This New Moon in Scorpio arrives Monday, November 9, and it comes in hot. Mars rules it, bold and confident in Leo, bringing fresh energy, real drive, and the nerve to decide and move on. This is a beginning you launch by doing, not by waiting.

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If getting a turkey and four sides onto the table at the same time sounds like a terrible way to spend a Thursday — then hey, let a Miami restaurant make Thanksgiving dinner. There are plenty of places in Miami that serve Thanksgiving dinner, and even more restaurants in South Florida make Thanksgiving dinner to-go. On November 26, you can have your turkey with mole on Brickell Key, go back for seconds overlooking Biscayne Bay, or order rigatoni vodka and call it Thanksgiving.

Amara at Paraiso

Michael Schwartz’s Amara at Paraiso always puts out a fantastic buffet, and I’d bet Thanksgiving will be no exception. The spread runs from 3 to 9 p.m. with herb-crusted turkey, ribeye, salt-baked salmon, and seasonal cobblers. It’s $119 per adult and $48 for kids ages 5 to 12, before tax and gratuity. Ask for a table outside. The Biscayne Bay views are insane, and it’s finally November in Miami. Eat outside because we can.

@amaraatparaiso // 3101 NE 7th Ave., Miami

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Sometimes – and I’m not saying this week, necessarily – but sometimes you wonder why the hell you live in Florida. I don’t think I need to expand on that. Then you find yourself sitting outside with an Aperol spritz and a beef carpaccio while “Silent Night” is playing, and you remember why you deal with it all.

This week, Merrick Park gives us a reason to savor the good things about Florida life, bringing a much-needed light Italian option to the upscale shopping mall at La Pecora Bianca. Set in Merrick’s sunny central courtyard, this fun, colorful Italian spot serves up a familiar menu of Italian classics that won’t make you think too hard, allowing you to instead bask in Miami’s glorious sunshine. And if rain should happen to fall, the interior is pretty cool too.

Oh wow. A new Italian restaurant. Let me guess, it came from New York.

No comment.

It came from NEW YORK???? My socks are so not-blown-off they’re above my knees.

It actually has 8 locations in New York.

So it’s a New York CHAIN? Cool, can’t wait for your groundbreaking feature on Carraba’s.

Now would probably be a bad time to tell you the menus are pre-printed on vinyl.

Say they’ve got a location in Orlando I’m skipping straight to “unsubscribe.”

They don’t! But maybe you should be a little less judgy are hear me out.

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Le Parisienne is French AF. You may never have heard of it, but chances are you’ve had their breads, since restaurants around Miami use it on their menus. But tuck inside a warehouse off 151st and Biscayne, and you can get some straight out of the oven.

I discovered this joint a few years back courtesy of The Four Seasons Surfside’s Thomas Keller, and I have since been a repeat customer. Their baguettes are to die for. Their croissants are worth the caloric splurge. And mostly everything within is made within the confines of the walls. Lastly - you can watch them baking all day as you sup on an egg dish, a salad, a sandwich, coffee, wine, or in proper Paris style, an Orangina in its funky glass.

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It is not often that we can be beckoned onto the Brightline for a 70-minute train ride for dinner. But the prospect of pairing two of my favorite things – sushi and craft beer – seemed too good to pass up. And so I found myself behind a nondescript maintenance door at the West Palm Beach Hilton, stepping into a cold room filled with ’90s R&B to experience Moody Tongue, an omakase-and-craft beer pairing experience popular among the Palm Beach in-the-know.

Sake and cocktails have long been popular accompaniments to chef’s choice sushi menus. But aside from the occasional Sapporo, rarely did you find beer served alongside an omakase. Moody Tongue changes that, pouring beer that would be spectacular on its own with every few courses and explaining why it works so well. If you love beer and sushi, or love beer and kinda like sushi, or love beer and just eat sushi when other people are, you’re gonna love this place. And of all the restaurants I’ve been to in the 561, this one is most worth the ride.

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Here are The Leftovers Miami, we spend a lot of time telling you where to eat. Next Tuesday, we’re inviting you to eat with us — with the added bonus of hearing us talk between bites.

Basically: someone gave us, The Leftovers, a microphone, and we intend to use it.

We’re emceeing March of Dimes’ Signature Chefs Miami on Tuesday, November 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Rusty Pelican, where chefs and restaurants from around town will serve signature bites to support the health of moms and babies. I mean, who wouldn’t get behind a cause like that?

The lineup includes bites from some of our favorite spots like Bulla Gastrobar, CalaMillor Gourmet Experience, Bar Fideo, North Italia, Pisco y Nazca, Goya Foods, and Rusty Pelican. Bacardi will provide the dranks, with wine from March of Dimes’ partners at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

Beyond the food, the evening supports March of Dimes’ work to make pregnancy and birth safer through research, advocacy, education, and family programs. This year’s honoree is Dr. Cheryl Holder, a physician, educator, and advocate who has worked to improve maternal and infant health and address health disparities in South Florida.

There’s a live auction, too, so leave a little room in the budget along with room for another bite.

We’d love to have some familiar Leftovers faces in the crowd. Grab a friend, get your tickets, and join us for a Tuesday night with plenty to eat and a reason to give.

Come Sit With The Leftovers

March of Dimes gave us a table, and we’re giving away two seats. One lucky winner and a guest will join Olee, Matt, and Erin at Signature Chefs Miami on November 10.

To enter, leave a comment below telling us which Miami chef you’d want to cook your birthday dinner. We’ll pick one lucky winner Saturday afternoon, November 7, to receive two tickets and join us at The Leftovers’ table.

Tickets and event details here.

March of Dimes’ Signature Chefs Miami, Tuesday, November 10, 2026, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Rusty Pelican Miami, 3201 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne

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Few chefs have left as a mark on the culinary world as Marcus Samuelsson has. Plus - if you have ever had the chance to chat with him - or stare at him - he’s damn cool, funny, personable and has a rather handsome style.

Fresh off the plane from New York, we sat down with Marcus who was in town for a conversation with his buddy - the beloved Lee Schrager - at The Hub. There, he cooked up a storm at the cultural arts and community center in Pinecrest, often called South Dade’s cultural living. Located on the Temple Beth Am campus and open to the public, it brings people together through food, comedy, live performance, wellness, and conversation.

An award winning chef, restaurateur, author and television personality whose influence extends far beyond the kitchen, Samuelsson is a celebrated master with restaurants spanning the globe. Those include Red Rooster Harlem, Miami’s Red Rooster Overtown (re-opening soon), Hav & Mar in New York City and Marcus DC in Washington, DC.

He is the youngest chef ever to receive a three star review from The New York Times, has eight James Beard Awards, cooked for the Obama administration’s first state dinner, and become a familiar face on Chopped and Netflix’s Iron Chef. An Emmy Award winner and bestselling author of Yes, Chef: A Memoir, Samuelsson is equally passionate about philanthropy, serving as co-chair of Careers through Culinary Arts Program, an organization dedicated to creating opportunities for underserved youth.

Now, Samuelsson is turning his attention to the ingredients that have nourished generations with his latest cookbook, Back to Green, a vibrant exploration of plant forward cooking and the culinary traditions that connect us across continents. Dive face first into his latest and greatest and learn more about this public figure who is now allowing you to bring his magic to the comfort of your home.

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This morning, I was schooled on South Miami by our contributor Danielle Payton of Old Miami, who explained it’s not just a term for southern Miami but an actual city. Who knew? Well, in honor of an area that we love, we searched high and low to hook you up with the best places to eat in South Miami. From steakhouses to bakeries, we welcome you to explore the best restaurants in South Miami.

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The air outside sharpens, the cellar door swings open, and the energy across the dining room undergoes a seismic reset. November’s cosmic forecast is a high-stakes tasting menu that swings wildly from hush-hush, obsessive underworld plots to unapologetic, center-stage theater before spilling out into a wide-open, late-night bacchanal.

If October was about testing the waters, November is about ordering with total conviction. Between double retrogrades freezing the line, high-roller boardroom standoffs at the pass, and an explosive seasonal pivot, your appetite is being pulled in three distinct directions.

Here are the major cosmic shifts shaping how you dine this month:

1. The Speakeasy Conspiracy: Nov 4 – 13

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If you’ve seen any videos of Las Olas this week, you know the street is taking the whole “Venice of the Americas” thing a little too literally. And while some might blame climate change, poor civic planning, or just the good old-fashioned rain, I like to think it’s the greatest restaurant opening stunt in history.

You see, while people were swimming laps down Las Olas this week, the street also saw the opening of a beautiful new restaurant named Naia. Which – I am not making this up – means “flow of water.”

Take THAT, Caviar Club.

Now that Naia’s got our attention, it’s blessing Las Olas with an intriguing blend of Japanese and Aegean flavors. This might sound as unusual as kayaking to the beach, but as we’ve seen this week, Ft. Lauderdale is full of innovations. It’s the latest offering from Tim “Don’t Call Me Sofia” Petrillo and the renowned Restaurant People and is the most eye-catching restaurant Las Olas has ever seen.

Aegean and Japanese? Like hummus sushi?

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Miami does not have a ton of holes in its culinary landscape anymore. But African restaurants are still few and far between. Even people who know a decent amount about food could probably name one — Awash in Miami Gardens — and that’s about it. That’s why I was delighted when I pulled off I-95 a couple of weeks ago and discovered Moji, a Nigerian restaurant hidden in a strip mall under a sign for a different restaurant.

Confusing? Absolutely, but that’s part of the charm at Moji, the kind of place you step into and immediately feel like you’re in another part of the planet. Its menu is simultaneously simple and complex, a short list of dishes with names you probably don’t know and zero description. For adventurous eaters, it’s the 305’s best way to delve into West African cuisine. So pack your passports, open your mind, and get ready for one of Miami’s top food adventures at Moji.

Ok so what exactly is African food?

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Long before Miami became a culinary playground, Chef Allen Susser was helping put South Florida on the gastronomic map. Believe it or not - in Loehmanns Plaza!

He is one of the founding fathers of Floribbean cuisine, alongside the likes of Norman Van Aken, Douglas Rodriguez and Cindy Hutson. The James Beard Award winner’s namesake restaurant, Chef Allen’s, enjoyed a remarkable 25-year run. And while plenty of chefs are chasing the next big thing, Susser has always understood that the best ingredients are often growing right in our backyard and the best fish are swimming in our sea.

These days, Chef Allen is bringing his love affair with local ingredients to Sunness Supper Club in Fort Lauderdale with a new Chef’s Dinner Series. The five-part series will feature monthly dinners celebrating distinctive flavors, seasonal ingredients, and paired wines and spirits. It’s entirely in keeping with Susser’s belief that great food begins with great ingredients, …

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Seia is the kind of place I’d go for a power lunch or a romantic dinner. I came for dinner, and my one regret was getting there after dark. The views from the 54th floor of 830 Brickell are gorgeous at night, but I wish I’d gotten there early enough to see them in daylight, too.

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Yes, we’re well aware that Aventura is a pain in the ass to get around, and that most people associate it with the mall…. and the traffic. But the best restaurants in Aventura deserve more attention. For this guide, we’re skipping the big national chains and most of the familiar names with locations throughout South Florida. These are our picks for Aventura’s best restaurants (provided you can deal with the drive down Ives Dairy).

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The house lights dim, votives flicker, and slide into the darkest velvet corner booth in the house. The Sun has officially plunged into Scorpio, meaning the cosmic spotlight has traded flashy theatrics for raw, magnetic intensity.

Scorpio season doesn’t care about superficial small talk or who is two tables away. It’s all about depth, obsession, secrets whispered across candlelit tables, and food that satiates a deep craving . Throw in a retrograde spinning planetary gears backward; cue delayed reservation confirmations, ghosting dates resurfacing like bad pennies, and the kitchen running out of the special just as you order, and the culinary assignment is clear: ground down, turn the intensity up, and dine with unapologetic purpose.

Here is exactly what Scorpios (and anyone looking to tap into their venomous charm) need to be ordering right now.

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Nostalgia is big business. That’s why you see ‘90s-themed pop-up bars with clever drink names like “Zack Attack,” and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wearing bright orange pants. Those are cute. But if you want to immerse yourself in another time and place, it takes more than a VHS player and well-placed reruns of “Full House.”

This is part of the philosophy behind Caviar Club, Ft. Lauderdale’s first foray into the members club fine dining space, transforming a corner of Las Olas into a slice of the 1980s. Exactly nothing about it is subtle, from the photo of a giant mouth eating caviar at the front door to the menu packed with big, indulgent steaks. It’s a tribute to eighties excess in all the best ways, where you can dine in a cinematic haze of disregard for the final bill, imagining you’re sitting next to all your favorite movie kingpins. It’s luxe. It’s over-the-top. And if nothing else, it’s guaranteed to make you forget about the world outside for a couple of hours.

Members Only. How very ‘80s. Lauderdale still trying to be Miami, huh?

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There is shawarma. And there is pita. And there is a fried dish called falafel. And then there is DABUSH.

Having discovered this spot when they opened two years back, I fell in love. So in love that I wrote up their award in the BEST OF issue of the Miami New Times two years ago.

Fast forward to today, I find that I am a repeat offender of this spot in Hollywood. Straight from my beloved Israel - the food is Kosher. But welcomes all who simply want good, clean and hearty food. I lived in Israel. I lived in Lebanon. And this is legitimately good Middle Eastern food.

Enter the space where you order on a screen if you’re the typical client. But for us - we got the red carpet treatment. So basically for your knowledge and full transparency, we tried everything.

From the fresh sliced meats to the pita bread that’s imported and unparalleled, their new additions to the menu warmed my soul. Especially the falafel. Run, don’t walk.

The scene: It’s simple. And sometimes - that’s just better. Frill free - there are tables throughout with metal chairs. They make it easy to clean up for themselves after because within - things DO drip. It’s busy. There is a line often. But once you order, you wait for your dish at the bar where you also choose your toppings. If you want all the salads on your shawarma pita or platter, or wish to alter your order - this is where you do it!

What to eat and drink: Get the falafel pita, the turkey shawarma or the grilled chicken bowl which comes served over rice, beans and hummus. Depending on your cravings, you choose your toppings. Hummus? Tahini? Salads? Spicy? Pickled veggies? This is where you create the bespoke experience. Do not miss their non-alcoholic drink selection. The Israeli mango juice and the lemonade with mint and the Mexican Coke are what we swear by!

Don’t miss: The falafel. It’s been on the menu for a year and it was hot, crispy magic. I can’t wait to go back. With a mint lemonade, it makes me wonder what in life could be better….

Perfect for: A casual heaven! A family outing. Or just go alone if you are ready to eat a lot. And eat well.

Expect to pay: $30 pp.

How’s the parking? Plentiful in the lot in front.

@dabushshawarma.usa // 3371 Sheridan St, Hollywood

Miami hasn’t been this worked up over saving something since Elian Gonzalez.

And while nobody’s forming a human chain in front of Gramps’ Getaway just yet, the beloved waterfront bar’s potential bulldozing has the city riled up in ways usually only seen for Copa America matches and government coups.

If you’re unfamiliar, we’re talking about Referendum 3, the initiative on this year’s ballot which would allow developers to redo the Rickenbacker and Marine Stadium marinas, bulldozing Gramps Getaway. And though we don’t really do politics here at the Leftovers Miami, we feel pretty safe encouraging everyone to vote No.

Why is Referendum 3 such a big deal?

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Miami’s candy shops cover plenty of ground, from Swedish pick-and-mix gummies in Coral Gables to chocolate made from scratch on Calle Ocho. Sugar lovers can spend an afternoon choosing bonbons or pick up enough sweets for an entire birthday party. So yes, we’ll take you to the ‘Candy Shop’ — that one was for Matt — with these seven spots are worth knowing for both, with a few chocolate-covered snacks along the way.

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When it comes to contemporary Latin cuisine, Chef Richard Sandoval comes to mind. A celebrated chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur, Sandoval has spent decades introducing the vibrant flavors of Latin America to dining rooms around the world and transforming traditional ingredients into sophisticated culinary experiences. With more than 60 restaurants across four continents, his culinary empire reflects his appreciation for his heritage, his passion for innovation, and his instinct for creating destinations that extend well beyond the plate. From introducing Latin cuisine to markets such as the UAE, Qatar, and Serbia to redefining the dining experience in established culinary capitals, Sandoval has helped bring Latin American gastronomy to a global audience.

Recognized as a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur, he has also been named among Inc. magazine’s 10 Most Inspiring Business Leaders and received an honorary doctorate in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales University. Beyond the kitchen, Sandoval has established himself as a television personality, cookbook author, brand ambassador, and philanthropist. His career celebrates Latin culture while continually pushing the boundaries of modern dining.

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