When your immediate cultural touchpoint for a city is that Will Smith song, expectations run high. From US preclearance in Dublin Airport to Miami taxis, everyone asks the same question, “You here to party?” All are disappointed with our answer. We’re in town to eat our way through the city’s best food spots, which we follow up with a nod and a promise that we’ll taste a cocktail or two in the process. “Oh” is the response. Recommendations don’t come quick.

Alongside New York and LA, Miami isn’t widely prized for its culinary scene but it is catching up. Commonly referred to as “the gateway to Latin America”, what it does have is a rich mix of Cuban, Peruvian, Columbian and Argentinian food, from fine dining to casual eats, and plenty of excellent seafood restaurants to boot.

Getting your head around orientation of the city is quite easy. Miami Beach is a series of natural and manmade barrier islands connected to the mainland by vast bridges over Biscayne Bay. Within it, South Beach is a resort that takes up the southernmost four kilometres of Miami Beach. Although $100,000 cars are common on its streets, it is also pedestrian friendly. It is this part of Miami that is immortalised in Smith’s 1997 jam ... and all the lyrics are 100 per cent true.

On the mainland, it’s another story. The neighbourhoods of Little Haiti, Wynwood, Little Havana, Downtown Miami and the newly christened Brickell (formerly the financial district) hug the coast, from north to south, and wheels are necessary to move between them. In many ways, it is a tale of two cities; a resort destination and a modern metropolis.

While locals will urge you to get out of South Beach, it’s difficult to resist whiling away a day or two all agog, craning your neck to look at signage preserved in pastels, snapping pics of Art Deco architecture along Ocean Drive, Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, and walking on white sands.

There’s plenty of worthy pit stops on South Beach too. Stop into Las Olas Café (lasolascafes.com) for a warm crisp bread with tender pork, glazed ham, peppery mustard, gooey cheese and diced gherkin pinned inside – it’s a legendary Cuban sandwich.

If you’re looking for somewhere to linger, Joe’s Stone Crab (joesstonecrab.com) is a bit of a trek and, once inside, there’s still walking to do, as the restaurant comprises three-quarters of a city block. Stone crabs from their two fisheries (South Keys and Naples), are of course the recommended dish – “a distant cousin of the Irish brown crab” I’m told, though the Irish version is gamier.

Summer is a casual affair with check tablecloths and alert staff dressed all in black, while winter sees white tablecloths on the tables and tuxes on wait staff. If you’re looking for an excuse to dress up, you’ve found it. Afterwards, the restaurant’s longtime manager, Brian Johnson, recommends we bimble over to Smith & Wollensky (smithandwollensky.com) for a rum cocktail with views of the port. Not wanting to be rude, we oblige.

If one cocktail turns into two, or many, do not bypass Puerto Sagua on your way home. Well worth the 20 minutes or so queuing and the hurried table service. Here you can taste true Cuban comfort food. Following waiter’s orders, I eschew fish and opt for the oxtail stew, which ends up being one of the best things I eat all week.

For a final night cap, Mac’s Club Deuce (macsclubdeuce.com) is the dive bar of dreams and an institution around South Beach. All human life is here, as well as pool tables and a dangerously accessible ATM.

Fresh the next morning, we head to Little Havana. Although it’s early in the day, music blares on the streets, while cigar shops dot the sidewalk and festoon lighting hangs overhead. Inside the Cuba Ocho Museum and Performing Arts Center (cubaocho.com), which admittedly looks more like a bar than a museum, José Martí and Marilyn Monroe survey the scene from a large mural behind the stage. Art is everywhere: on the walls, on the roof, on the tables and, sometimes, art is the table.

Nearby is Máximo Gómez Park, where groups of people play dominoes, cards and chess, as they patiently ignore the buses of tourists rolling in and out to take their photograph.

Across the road, we follow the fizz of water misters to Ball & Chain (ballandchainmiami.com), Little Havana’s most “likes”-worthy bar. Although it’s tame enough at noon, we’re told by multiple sources that it gets pretty rowdy in the evenings and we note the sizeable dancing area. While mojitos are the obvious draw (and they are excellent), the Calle Ocho Old Fashioned, made with aged rum, tobacco leaf and bitters, is somewhat of a show stealer, especially when paired with chicharrónes (pork rinds with smoked paprika).

Over in Wynwood, we head to the area’s main tourist attraction, Wynwood Walls, an ever-changing exhibtion of street art, and find a site swarming with selfie sticks. We don’t stay too long and set out exploring the surrounding neighbourhood on foot. A former warehouse area, the first shops we clock are an Aesop and a Warby Parker, sure signs we’re at ground zero for a certain demographic.

Around the district, there is plenty of street art to take in, and lots of interesting places to stumble upon for air con and snacks. We take a breather in Concrete Beach Brewery (concretebeachbrewery.com) and sit in view of its copper fermentation tanks to sip beers that are half the price of those in Miami Beach.

To hydrate, a cold brew coffee with orange fizz and a hibiscus tea with muddled watermelon at Box Coffee hits the spot, and we pick up a Tropézienne treat at Zak the Baker, orange blossom-infused buttercream in a brioche bun, for sustenance. Somehow we successfully ignore the soaring, swirling mounds of babka and head back to our hotel.

Later that evening, we make our final stop and realise too late that it’s worth spending an entire evening in the Freehand Miami’s adjoining indoor/ outdoor tropical Broken Shaker bar and 27 Restaurant (freehandhotels.com). The former is a laid-back leafy oasis with a pool and a garden that grows garnishes for cocktails, while the latter is located in an historic home over two floors, serving South American food with a Miami twist and a big focus on local sourcing. The next morning we miss sunrise yoga on the rooftop of The Betsy, but board the plane home with few regrets.

MIAMI ESSENTIALS

CITY SLEEPER Close to the free Metromover that covers seven kilometres of downtown, The Four Seasons Brickell is ideally located for visiting the city’s sports and entertainment arenas. Entrance to the seventh-floor lobby reveals mid-century Hans Wagner-style chairs, wood panelling and bold artwork, but the real kicker is its expansive rooftop pool. Rooms from $239. (1435 Brickell Avenue, +1 305 358 3535; fourseasons.com)

WRITE ON “Miami is one of the greatest cultural centres of the world. It’s only 50 per cent hard bodies and parties,” so says owner Jonathan Plutzik as he shows us around his 61-room boutique hotel, The Betsy. From a dedicated exhibition space to photography-filled corridors, performance spaces and steel-cut poetry railings, the arts are everywhere. There’s even a designated Writer’s Room, which hosts emerging talent in honour of Jonathan’s father, the late poet Hyam Plutzik. Rooms from $249. (1440 Ocean Drive, +1 305 531 6100; thebetsyhotel.com)

BEACH SIDE Starting the day with a swim in the ocean is a must at Loews Miami Beach Hotel. For beyond its palm tree-lined pool, a little gate brings you right onto the sands. If you want all the buzz of Collins Avenue, but also require sleep, Loews is perfect. Despite its glamorous lobby, it’s surprisingly kid- friendly too. From $249 a night. (1601 Collins Avenue, +1 305 604 1601; loewshotels.com)

EAT

CASUAL CUBAN Inside Las Olas Café is an unassuming canteen of stainless-steel deli displays, but a steady stream of locals tells you all you need to know. Its specials include peppery Cuban sandwiches (natch), pork shoulder with crispy crackling and sticky sweet plantains. Wash it all down with a reviving sugar cane water or passion fruit juice, both made in house. (644 6th Street, +1 305 534 9333)

REFINED COLOMBIAN Taking inspiration from his mother’s cooking and the avant-garde techniques of El Bulli, Juan Manuel Barrientos’ El Cielo is certainly a mix. To start, chocolate is poured on your hands and you’re invited to lick it off and reminisce on memories of childhood baking. While totally bizzare, it does set a playful tone for the rest of the meal – all 14 courses of it. Highlights include a smoked eucalyptus buñuelo (delivered with fanfare) and a tangerine pork belly with corn butterflies inspired by Gabriel García Márquez. (31 SE 5th Street, +1 305 755 8840; elcielorestaurant.com)

PRESENT-DAY PERU From its clean and contemporary interiors, the tone is set at 1111 Peruvian Bistro. Snack on salted corn kernels as you wait on a zingy ceviche apaltado (shrimp in a creamy sauce with avocado and capers), fried yellow potatoes and a well-balanced Peruvian lomo saltado – stir fried beef tenderloin with red onions and cherry tomatoes. (1111 SW 1st Avenue #106d, +1 786 615 9633; 1111peruvianbistro.com)

SMART TIPS

Fort Lauderdale Airport leaves you about 50 kilometres from South Beach and Downtown. Renting a car is always an option, however do know that the cost of valet parking can add up quickly. A cab to the city should cost you about $70, or share a shuttle bus for around $22 each way. expressshuttlemiami.com

The mundane becomes magical at 11 11 Lincoln Road. Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, the open, concrete car park has sparked conversations about what a utilitarian structure can be. Take the lift to floor seven for spectacular views across the city. 1111lincolnrd.com

PHOTOGRAPHY Al Higgins
PUBLISHED Aer Lingus inflight magazine CARA, Sept 2017