Miami with the FT
Welcome to the new Miami Guide from FT Globetrotter. Click here for competent advice on food and drink, exercise, art and culture – and much more
The perfect day begins at sunrise on Miami Beach with Betsy and Rosa, the CEOs (Canine Executive Officers) of our hotel The Betsy. (Dogs are technically not allowed on the beach, but the lifeguards start work at 9 a.m. and turn a blind eye beforehand.) Watching the dogs run free against the backdrop of the Miami Beach sky – it couldn’t be better. An ideal start to the day.
When I come from the beach, I go to our hotel’s café for a take-away coffee and “Puppalattes” for Betsy and Rosa. We’ll hang out with the Beatles (thanks to the new exhibition of Beatles photographs in India) and enjoy the gentle mix of indie and 60s rock on the cafe’s morning playlist.
Goldwasser with her dogs Betsy and Rosa in their hotel The Betsy
The hotel’s café houses an exhibition of photographs of the Beatles in India © Josh Aronson (2)
Just minutes away is the bustling cobblestone Española Way, Miami’s miniature version of Barcelona’s Las Ramblas. Coffee in hand, I’m on my way to breakfast at A La Folie – a small French place on the quieter end of Española Way that makes you (almost) believe you’re in Paris – for egg cocotte or one of them delicious salty crpes.
Bohemian to the peach color and pedestrian only since 2017, Española Way was the first commercial development on Miami Beach in the 1920s, originally built as an artist colony. The street is especially busy at night, filled with fairy lights, Italian baritone servers in the Hosteria Romana blaring birthday wishes, bubbling water pipes, and competing Italian, Mexican, Spanish, and French café music. It’s a typical Miami Beach experience.
Española Way, pedestrian only, was originally built as an artists’ colony © Shutterstock
Lincoln Road Antique & Collectible Market is one of Goldwasser’s favorite hangouts on Sundays © Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg / Alamy
If it’s Sunday, Lincoln Road Antique & Collectible Market (open weekly during high season) has funky vintage jewelry and handbags at great prices, as well as artisanal cheeses and spices. A pop-up concert from the Miami Beach Classical Music Festival could add a nice aria in the bright midday sun.
For lunch I head south on Fifth Street (“SoFi” as the locals call it) to Abba, with its bougainvillea-filled outdoor seating and divine Israeli menu. The classic fattoush, the Israeli kale “Caesar” with pistachios and green tahini, and the falafel and lamb kofta pitas are all must-sees. Nearby, Milos is another safe place for delicious Mediterranean food (and with a surprisingly affordable lunch menu). Or I go to Planta, a stylish vegan restaurant that has a variety of tapas style dishes and sushi that are so good you think they’re the real deal.
Falafel Pita at Abbale Telavivian Kitchen (also known as Abba)
Milos is another safe choice for great Mediterranean food © Designed by Jeffrey Beers International. Photo: Paul Warchol.
After lunch, I went to the 21st and Collins to The Bass Museum, one of the first and finest examples of Art Deco construction in Miami Beach, built in the 1930s. It includes significant works from the Renaissance to the modern era and has one of the largest collections of Austrian paintings in the United States. Also nearby, The Wolfsonian focuses on “the persuasiveness of art and design” with 180,000 works from the years 1885 to 1945 in various media, from furniture and industrial design objects, rare books and paintings to works made of glass, ceramics, Metal and textiles. When I see a work of art that speaks to me, it’s like hearing a great song – it pulls me to the heart. The city’s art scene is thriving, giving Miami Beach an electrical power that makes it an exciting place to live.
The Bass Art Museum is one of the finest examples of Art Deco in Miami
‘The Willfulness of Objects’ is a selection of artworks from The Bass’ extensive collection © Courtesy of The Bass. Photos: Zachary Balber (2)
Miami City Ballet is right next to The Bass on 2200 Liberty Avenue. It is a special treat to see a live class from the Lourdes Lopez dance company through the street level glass studios.
No perfect day in Miami Beach is complete without an evening concert – perhaps a Wallcast-projected New World Symphony concert in the park in front of the Frank Gehry-designed Symphony House. The New World Symphony is the brainchild of Michael Tilson Thomas, the former conductor of the San Francisco and London Symphony Orchestras, and is “America’s Orchestral Academy” – and with Michael’s international reputation, guest players could be Itzhak Perlman, Emanuel Ax or John Williams.
New World Symphony concerts can be enjoyed outside the Miami Orchestra home. . . © Rui Dias Aidos
. . . designed by Frank Gehry © Emilio Collavino
Otherwise, I could catch a performance of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theater, just a few blocks west, or go to The North Beach Bandshell north of 72nd Street on Collins Avenue to see the Nu Deco Ensemble, an innovative hybrid orchestra, that works with artists from the fields of music, dance and mixed media.
Dining in Miami means having some of the best restaurants in the world and the most innovative culinary thinkers on hand: OLA just up Collins, José Andrés at The Bazaar, Jean-Georges Vongerichten at The Edition, Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth’s Stiltsville Fish Bar in Sunset Harbor, Marcus Samuelsson’s new Red Rooster, just a short drive away in Overtown – the list goes on.
One of Miami Beach’s many excellent dining options is the Stiltsville Fish Bar. . .
. . . and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s outpost at The Edition Hotel © Francesco Tonelli
The day ends with a nightcap and dessert on Ocean Drive, Miami Beach’s iconic, one-of-a-kind Art Deco strip. It was recently closed to vehicles and is now only open to pedestrian traffic. It’s full of lined up restaurants and especially magical at night, which makes it one of the best places in the world for people-watching. The Betsy hosts live jazz seven nights a week, and sitting on the terrace listening to a solo by the musician that evening and watching the world go by on Ocean Drive is pure bliss: the perfect end to a perfect day.
Lesley Goldwasser is the managing partner of GreensLedge Capital Markets and co-owner of The Betsy South Beach
Do you have a great Miami tip to share? Tell us here – a selection of the best reader recommendations will be published shortly
For more pieces like this, visit ft.com/globetrotter or check out our Miami travel guide
Follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
Comments are closed.