When you want to dine on the water, you want something special. And what's better than breakfast, lunch, or dinner presented by former Hell's Kitchen contestant and one of the region's foremost culinary darlings, Paula DaSilva? In 2016, DaSilva announced she'd become executive chef of Artisan Beach House, the newest restaurant to launch at the Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour. The eatery reunites DaSilva with nightlife concept creator and restaurateur Seth Greenberg, who first teamed up with the chef at the now-defunct 1500 Degrees at the Eden Roc. The place marks her return to the Miami culinary scene after taking a seven-month hiatus from the kitchen to travel and spend time with family. From the open-air patio or bright, beach-themed dining room, you can see boats passing through the inlet leading to the Atlantic Ocean. The view also comes with a choice of dishes inspired by DaSilva's travels and 20-plus years of culinary experience. That means you can find everything from her Italian riff on baked farm eggs ($12) — toast with salted, cured fish-roe-topped chicken eggs — to the very French country-style foie gras torchon ($14) she plates with bacon, grain mustard, and house-pickled vegetables.

While most of the country waits months to dine outdoors, Miamians are lucky to have the option year-round. And because a good cocktail and a fancy meal taste even better while gazing out across a majestic view, why not head for a rooftop where you can take in the sights of the Magic City's skyline by day and night? Juvia, perched atop the parking garage designed by Herzog & de Meuron since 2012, is just the spot for such an outing. The restaurant boasts 10,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor space, offering patrons magnificent panoramic views that stretch from Miami Beach to mainland Miami. Don't just go for the location, however; the food is topnotch too, thanks to a trio of chefs including Sunny Oh (formerly of Nobu South Beach), Daniel Boulud protégé Laurent Cantineaux, and pastry chef Gregory Gourreau, who spent time working alongside Alain Ducasse and François Payard. Together, they offer guests lunch and dinner menus that blend the cuisine of Asia and South America with classic French technique. That means you can order everything from Maine lobster ceviche ($25) and sea scallop a la plancha ($33) to duck foie gras terrine ($29) and a 32-ounce bone-in rib eye ($85). Juvia also serves one of Miami's best brunches, so come Saturday and Sunday, you can enjoy a prix fixe with bottomless mimosas, bellinis, or prosecco ($50) to end another sun-soaked week, all while taking in that breathtaking city skyline.

It's all in the family at Milam's Market, a true Miami-born small chain owned and operated by a family of 305 natives. The first Milam's was founded in 1984 on Bird Road by Allen Milam and his father Thomas. At the time, it was part of the Piggly Wiggly franchise, but later it was rebranded with the owners' name. Today Milam's stands as a third-generation family business employing dozens of relatives and has grown from that first store on Bird Road to five locations, including Miami Springs, Coconut Grove, Pinecrest, and Sunny Isles Beach. So what makes Milam's better than your average Publix or Winn-Dixie? In addition to carrying all the typical grocery staples at reasonable prices, Milam's made it a point to specialize in areas that matter most to many of its customers: a great wine selection, grouped by varietal and country of origin; top-quality, humanely raised meats; ethically sourced seafood; and a tantalizing array of prepared foods. Throw in some classical music playing in the background and old-fashioned, mom-and-pop customer service, and you have a grocery-shopping experience worth forgetting those big chains.

The pigs are sweet inside this opulent Chinese spot adorned with pictures of gilded dragons and glistening lacquer paintings of intricate zodiac symbols. These are no normal pigs. A bite into one reveals not flesh, but fluffy steamed dough ($3.60) wrapped around a warm, slightly sweet egg custard. It's an ideal dessert after assaulting your body's water content with swollen soup dumplings filled with crab and pork ($4.50). Of course you can't stop there. Luscious pork ribs luxuriate in a fragrant fermented black bean sauce ($3.60). Then come the pasty taro fritters ($3.10), whose puréed tuber is encased in a crackly web of a crust, followed by meaty strands of beef rolled into supple, slightly translucent rice flour crêpes ($4.50). By the time the sweet pig buns arrive, you'll have had more than your fill. But how could you resist the adorable pink snouts and curly tails so precisely affixed to the sweet treat? All that's left to do is keep your eyes open for the drive home. Then, and only then, can you collapse into a dream world filled with sweet pigs marching by.

The fact that it takes two weeks to get a reservation at South of Fifth's Upland should come as no surprise. The man running the menu is Justin Smillie, a Jonathan Waxman acolyte who made his bones cooking ultraclassic Italian fare. With Upland, Smillie has broken away from all of that. Restaurateur Stephen Starr helped him develop an eclectic, meat-and-veg-heavy menu that pulls inspiration and ingredients from all corners of the globe. The roast duck ($38) takes tropical flight thanks to mango and pomegranate that are an order of magnitude better than the orange or apple compote that often flies with the bird. So pick up the phone or check OpenTable now, because waiting is the hardest part.

Point Royal represents a seafood-centric return to South Florida for Chopped judge and Iron Chef winner Geoffrey Zakarian, who's chef/partner at the Lambs Club and the National in New York City, as well as at the Water Club at Borgata in Atlantic City. The celebrity chef might be best known in these parts for his famous lobster roll, also the item worthiest of a trip to his new restaurant, Point Royal, which opened in February 2017 at the Diplomat Beach Resort on A1A where Hollywood meets Hallandale Beach. A whole Maine lobster is steamed, sectioned, and reassembled neatly to look like a lobster out of its shell and set into a massive potato bun soaked in so much butter it tastes almost like a croissant. From there it's dipped in Zakarian's signature Coleman's mustard-spiked butter sauce, kicked up a notch with a hint of lemon juice and sriracha. Like most dishes on the menu, it's a perfect reflection of a restaurant that bills itself as coastal American, the type of place where you can stop by for a burger and beer or for some oysters and a glass of wine. The decor evokes Old Florida, Cuba, and the galley of a yacht. Tables are etched with compass designs, and a tropical vibe comes courtesy of massive potted trees and plants that arch over tables and doorways. Point Royal really hits its stride in the more entrée-like dishes, from a stellar shrimp-and-grits main course to ricotta agnolotti with a Florida blue crab fondue. For dessert, try a piña colada. Whole pineapples are cored, pressed, and paired with a house coconut cream and potent dark rum for what is arguably the world's best take on this classic frozen drink.

Would you expect anything less than excellence from French culinary titan Daniel Boulud? Since opening this sleek downtown eatery in 2010 inside the JW Marriott Marquis, Boulud has set a new standard for big-name chefs with forward bases in Miami. He changes the menu with a devout, almost obsessive regularity tied to the seasons. Here's the proof: In fall and winter of 2016, the menu listed diver scallops with a squash-and-root-vegetable succotash, alongside pumpkin agnolotti with chestnuts, sage, and Brussels sprouts. In spring 2016, executive chef Clark Bowen rolled over the menu to house-made spaghetti with sweet spanner crab perfumed with fennel and saffron. There was a Swank Farm bean salad with peas, guanciale, and pecorino, as well as roast pork with fried green tomatoes, spicy cabbage, and mustard jus. Just a few months ago, the menu was again reinvented, this time with addictive fried rice balls called arancini plumped with sweet corn and mozzarella ($8). Cauliflower with coconut, cashews, and carrots ($14) came to light along with lamb dressed with spring onions and fava beans ($36). Clearly, every season provides a new reason to return to DB Bistro Moderne.

The clock strikes noon, and the downtown lunch options are endless. Or so it seems. Those in the know make a beeline for Camila's. Step into the stark white dining room, and immediately your ears are flooded with the silky patois of Brazilian Portuguese. Famished tourists come here to dish themselves juicy pork chuletas doused in garlic oil and the pipino salad littered with crisp cucumber curve, red onion, and punchy vinaigrette. Meanwhile, the business crowd shoves its way in to dine, devour, and dash. The sound of cell phones filling with emails and buzzing against white metal tables hums in the background, but take your time. Camila's all-you-can-eat buffet ($14.95 per person) offers no fewer than 20 dishes that are continually replenished throughout the bustling lunch service. Be sure to fill one plate with carne moída: a picadillo-like stew studded with olives and sweet green peas permeated by the fragrance of smoky paprika. The place's black beans are a master class in legumes; each bite comes with meaty bits of pork knuckle and thin ovals of sliced sausage. Yes, the urge to rush back to the office or beach grows more powerful by the moment. But resist! Grab a cup of rice pudding dusted with cinnamon and dotted with coconut strands. Now you've enjoyed lunch like a proper Paulista.

With Miami's favorite Aussie, the lunch bell could bring a satanically rich blood cake (Brits call it black pudding) fried in a fist-size knob of good butter. Perhaps your plate will boast Wagyu bacon, cured in-house at Edge Steak & Bar. Or maybe it'll be a plate of freshly made corzetti pasta, imprinted with the fleur de lis pattern that chef Aaron Brooks picked up during a recent jaunt through Chicago. And that's just lunch. At dinner, he and his crew will serve you the expertly browned and basted beef they always have, but only after you dig into kangaroo empanadas ($6), chorizo and cheddar croquetas ($9), and a Sicilian pork and pistachio terrine ($13) that will likely soon be swapped out for some other mind-boggling charcuterie. And while all of this is good and well, Brooks' main mission is to delight. This consummate chef is just as happy to let his pâté poach while whipping up pancakes at 8 p.m. on a Saturday or eggs Benedict at noon on a Tuesday.

Readers' choice: José Andrés (the Bazaar and Bazaar Mar)

The clatter of colliding pool balls rings out. You don't know how many games of nine ball you've lost, but your friends haven't forgotten your tab. You're down. Way, way down. "How's about you start working it off with a pizza?" your pal suggests. The vote is for the veggie ($13): a crisp-crusted pie scattered with woody artichoke hearts, mushrooms, peppers, black olives, and goat cheese. But when you reach for a slice, your hand is promptly slapped away. "This ain't yours, man," your foe interjects. "This is your payment." And so it goes. You don't see one shred of rib eye off the South Philly cheesesteak ($10) nestled in a puffy Amoroso bun flown in from the city that birthed the Republic. You can't even have one crunch of the spicy pickle ($2), brined in-house and the perfect chaser for whatever shot fits your fancy at 4 a.m. Maybe next time, you'll actually be able to sink a shot and get something to quiet that gurgling gut.

Readers' choice: Bodega Taqueria y Tequila