The Best Food We Ate in Miami Last Month

As the food editor of New Times, you can only imagine how many restaurants I am lucky enough to eat at each month.

This October saw 20 restaurant openings, which means I couldn't wait to check them all out. Three spots that particularly caught my eye were:

- Sparrow Italia: A modern Italian spot hailing from London, which opened in Wynwood and has great live music

- Sunny's Steakhouse: Miami's award-winning COVID residency, Sunny’s Someday Steakhouse at Lot 6, opened as a permanent restaurant this October in Little River. It's gorgeous, airy, charming, and perfect.

- Mother Wolf: Award-winning chef Evan Funke opened his highly acclaimed Italian restaurant, Mother Wolf, in the Miami Design District this October.

Below, check out five of the best dishes I had at all three restaurants. Bon appétit!

click to enlarge

The Wagyu carpaccio from Sparrow Italia is absolute perfection. Ask them to roll it up.

Photo by Nicole Lopez-Alvar

Wagyu Carpaccio from Sparrow Italia in Wynwood

London's Sparrow Italia, a new contemporary Italian spot that features elevated Italian-inspired dishes, cool cocktails, and live music, is home to one of the tastiest bites I had all October: a perfectly prepared Wagyu carpaccio. This Wagyu carpaccio is served with pickled mushrooms, Parmigiano, pine nuts, umami aioli, and shaved black truffle... and it's perfection. Ask a server to wrap it up ever so gently until it's like a perfect roll-up, meaning each bite has the perfect ratio of Wagyu, truffle shavings, and pine nuts... yum. Yum x 3. (The photo doesn't do it justice.)

Sparrow Hazelnut Rocher from Sparrow Italia in Wynwood

Sparrow Italia's carpaccio wasn't the only thing that had my taste buds exploding with excitement in October — its chocolate ball of heaven also did the trick. The Sparrow Hazelnut Rocher dessert is made with a crisp feuilletine, toasted hazelnut, and Nutella cream and satisfied my aching sweet tooth. As I cracked into its crisp outer chocolate shell, I was delighted to find a perfectly creamy center, with each bite filling my nostrils and touching my tongue with the warm aroma of hazelnut. A delight from start to finish.

Corn Agnolotti With Blue Crab From Sunny's Steakhouse in Little River

The team behind the most highly anticipated restaurant opening of the year, Sunny's Steakhouse in Little River, has just opened its gorgeous modern steakhouse and has brought along a bunch of its classic staples from its sister spot that closed down, Jaguar Sun. One of those delicacies is the corn agnolotti stuffed with plump blue crab and saffron; the sauce and aroma alone are enough to send you to the clouds. The pillowy clouds of corn are filled with umami flavor. Then, you're brought down to Earth when you see the rest of your incredible meal coming out. Ten out of ten.

Gnocchi di Ricotta From Mother Wolf in the Miami Design District

Award-winning chef Evan Funke opened his highly acclaimed Italian restaurant, Mother Wolf, in the Miami Design District this past month. Although every pasta dish is incredible and handmade strand by strand, one dish blew me away: the gnocchi di ricotta with burro e oro, which directly translates to butter and gold. And guess what — it truly tastes golden. Each pillowy bite is a golden hallelujah to the Italian gods of pasta. While gnocchi is usually made with potato, here, it's made with ricotta cheese. And lots of it. (If you're lactose intolerant, stay away or pop a Lactaid tablet.)

Sfincione Rosso (Red Focaccia) From Mother Wolf in the Miami Design District

You guys must order Evan Funke’s signature focaccia with sugo di cipolla, caciocavallo, origano selvatico, and mollica at Mother Wolf. It tastes like part red sauce pasta, part dough-ball heaven, part melt-in-your-mouth pizza. It's different, it's authentic, and it's a must-order at Mother Wolf. Pro-tip: Keep it around once your pasta comes out so you can dip the focaccia into the leftover sauces of your other dishes. You'll thank me later.