For the best eats this weekend has to offer, these are the restaurants we recommend.

L’Echon Brasserie

At this point, everything the PubBelly boys touch turns to gold and with good reason. When a restaurant group brings you restaurants like Pubbelly, Pubbelly Steak, and Macchialina, you basically start to trust them blindly. That is why this week you need to make your way to their newest concept, L’echon Brasserie. This French-inspired restaurant housed at the Hilton Cabana Miami Beach Hotel is offering French bistro elements and upscale cuisine in a rustic Pubbelly look. Step into this warm and comforting restaurant luring you with a divine smell of burning cedar, oak, and hickory woods and prepare to embark on a culinary adventure unlike what Miami has seen in the past. L’echon is bigger than all of the other Pubbelly concepts, as this 150-seat brasserie boasts an oceanfront outdoor patio and 2,500 square feet of indoor, outdoor and courtyard space. Menu standouts include Cochon de Lait ($24), a suckling pig served with celiac remoulade and mustard-sherry jus, and the 21 oz Cote de L’echon ($39), served with pickled slaw and mustard jus. For those staying at the hotel, L’echon also offers the opportunity to order food to be served pool side.

L’echon Brasserie
6261 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL
(786) 483-1611
pubbellyboys.com/lechon/
facebook.com/pages/Lechon-Brasserie/528750757212087

Threefold Café

Here at Miami Culinary Tours, we love it when restaurants and local establishments work together in order to run successfully. Abundant places in the city have begun embracing this concept, and Threefold Café is one of the newest restaurants running like this. At Threefold Café, you can find high quality local products such as Panther Coffee and Zak the Baker bread along with locally produced and sourced seasonal food. The thoughtful and inspiring fare at this simple café is extremely brunch-friendly and whimsical. You’d be remiss in not getting breakfast dishes such as the Not So French Toast or the Pope Benedict. The French Toast is stuffed with prosciutto, sage and ricotta and adds a savory element to the staple usually filled with sweet and fruit ingredients. The Pope Benedict includes house-made hollandaise and beachwood ham atop a hand crafted hash brown to produce a distinct take on the classic. If breakfast is not your thing, their lunch selection changes daily, as does their cold-pressed juice selection. The coffee is made to order by well-trained baristas, making for an out-of-this-world cup of coffee made from fragrant beans roasted in our own backyard.

Threefold Café
141 Giralda Ave Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 704-8007
threefoldcafe.com
facebook.com/pages/Threefold-Cafe/231262110414860

Divino Ceviche

The end of June marks the end of Coral Gables Restaurant week, but don’t fret, as July brings us the 3rd annual A Taste of Doral. Similar to Coral Gables Restaurant Week, A Taste of Doral is a month long program in which restaurants in the area offer fixed priced three-course menus that allow you to sample what they have to offer at discounted prices. For the first week, we recommend Divino Ceviche for a modern and inspired take on Peruvian cuisine. This established restaurant, with various locations throughout the city, has made a name for itself by taking a rustic cuisine and presenting it in sophisticated ways in order to appeal to the gourmands in Miami. With the Lavish Dinner ($25), you can choose from Pulpo en salsa anticuchero, skewers of octopus, or Mini tacu tacu, a rice and bean patty, as your appetizer. For entrée, you have an option from half a dozen choices found in the restaurants Peru Fusion menu, including Tacu Tacu con Lomo Saltado, Saltado de Mariscos, and Fettucine a la Huancaina con Lomo Saltado. Dessert options vary daily, but take it from us that they are delicious and satisfying.

Divino Ceviche
2629 NW 79th Ave, Doral, FL 33122
(305) 406-2345
divinoceviche.com
facebook.com/divinoceviche
atasteofdoral.com/participating-restaurants-in-doral/

Drunken Dragon

Sure, Miami is abundant in different cultures and cuisines, but most of these cater to the Latin palate. Don’t get us wrong, we love Cuban, Colombian, and Peruvian food as much as everyone else in the city, but sometimes you just look for something different. That is where Drunken Dragon comes in. This recently opened Korean BBQ joint allows you to grill your own meat late into the hours of the night. Oh yea, there’s a great selection of booze too. Co-owner Jared Grant wanted to open a place with a local bar type of feel, and he definitely succeeded. There’s Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean and it’s a family-style menu made for sharing, with modern Asian tapas. Start with the Peking Bad ($12) to share, a roasted duck dish served with chicken skin, hoisin, cucumber, and scallion to provide familiar flavors of authentic asian cuisine. For something a bit more whimsical, so for the Bahn Mi Cuban Presse ($12), a Vietnamese sandwich of pork, pate, pickles, and sriracha given the Cuban treatment. After, move onto the star of the show, the grilled meats. The high-quality rib-eye ($15) and short-rib ($12) are must gets, but for the more adventurous, Drunken Dragon also offers beef tongue ($9). Either way, the marinated meat is cooked by you at the table, giving a hands-on experience that most restaurants don’t offer.

Drunken Dragon
1424 Alton Rd., Miami Beach
(305) 397-8556
drunkendragon.com
facebook.com/pages/Drunken-Dragon/473237522741678

Swine

It seems like Swine is one of the most talked about restaurants in Miami at the moment, but they have definitely deserved their place in the spotlight. Brought to you by 50 Eggs, this BBQ concept is the perfect place to celebrate our country’s independence. Although most of our favorite cuisines come from different countries (hamburgers come from Germany and Pizza comes from Italy), it is safe to say that the native American cuisine is BBQ. That is why Swine is such a good option. When looking for succulent pulled pork or perfectly smoked ribs, this is the restaurant that you want to be dining at. The smell of smoked meat and burning hickory is the first thing you’ll notice walking in, making you wonder why on earth this fragrance isn’t more widely available. The menu may be overwhelming, but you can’t go wrong with any choice. On Fourth of July, Swine will be serving up a half rack of ribs ($26) with their signature competition rub, cider vinegar mop and homemade pickles for the holiday. Their beverage program is out of this world, offering cocktails centered around the ever-popular bourbon. Their house coktail, the Swine Old-Fashioned is made with bacon washed old overholt rye, maple syrup, and housemade ‘Swine’ bitters.

Swine
2415 Ponce De Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, FL 33134
(786) 360-6433
runpigrun.com
facebook.com/SwineSouthernTable
twitter.com/SwineSouthern