Dining

Don’t let the skinny models fool you, there’s plenty to eat in Miami Beach! Miami Beach has a menu of unique restaurants, many offering al fresco dining and cuisine from around the world in sidewalk cafes. But it is the South Beach staples like Joe’s Stone Crab (legendary for its maître d' and well worth the long waits) that have earned the city national attention and recognition as a culinary destination. Here, Emeril Lagasse offers his signature New Orleans cuisine in the Loew’s Hotel, blocks from where David Bouley recently opened his Evolution in the Ritz-Carlton South Beach (his first restaurant outside his normal three-block Tribeca, New York, culinary zone), and a five-minute cab ride from Govind Armstrong’s Table 8 in The Regent (a fusion of L.A. glam with South Beach chic).

In addition, once each year, the culinary world heads to Miami Beach for a star-studded, four-day weekend destination event showcasing the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs and culinary personalities. The South Beach Wine and Food Festival is one of the largest and most well-known festivals of its kind in the country, attracting 20,000 visitors who learn first-hand the epicurean secrets of Todd English, Wolfgang Puck, Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray, among others.