them every Sunday from 2 p.m. till sold out at Unseen Creatures in Miami. BES T ITINERANT POP -UP The Wolf of Tacos @THEWOLFOFTACOS (INSTAGRAM) Eduardo Lara started the Wolf of Tacos much the same way kids sell lemonade: He set up a stand in front of his house. A couple of years later, his tacos are the toast of the town at pop-ups around Miami, including Tuesdays at J. Wakefield Brewing Co. and Fridays at Dante’s HiFi (both in Wynwood). The key to Lara’s success is that he lets his ingredients speak for themselves. And boy, do they sing. Beef, pork, chicken, and oyster mushrooms are grilled, placed on fresh tortillas, and fin- ished with homemade salsas. The result is the most satisfying of meals, deceptively simple until you pause to savor how the smoky, rich meat, wrapped in the freshest of tortillas, is foiled by tangy salsa. A masterpiece that fits in your fist, priced well under ten bucks. BES T HOTEL RES TAURANT The Bazaar by José Andrés SLS SOUTH BEACH HOTEL 1701 COLLINS AVENUE, #100 MIAMI BEACH, 33139 305-455-2999 THEBAZAAR.COM Most hotels have a restaurant, but only the SLS South Beach has one by a world-class chef. José Andrés is one of the most well-re- spected names in the culinary world, and for good reason. His dishes are as precise as they are whimsical. At the Bazaar, he takes ordi- nary-sounding concepts like lox and bagels or conch fritters and artfully turns them on their BES T WINE LIS T Luca Osteria 116 GIRALDA AVENUE CORAL GABLES, 33134 305-381-5097 LUCAMIAMI.COM A glass (or bottle) of wine with dinner is a surefire way to elevate your meal. At Luca Osteria, chef Giorgio Rapicavoli’s Italian cu- linary paradise in the heart of Coral Gables, the wine list isn’t a 20-pound doorstop, but it presents a fine selection of Italian wines. There are wines from other parts of the world, too — from California and Oregon, from France and Argentina, even one bottle from the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. As for us, we’ll stick with the Italian offer- ings — say, a pet-nat from Emilia-Romagna with our patate fritte. We’ll definitely pair the light and refreshing vermentino with our pasta al limone before treating our pal- ate to a smooth, easy-drinking rosso di Mon- talcino as we slice into a plate of double lamb chops with their accompanying an- chovy- and garlic-rich bagna càuda. But hey, you do you. And if you’re on the fence or feel overmatched, don’t hesitate to ask the staff for a recommendation (or request guidance from the chef himself ). The restaurant’s tag- line is “Good Pasta, Good People,” but they might consider completing the trifecta by adding “Good Wine.” BES T RES TAURANT ( S OUTH MIAMI-DADE) CS A PRINT S TOCK / GETT Y IMAGES heads. Meals here are thought-provoking and adventurous. The dining rooms, indoor and out-, manage to be simultaneously convivial and electric, as if a theater performance could break out at any moment. Just don’t expect giant sparklers on your birthday. BES T MUSEUM RES TAURANT Leku 1100 NW 23RD STREET (AT THE RUBELL MUSEUM) MIAMI, 33127 786-464-0615 LEKUMIAMI.COM Most museum restaurants are located within the actual confines of their walls. Not this one, which embraces the great outdoors where the Rubell Museum maintains a lush tropical garden, as well as a Josper grill where much of its stunning Basque cuisine is cooked. But regardless of where it’s posi- tioned, Leku draws inspiration from the mu- seum. Quite directly, in fact, including a cocktail, the “Allison,” named for Allison Zuckerman’s painting Eternal Recurrence, which hangs over the bar. The drink, made with brandy, Asturian ice-cider, amontil- lado, uchuva (gooseberry), and demerara sugar and topped with a floating disk of edi- ble rice paper imprinted with a section of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Bar 11715 SHERRI LANE MIAMI, 33183 305-408-8386 CHEFADRIANNES.COM Fifteen years ago, dining in Southwest Mi- ami-Dade consisted of evenings at chain res- taurants. Chef Adrianne Calvo saw the need for a high-quality establishment and set up shop in a suburban shopping center. The Johnson & Wales graduate quickly made a reputation for herself by offering fine-dining plates like New Zealand lamb, Black Angus reserve steaks, and fresh burrata. The restau- rant became popular with local diners who no longer needed to drive for miles to access fine dining. Today Calvo owns several restau- rants, including the revamped Redfish by Adrianne at Matheson Hammock Park, but Chef Adrianne’s remains her flagship. BES T RES TAURANT ( CORAL GABLES ) The Globe 377 ALHAMBRA CIRCLE CORAL GABLES, 33134 305-445-3555 THEGLOBECAFE.COM It’s unclear how the Globe earned its name. It could be for the collection of cartographic the artwork, is representative of the way ex- ecutive chef Mikel Goikolea and the team at Leku present all of their offerings: with cre- ativity, skill, and no small amount of art. Or- der à la carte or choose the 11-course tasting menu, which can be accompanied by op- tional wine pairings. JUNE 23-29, 2022 JUNE 23-29, 2022 NEW TIMES NEW TIMES BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com
