Mila

For a celebratory evening out in Miami Beach, Mila delivers in spades.

Chef Michaël Michaelidis’s menu has both Mediterranean and Japanese influences, often within a single dish (salmon tataki with golden berries and cherry tomatoes, or burrata with wasabi peas and a balsamic and ponzu vinaigrette, for example). There is a “Mediterrasian” raw bar, a large selection of sushi/sashimi/nigiri (including easy-to-order sampler platters), plus mains, with an even mix between seafood, grilled meats and veggies. Dishes are uniformly excellent (Chef Michaelidis has helped earn restaurants a whopping 26 Michelin stars over the course of his career). Opting for one of the five-course tasting menus means avoiding having to choose for oneself, and should come out to about the same amount of money if you plan on ordering multiple dishes anyway.

The wine list is extensive and, like the rest of the menus, expensive, but full of interesting bottles (with a smaller selection of reasonably-priced wines by the glass).

All of this is delivered in a buzzy, indoor-outdoor rooftop setting done up in light woods, lush plantings and furniture that could have been plucked from a Tulum beach club. Music is thumping, but not so loud that you cannot hear each other. Every so often, fire-dancers in tropical costumes perform in the water garden. Downstairs, away from the bacchanalia, there is also a 10-seater omakase restaurant.