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WHAT’S GOOD? THE LEFTOVERS: RESTAURANT HEAT INDEX, VOL. 03
I walked into a new restaurant this week that has everything. Great operators, a beautiful build, food I would go back for. I would also bet the rent is north of $50,000 a month. That is a lot of espresso martinis.
That is the math of eating out in Miami right now. Milk costs more. Electric costs more. Staff costs more. And your customer will walk to the coffee shop next door to save a quarter. This was one of the hardest restaurant summers in recent memory, and not just here.
The Heat Index is not a list of the best restaurants in Miami. It is a list of the restaurants that matter most right now: the rooms people are talking about, booking, and texting their friends about. We build it with The Leftovers, Matt Meltzer, Erin Michelle Newberg and Ollie Fowler. We argue it out on the podcast, and the result is a ranked list of the restaurants generating the most heat in the city. Every spot is tagged. Best of Best is the elite. On Fire is the momentum. Classic is the institutions that still hold the room. New is the openings that earned a place fast. No placement is for sale. Taste is not for sale.
Every pick is judged against nine rules. Is it built to last or just trending? Are the people behind it actually in the building? Does the craft earn the return visit? Does the price earn its keep? Did Miami make it? Would you tell a friend about it without being asked? The list changes every volume because the city does. The Preheating Index tracks the ten rooms that just opened or are about to, the ones most likely to show up next time. When a restaurant drops off, it hasn’t failed. The heat just moved. So does Miami.
Season is weeks away. Which means The Heat Index is back. Not the best restaurants in Miami. The ones that matter most right now.
I recorded this edition with The Leftovers, Matt Meltzer and Erin Michelle Newberg. Ollie Fowler was frolicking in Massachusetts. She is the one who keeps us honest, and it shows.
Twenty two restaurants that matter right now. Ten about to break. And one argument about Italian food we could not stop having. The full list lives at heatindex.whatsgood.miami.
AND HERE IS THE LIST….
22. Teo Teo. The Caracas Bakery team’s rotisserie in MiMo, right next door to the bakery. Whole chickens, four sauces. You are competing with Publix chicken, a beloved product, so it has to be a lot better to earn the premium. I think it will be.
21. Manoli. Greek on Main Highway in the Grove, next to Ariete. The team behind it took a hit with Ceia, which food people loved but Portuguese is a once a month cuisine in America. Greek is an every week cuisine. Old school Miami guys who stayed in the game and came back with the right idea. I am rooting for them.
20. Flight West. 350 whiskeys and a charcoal oven on Sunset Drive. We sent our intern Ben, who has better taste than most food critics in town. His review: “It slaps.” One of the best upscale meals he has had in South Florida.
19. Barra Callao. Twelve seats of Peruvian Nikkei in North Miami Beach. Ceviche one notch above everyone else. Subtle, fresh, not drowning in leche de tigre.
18. Pho Nam. The Tam Tam crew’s old school Saigon noodle shop on Flagler. Ten years ago you could barely find pho in Miami. Tam Tam is a big reason that changed.
17. Gigi Rigolatto. The Paris and St. Tropez dining room picked the Delano for its first American address. Beautiful, monstrous, well heeled crowd, very expensive. The burger they send to the pool is one of the best in Miami. I will be honest: this spot is a gift. I want them here because I want them to be good. This season they have to earn it.
