In November 2021, the Michelin Guide announced that it would partner with VISIT FLORIDA to offer Michelin Guides to three cities in the state. One of these was Miami, and the first Miami Michelin Guide debuted in June 2022. Since then, the Guide has presented several restaurants with either a Bib Gourmand designation or one Michelin star each year; one restaurant in the area has received two. One star means the food is excellent and worth visiting, two stars means the food is so good that it’s worth going out of your way to visit, and three stars means the food is so consistently amazing that it’s worth making a special trip just to dine there.
The Michelin Guide may have started as a promotional tool for driving and using Michelin-brand tires, but it’s grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Receiving a Michelin star is an honor, giving the restaurant a new level of visibility, along with a potential bump in demand. Stars don’t depend on location or decor. When you see a Michelin-starred restaurant, you know that it’s the food that’s the attraction. Miami’s dining scene is well-deserving of Michelin acknowledgment, with restaurants serving dishes from across the world and for all budget levels. Food in the city is about more than Cuban sandwiches and seafood; its array of dining options means there’s always something new to discover. Currently, there are 13 Michelin-starred restaurants in Miami that cover the range from casual to exclusive, and all are worth a visit.
Elcielo Miami — 1 star
Elcielo Miami is known for eclectic takes on Colombian food, offering a presentation that’s sometimes so abstract that diners talk more about what the servers did than what the food was like. That was the case in 2022, when the restaurant’s “chocotherapy” course — in which guests have melted chocolate poured all over their hands — featured in a social media post that went viral. The course is part of the restaurant’s “Experience” menu, a multiple-course tasting menu whose price changes depending on the day of the week. Elcielo Miami calls the menu a “culinary sensory journey” and offers variations for birthdays and anniversaries for an additional charge.
Medellín-born executive chef Juan Manuel Barrientos (a.k.a. Juanma) opened Elcielo Miami in 2015. The restaurant is one of five Elcielo locations in Colombia and the United States, run by the Elcielo Hospitality Group. Barrientos has landed on best-of lists four times and oversees a creative department in Colombia that creates all the recipes served at each Elcielo restaurant…