Jaya at the Setai

Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indian specialties appear on the menu at Jaya, the year-old restaurant at the Setai. The restaurant's top toque is a 2015 Chopped champion Mathias Gervais, who grew up in the South of France but has always been fascinated with Asian food and culture. One of the kitchen's specialties is roasted Peking duck. It's served DIY-style with steamed pancakes, scallions, cucumbers, and bean sauce. But if that's too heavy, try the duck salad instead. Gervais adds blackberries, lychees, and crisp leeks to the mesclun mix, which balances the richness of the bird and the plum sauce dotted around the plate. He also saves the duck trimmings and sautés them in the wok with spices and olive oil to give extra depth to the appetizer. Har gow — Cantonese steamed shrimp dumplings served in dim sum — are commonplace, but Jaya's version is perfect. Gervais' commitment shows in the attention to detail and caliber of cuisine here. It's true that Miami Beach hotel restaurants don't have the best reputation, but there's no reason Jaya shouldn't be as popular as, say, Hakkasan at the Fontainebleau.