Maya Tapas & Grill

 Located along the famed Lincoln Road walkway in Miami Beach, Maya Tapas and Grill serves Spanish-style tapas and Argentinean inspired dishes.  Its central location makes it the ideal spot to grab a delicious dinner before a big night out, but its ambiance is relaxing enough to spend an entire evening enjoying the food while reveling in the South Beach scene.

 Maya’s signature feature is its large selection of Spanish tapas, small plates that can be shared among groups of diners.  There are over thirty options including Chorizo & Garbanzo ($7.95), garbanzo beans and Spanish sausage, Morcilla Argentina ($8.95), Argentinean blood sausage with marinated onions and Beef Carpaccio ($10.95) – thin layers of beef with baby arugola, manchego, smoked sea salt and truffle oil.

 809 Lincoln Road

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Phone: 305.538.0058                                        

Website:  www.mayatapasandgrill.com

 Cuisine: International fare with Argentinean influences and specialty in grilled meats and tapas

 Restaurant Hours: Open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.

(1:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays)

Café Prima Pasta

A relaxing escape from the typical South Beach restaurant scene, Café Prima Pasta is the ideal location to enjoy superb home-style Italian cuisine in a comfortable, yet refined atmosphere. 

Now considered one of the best restaurants in South Florida, Café Prima Pasta’s innovative menu includes signature dishes such as Carpaccio di Manzo ($12.95), slices of filet mignon, virgin olive oil, lemon, and Parmesan cheese, Black Linguini Seafood ($20.00), squid ink pasta with fresh seafood in a creamy lobster sauce, Veal Saltimbocca ($23.95), veal with a special cover of spinach, prosciutto, and melted Mozzarella cheese with brown sauce, Corvina Livornese, fresh white filet of fish sautéed with light tomato sauce, capers, olives, and onions, and Flan Cream Caramel ($7.00), served with Argentinean Dulce de Leche ice cream

This street side café brings the rich and flavorful traditions of Italian cuisine by way of the Argentina-born owners, Arturo and Carla Cea, who have continually expanded this family owned business, attracting significant fanfare along the way.

Café Prima Pasta opened in 1993 as a 28-seat restaurant, and now stands as a multi-room haven for fine dining, immersing customers in a traditional Italian setting with warm wooden tables, candlelight glow, and walls full of framed photos of Cea with his celebrity clientele such as Lenny Kravitz, Matt Damon, Shakira, Jessica Simpson, Iggy Pop, and John Travolta (just to name a few). While Papa Arturo Cea and Mamma Carla Cea are cooking in the kitchen, their children, Gerardo, Fabion, and Marcela, take care of the bookkeeping, finances, serving, and maintaining the restaurant’s image, creating a familiar and comfortable atmosphere with a home-ease feel.

414 71st Street

Miami Beach, FL 33141

Restaurant Hours: Open daily for dinner from 5:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. 

For reservations (only available for parties of 6 or more) call 305.867.0106.

The Miami International Wine Fair returns for a larger, more mature, eighth edition.  Slated for September 26 and 27, 2009, more than 500 producers and 1,500 wines representing 20 countries will pour into 85,000 exhibitor-square-feet, therefore transforming the Miami Beach Convention Center into pure “wine country.” 

 U.S. wineries, including E. Beaver, Franmara and Miami Winery will join European producers such as Poggio Al Santino (Italy), Aragon Exterior (Spain) and Cote Du Rhone (France) to name a few.  In addition, the Fair is anticipating an increased presence from South America, of which Argentinean wineries will provide an enticing selection of Malbec – an increasingly popular varietal amongst Americans.   

 Open to the public, the Miami International Wine Fair will host a series of events, wine tastings and seminars designed with the greenest gulpers to the ripest connoisseurs in mind.  Florida is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most important wine markets and with U.S. consumption leading the global industry, the Fair has created its very own stimulus package with tickets priced at $75 per person. 

 Proceeds from admission fees benefit Educate Tomorrow, a Florida-based, non-profit organization that supports 16, 17, and 18 year olds who are aging out of the foster care system by matching them with mentors.  Educate Tomorrow’s mentors help its youth to enroll in college and training programs, find housing and jobs, as well as apply for educational and social assistance that may be available to them. 

For more information please visit www.miamiwinefair.com or call 1-866-887-WINE.

Francophiles rejoice! Au Pied de Cochon, the legendary Parisian brasserie, (and our version of Big Pink in the Latin Quarter) is finally open and ready to feed you the traditional French fare to which you are accustomed- 24 hours a day.  At the grand opening party on Thursday, the folks who have kept your belly full after long nights at Buddha Bar, Villa Barclay or Le Bain Douche (years ago) in Paris, G.M., Joaquim Braz, and chefs Joel Veyssiere and Bernard LePrince were on-hand to fete owner Carlo Bicaci and chef Didier Lailheugue at our very own Parisian “diner.”  The heavy rain did not stop Miami’s General Consulate of France, Philippe Vinogradoff, from joining in the celebration and assisting Bicaci in the red ribbon cutting ceremony, nor hundreds of A- listers from packing the south of fifth eatery. A beret-clad accordionist played traditional Parisian compositions including the restaurant’s theme song “Au Pied de Cochon,” while guests munched on specialty menu items and sipped French wine and champagne hand-picked by expert sommelier Kareem Zarwi.  Among the many notable guests partaking in the Parisian Bacchanal: philanthropist Sanford Ziff; news anchor, María Celeste Arrarás; real estate broker, Edie Lacquer; photographer, Iran Issa-Khan; Forge owner, Shareef Malnik; MTV Networks Latin America Vice President of Public Affairs, Mario Cáder-Frech; MTV DJ, Mauricio Parra, MTV News VJ, Ilana Sod and MTV former VJ Eglantina Zingg; Countess Claudine Smurfit; architect, Charles Benson; designer, Rene Ruiz; uber-realtor, Veronica Cervera; cookbook author, Linda Gassenheimer; Hip-e boutique owner, Daisy Casuso; designer, Glen Miller; Big Time Productions owner, Eugene Rodriguez; ACT productions owner, Bruce Oroz; Lady Monica Heftler; philanthropist, Marlene Berg, photographer, Iran Issa Khan; interior designers-to-the-stars, Todd Davis and Rob Brown; and Tara Solomon and Nick D’ Annunzio of Tara, Ink..  “We are proud to begin a new tradition in one of the most modern, trend-setting cities in the world,” said Bicaci.  “It was truly a nostalgic evening and we were honored to bestow a piece of Parisian history to South Florida.”

 The Yard House in Coral Gables has become the destination for happy hour lovers and diners from all around South Florida.  With a measly three-hour wait on a random weeknight, it has certainly created quite a buzz on the restaurant radar.   The menu of American cuisine includes an impressive selection of appetizers, (my personal favs seared ahi sashimi and the classic sliders, ask for the wasabi basil pesto sauce on the side), salads (don’t miss the grilled hearts of romaine), pastas, sandwiches (roast beef dip is delectable), individual-size pizzas, seafood, steaks (the mouth watering pepper crusted filet), ribs and chops.   The portions are plentiful, large enough to share for those of us on a budget.  For beer connoisseurs, each Yard House location features a transparent keg room containing more than 600 barrels, some 1,000 gallons of beer, and endless fleets of tap handles – 100 to 250 – depending on the location. 

Yard House also offers happy hour specials that are quite delightful.  For those needing an afternoon fix, happy hour begins at 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and for the late night munchies, from 10 p.m. to Midnight.  Select appetizers are half off and drink specials are also offered.

 For more information go to  http://www.yardhouse.com/food.asp