Each day before dawn, Argentine cheese man Bruno Ponce and a skeleton crew arrive at his petite North Miami shop, Mimmo's Mozzarella, to plunge dozens of blocks of Wisconsin curd into piping-hot water. Then come hours of pulling and stretching the softened cheese into milky white lobes of mozzarella and burrata. Some are wrapped in cheesecloth and hung to dry until they become the aged version called scamorza. The vast majority of them used to be shipped out to Marky's Gourmet, the Biltmore Hotel, and Miami Beach's Juvia. But in 2015, Ponce converted his once-barren storefront into a quaint café. Here, you can order a cheese board for two ($25.99) piled high with a mozzarella pinwheel filled with basil and speck, salty ricotta salata, and homemade ricotta. Figure out a way to stop by weekly. Grab a cheese board for a quick lunch and some extra for the fridge.

Patrick Rebholz is a master of meat. The chef who presides over Quality Meats Miami Beach, an import from New York, transforms all manner of cow and pig into otherworldly creations with little more than salt and time. He has offered smoked soppressata and calf's liver mousse. There's cured foie gras torchon and sausage infused with Cigar City's beloved Jai-Alai IPA. Try one, if you possess such self-control, for $7. Or give in to your desires and splurge on the $36 "bouquet" that offers a bite of everything. The latter is served on a suave lazy Susan decorated with house-made pigs in blankets, duck bacon, and merguez-spiced prosciutto. And this is just the setup. Once Rebholz is done wooing you with all of these intensely flavored bites, he still has a cooler full of prime beef ready to fire up and launch across your bow.

On a busy night, Perricone's becomes a waiting room for the main dining area, but don't underestimate this gourmet shop. It's a specialty Italian grocery plus a catering service, infused with the sophisticated yet casual atmosphere of its restaurant counterpart. More than 100 types of domestic and international wines line the walls, and Italian delicacies, from prosciutto to veal parmigiana, are perched in glass cases. Owner Steven Perricone played a big role in pioneering the Brickell dining scene when he opened the restaurant/marketplace in 1995 before the area underwent gentrification. More than 20 years later, Perricone's Marketplace & Café still provides high-quality cuisine and everyday convenience. "It appeals to people on the go, and it's more full-service," Perricone says of the concept, "so it hopefully services more people's needs." Specials change daily, but comforting favorites such as lasagna ($14.95) and homemade gelato ($3.95 for a single scoop) are staples. The market opens at 7 a.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. weekends. The restaurant operates Sunday through Thursday until the last seating at 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday till 11:30 p.m.

Do yourself a favor and invest in a good mother-of-pearl spoon. Why? The pricey little utensils are a must-have if you plan to savor even the least costly caviar. See, when a place serves you an ounce of the finest beluga or osetra roe with a dainty silver spoon, the easy-to-tarnish metal may impart a tinny flavor to your fancy eggs. But not mother-of-pearl. Now, with the proper tool in hand, you're ready to decide whether you want to drop $63.83 for a half-ounce of olive-black Kaluga Fusion Gold or an eye-popping $140 for the same amount of Russian Reserve osetra. If caviar isn't your guilty pleasure, Marky's Gourmet has every other stripe of sinful indulgence. Want a whole duck foie gras from Hudson Valley Farms? Yours for $148.78. A pound of dried French morel mushrooms? That'll be $266.50. Perhaps you're less flashy and like to cloak your refinement. For that, just go for one of Marky's fine cultured French butters. They're only about $20 a pound.

Mall food courts get a bad rap. At their worst, they bring us back to the dreaded days of mysterious cafeteria food served on plastic trays from questionable kitchens. But at their best, they provide convenient, flavorful cuisine that fuels shoppers without interrupting precious browsing and buying time. The ideal mall food court should have a pleasant dining atmosphere, a convenient location, and a diverse selection of price ranges and cuisines. Dolphin Mall's food court hits all the marks, offering everything from a full-service Italian kitchen and hibachi eatery to fast-food classics such as Burger King and Starbucks. Head to Texas de Brazil for a full steakhouse experience, and finish off the meal the traditional food-court way with self-served frozen yogurt from Yogurberry. Even the sit-down options have quick service and an affordable price range, leaving maximum time and money for your true mall motives.

Homemade hummus. Freshly baked pita bread. Straight-out-of-the-oven baklava. Ali Aziz has been hooking up Miami with fresh Middle Eastern goods for almost 40 years. And from the second you open the door to this Coral Way hole-in-the-wall, you'll be enthralled by the smell of exotic spices and Aziz's famed pita bread, which he claims to be the best in the nation. But you'll find more than yogurt drinks, sesame seeds, olive oil, and even hookahs at the Middle East Best Food. If you stick around long enough to spark conversation with Aziz, he'll likely tell you the story of how he got his start in the 1950s working as a baker at the Hotel InterContinental in Jerusalem. Though his Miami place is not a restaurant per se, you'll find a table at the entrance where you can enjoy a small plate of tabbouleh salad ($3.50), a shawarma sandwich ($10.95), or kibbeh ($1 each), all made by Aziz. So if you're looking for ingredients to make your own falafel or craving Middle Eastern sweets, the Middle East Best Food market has your back.

Bradley Kilgore has been searching for a unique cuisine his entire life. It began when he tried to make brownies out of a Betty Crocker cookbook and accidentally replaced salt with sugar. It continues today at Alter, his casual yet ambitious Wynwood restaurant. It's upending the Miami dining scene partly because of Kilgore's relentless dedication to well-sourced, humble ingredients such as chicken, leeks, and mushrooms. They're spiced, smoked, blanched, vacuum-packed, emulsified, cooked sous vide, and then whimsically arranged into delicate, edible artworks. You don't want to demolish them, but you can't help it. So how much should all of this cost? According to Kilgore, it's $30 or less. That may be steep, but not as astronomical as some of the Michelin-starred shops where he trained. Instead, Kilgore looks to bring Miami's most exciting food to the people. There's no need to wait for a special occasion.

Readers' choice: Adrianne Calvo of Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar

Fluid gels and foams are nice. But sometimes you want a good old-fashioned sugar bomb, no frills or xanthan gum included. So you turn to Joshua Gripper, Miami's sheikh of sweets, who has the ability to transform even the coolest diners at the Dutch into sugar-buzzed toddlers. He does it with slices of pie ($12) filled with salted lime custard, warm figs and apples, and banana cream. Sometimes Gripper unpacks a Boston cream doughnut and encases the buttery cake in vanilla custard ringed by macerated blueberries. Other nights, he may send you home with coconut-cream dreams. If there's no pie in your eye, don't worry. Gripper's extensive resumé includes work at two-Michelin-star restaurant Oustau de Baumanière, DB Bistro Moderne, Butter, and Café Boulud. He can turn out the elegant, buttery French cookies called palmiers with ease and then pair them with the best churros and funnel cakes the city has ever seen.

When Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth left for the bright lights of New York City, Miami culinary fans let out a collective sob. After all, we lost two wonderful young chefs in a single flight north. As expected, the partners (in business and in life) opened Root & Bone in Manhattan's Alphabet City neighborhood and were swiftly the talk of the town for both their sweet tea brined fried chicken and their megawatt personalities. The only drawback to the couple's success was the fact that Miamians had to take a flight for a meal. Fortunately, McInnis and Booth have returned to Miami with not one but two restaurants. Their Sarsaparilla Club at the Shelborne serves American dim sum and a tangy, Asian-inspired fried chicken, and the pair plans to open a seafood restaurant — complete with a sunset deck — in the Sunset Harbour neighborhood. Talk about a homecoming!

It's been a big year for foodstagramming, which made the competition in this category fierce. Yet when it comes to photos worth ogling, @fatgirlhedonist is queen. This mouthwatering feed shows off the city's scene in true Miami style: lighthearted and unapologetic, with a touch of Latin spice. The Hialeah-born woman behind the account isn't a local chef or big-name restaurateur; her posts are motivated purely by a passion for all things culinary. Yes, there are some shameless promotions from time to time, but the page features a wide variety of eateries and maintains just enough down-to-earth feel. Because the Fatgirl Hedonist Instagram and blog are operated by an average foodie, they feature uniquely honest commentary, including an "I Wouldn't Go There if Were You" list. Feast your eyes, but be warned: This Instagram is guaranteed to induce some serious cravings.