The Chef Who Introduced High-End Italian Seafood to New York Is Now in Coral Gables at $ Prices

Marea in New York is the restaurant that established Michael White as one of the most important Italian seafood chefs in the country. It has a Michelin star. It is on the Upper West Side. It is not cheap. MIKA in Coral Gables is the version of that idea that you can actually afford to go to regularly.

MIKA has a 4.8 rating on Resy with 3,300 reviews at a $ price point — Mediterranean Italian, Coral Gables, a room that Resy places on the Greatest Seafood list alongside Hakkasan and Prime 54. The chef is the same one who built his reputation on Italian seafood in New York. The price point is the surprise.

Michael White trained under Marco Canora and worked at Fiamma before opening Marea, which became the definitive high-end Italian seafood restaurant in New York. The crudo, the pasta, the whole fish — Marea set a standard that most Italian seafood restaurants in the country are still trying to meet. MIKA is the Coral Gables expression of that same sensibility, at a price point that makes it a neighborhood restaurant rather than a special occasion destination.

3,300 reviews at 4.8 stars is not a new restaurant finding its footing. That is a restaurant that has been doing something right for long enough that the neighborhood has adopted it. Coral Gables has a dining identity — Miracle Mile, the Biltmore corridor, the restaurants that have been there for decades — and MIKA has become part of it.

The Resy Seafood list for Miami includes Sushi | Bar Miami Beach ($$$$, omakase, 9:45pm seating), Hakkasan ($$$$), Prime 54 ($$$$), and MIKA ($). The $ entry on a list of $$$$ restaurants is the most useful data point on the list. It means the kitchen is doing something that justifies the comparison — and that you can go without planning a special occasion around it.

MIKA is in Coral Gables. Book through Resy. The 3,300 reviews are the recommendation.