The Most Intimate Ticketed Dining Event in Miami Is at a Hotel in Coral Gables

The most intimate ticketed dining event in Miami right now is not at a Wynwood pop-up or a Design District tasting room. It is at a hotel in Coral Gables, and it seats 24 people.

Americana Kitchen at Loews Coral Gables has a 4.7 rating across more than 1,100 reviews — one of the highest-rated hotel restaurants in South Florida. The kitchen runs breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a dining room that looks out over The Plaza Coral Gables, with a Sunday brunch program that has built a following of its own. The Resy editorial team has singled out the Cubano-inspired hash and tres leches French toast at breakfast as a signal of a kitchen that takes Miami's identity seriously. This is not a hotel restaurant that is coasting on the hotel's name.

The Rooftop Cellar Series

On November 19, Americana Kitchen is hosting the Rooftop Cellar Series — a five-course dinner for 24 guests at $198 per person. The format is a wine-paired progression, each course matched to a specific bottle, the menu built around the wine as much as the other way around. The guest count is smaller than most omakase bars in the city. The intimacy is the point.

The Menu

The progression: Scallop Crudo paired with Ferrari Brut sparkling. Duck Breast Carpaccio paired with Domaine Jolly Chablis. Mushroom and Truffle Ravioli paired with a Super Tuscan. Braised Wagyu Short Rib paired with a Pauillac Bordeaux. Dessert with Gran Duque de Alba Solera, with live music closing the evening.

That wine list is worth examining on its own terms. Ferrari Brut is one of the finest sparkling wines produced in Italy — Trentodoc method, not Champagne, but made with the same discipline. Domaine Jolly Chablis is a premier cru producer in Burgundy's northernmost appellation. Pommard Pinot Noir is one of the most structured expressions of red Burgundy. A Super Tuscan — Sangiovese blended with international varieties, the format that redefined Italian wine in the 1980s — bridges the Old World and the New. Pauillac Bordeaux is the appellation of Lafite, Latour, and Mouton Rothschild. Gran Duque de Alba Solera is a Spanish brandy aged in American oak, the traditional close to a formal Spanish dinner. In one evening, the wine list moves through the geography of European fine wine from sparkling to dessert.

The Thanksgiving and Holiday Calendar

The Rooftop Cellar Series is not the only reason to know Americana Kitchen this season. The restaurant is running Thanksgiving on November 26 from 12pm to 4pm — an elegant hotel setting for a holiday meal, with the kitchen's Miami-inflected sensibility applied to the traditional format. Christmas Brunch follows on December 25, same window. For guests who want a Coral Gables option for either holiday, Americana Kitchen is the most reliable choice in the neighborhood.

Americana Kitchen is at 2950 Coconut Grove Drive, Coral Gables. Phone: 786-772-7600. Valet is $14 for dining guests. The Rooftop Cellar Series is November 19 — reservations through Resy, which qualifies for Resy Credit through American Express. Thanksgiving is November 26, 12pm–4pm. Christmas Brunch is December 25, 12pm–4pm.