Craving something new this season? Read below for six Miami restaurants with new lunch, dinner, drink, and brunch menus you’re sure to love.
Hakkasan
Go to Hakkasan {4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 786.276.1388} for a new menu of drinks designed to complement the Cantonese restaurant’s contemporary Chinese cuisine. The Sunset in Chateau is made with Lemongrass Vodka, thyme syrup, lemon juice, sparkling wine, and hibiscus drop, while 400 Rabbits is made with muddled basil, pineapple juice, yellow pepper juice, lemon juice, Yellow Chartreuse, and Mezcal. For something that’s equal parts strong and sweet, get the Mah-Teh Fizz; it pours gin and whiskey over a siphoned mix of ginger juice, lemon juice, honey and passion fruit syrups, mate, and shiso leaves. Hakkasan is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, from 6 p.m. to Midnight. It is open for its famous Dim Sum Lunch on Saturday and Sunday, from Noon to 3 p.m.
La Mar by Gastón Acurio
La Mar by Gastón Acurio {500 Brickell Key Drive, Brickell Key; 305.913.8358} is celebrating three years of service, and in honor of this milestone, Executive Chef Diego Oka has come up with new lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch menus with globally-inspired Peruvian cuisine that we just can’t resist. Infused with the flavors of Mexico, Italy, and Asia, these menus aren’t like anything diners have ever had before.
If you’re there on your lunch break, try La Mar’s Express Lunch Menu, which offers three courses of Cebiche Chipotle made with the fish of the day, Smoked Trout with a huacatay vinaigrette, and braised Chicha Morada Brisket with creamy lima bean stew for just $25. If you go for dinner, try the restaurant’s new sharing plates. Start with Carretillero or A Paltado cebiches, and move on to tiraditos like Quemado, which combines the catch of the day with grilled calamari, octopus, kiuri, cherry heirloom tomatoes, smoked Peruvian peppers, and leche de tigre. The new Salad causa with aji Amarillo causa, roasted beets, asparagus, sunchokes, and huancaina is not to be missed, and neither is the Pesto causa with green potato causa, octopus tartare, avocado, piquillo peppers, and a Peruvian black ‘botijo’ olive aioli. If you’re craving something meaty, try the Florida Wagyu “Bacon” anticucho with Nikkei anticuchera sauce, sesame, and chives, or the Paiche Charapa (the largest fish in the Amazon River) roasted in banana leaves and served with mango chalaca. Other specialties include: Parihuela Soup in a hot stone bowl, Churrasco a Los Pobre with fried banana, and a steamed Branzino Chifa with soy sauce, ginger, Chinese wine, sesame oil, vegetables, and chaufa rice.
As if that’s not enticing enough, no one can resist brunch. Every Sunday, brunch lovers will get unlimited Piper Hiedsieck champagne, Pisco Sours, mimosas and Bloody Mary’s, as well as an elaborate buffet. New this season? Buffet plates like Pescado Escabeche, which tops the catch of the day with cannellini beans and quail egg, or Tallarines Verdes with Beef Milanese, which is made of housemade spaghetti, Peruvian pesto sauce, Milanese, fried egg, huancaina sauce, and Estofado de Pollo. La Mar’s Express Lunch Menu will be available Monday through Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Patrons are supposed to be in and out in 45 minutes. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. nightly. Brunch runs from Noon to 3:30 p.m. every Sunday, and is priced at $95 per person.

NaiYaRa
Helmed by Executive Chef Piyarat Potha Arreeratn (or “Chef Bee” for short!), NaiYaRa {1854 Bay Road, Miami Beach; 786.275.6005} is one of Miami’s most popular Thai spots. Just in time for its two-year anniversary this December, the low-key restaurant has changed up his offerings with new menu items inspired by Thai street food. Starters added to the menu include plates like Tempura Shishito Peppers, Sweet Chili BBQ Ribs, and Tuna Tostones, while Whole Branzino stuffed with basil and lemongrass or slow-roasted Pork Leg with Asian five-spice and steamed buns form the perfect entrees. For dessert, end the night on a sweet note with Sweet Roti, a pan-fried Thai flatbread covered in condensed milk, cinnamon crumble, and green tea ice cream. NaiYaRa is open for dinner nightly from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Scarpetta by Scott Conant
Want to take a tasty trip to Italy? Head to Scarpetta {4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 877.326.7412}, and you can sip your way there. Inspired by beautiful Italy, Scarpetta has come up with three new cocktails that aren’t to be missed. The Palermo is made with Montenegro Amaro, Gin, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, and soursop purée, while the Venezia is made with rum, Averna Amaro, Cynar Amaro, Benedictine, and Peychaud’s and Angostura Bitters. The last addition to the menu, the Eclisse, blends Bourbon, Averna Amaro, Montenegro Amaro, and Grand Marnier with Bitter Truth Orange Bitters. Scarpetta is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, from 6 p.m. to Midnight.

Seaspice
For a lunch special you can’t deny, head to Seaspice {422 NW North River Drive, Miami; 305.440.4200} and order its new, three-course Executive Lunch Menu for just $25 per person. Start with appetizers like Butternut Squash Soup or the Winter Plant Bowl with roasted butternut squash, black barley, tatsoi spinach, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, pecan brittle, and a creamy cashew balsamic. When it’s time for your main, choose between Shrimp Linguini, Crispy Skin Chicken Breast, 1855 Prime Churrasco, or a Pan Seared Black Grouper Fillet with navy bean, sage and bacon succotash and butternut squash gnocchi. This affordable lunch menu even includes dessert, so get the Cheese Souffle or the Orange Blossom Cake (made with Kumquat marmalade, sable and black berry) and call it a day. The Executive Lunch Menu is available Tuesday through Friday, from Noon to 3:30 p.m. Each course can be paired with white, red, and rosé wines by the glass for $10 each.

StripSteak by Michael Mina
Another Fontainebleau mainstay, StripSteak by Michael Mina {4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305.674.4780} has come up with a new menu of classic cocktails with a modern twist. Try Ants on a Log—it has a subtle mix of White Rum infused with lemon and anise, espresso, crème de cacao, and Clément Mahina Coco. If you want to get a taste of the hotel’s early days, order the Goldfinger or Poodle Room. The first is made with vodka, FEW Spirits Breakfast Gin, Tempus Fugit Kina L’Aero d’Or, Lustau East India Solera Sherry, Lustau Manzanilla Sherry, Bitter Truth Olive Bitters and fleur de sel solution; and the last mixes vodka with lemon juice, strawberry-coriander syrup, egg whites, and a rich mint syrup. StripSteak by Michael Mina is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, from 6 p.m. to Midnight.
Happy dining!
By Jennifer Agress | Miami Editor