Miami's Best Eats and Drinks This Week: Golden Week, Ruth Reichl, and Sticky Toffee Pudding

This is your last chance to indulge in steamed red snapper, braised Boston lobster, wok-fried rib-eye beef, and a supreme dim sum platter at Hakkasan inside the Fontainebleau. Their Chinese feast prix-fixe menu, in honor of Golden Week, ends this week, so act fast.

Slow Food Miami is back with the second Snail Social of the year at Edge Steak & Bar on Tuesday night. Lunch with famed restaurant critic and author Ruth Reichl on Wednesday afternoon at Books & Books. Wednesday is also National Dessert Day and Cleo South Beach wants to celebrate with a sticky toffee pudding. End your week with a happy hour at La Mar, which officially launches this Thursday night.

Monday

Celebrate 2015 Golden Week at Hakkasan 
A holiday celebration calls for an excuse to eat. To celebrate Golden Week, one of China's biggest national holidays, Hakkasan at the Fontainebleau created a special menu. Expect a dim sum platter with lychee and lobster dumpling, abalone shumai with caviar, Alaskan King crab dumpling, and the Dover sole dumpling with black truffle; steamed red snapper in royal supreme sauce with golden enoki; braised Boston lobster in superior stock; wok-fried rib-eye beef with lotus root and black pepper; and fried rice with diced abalone. For dessert, each guest will receive a bag of golden macaroons. Priced at $138 per person, a minimum of two diners must order the menu. For more information or reservations, visit fontainebleau.com or call 1-877-326-7412. Offer ends this Sunday, October 18. 

Tuesday

Slow Food Miami Second Snail Social at Edge Steak & Bar
From 6 to 8 p.m., Slow Food Miami, a local non-profit dedicated supporting good, clean food for all, will hold its second Snail Social at Edge Steak & Bar. Attendees will enjoy farm-to-table delicacies crafted by chef Aaron Brooks while mingling with Miami’s local food producers and supporters. Expect to nibble on chilled Key West pink shrimp with salsa verde, pickled chiles, and cucumber; Paradise Farms mushroom croquetas with a Farmstead blue cheese dip and local honey; and boniato frito with a special finger-licking guava sauce. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday

Dish and Dine with Ruth Reichl at Books & Books
The Café at Books & Books will host a lunch and book chat honoring famed restaurant critic and author Ruth Reichl. As the former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, Reichl is responsible for writing a series of critically acclaimed memoirs and a number of books that center around her lifelong passion for food. Tickets are $70 per person. They include the author talk, a three-course lunch by James Beard Award-winning chef Allen Susser, and an autographed copy of My Kitchen Year, Reichl’s latest publication. Reservations are required. Visit arshtcenter.org or call 786- 405-1745.

Sticky Toffee Pudding at Cleo South Beach
Today we honor National Dessert Day by indulging in something ridiculously sweet. Forget calories are involved. Cleo South Beach is serving up an exclusive half-off discount on its specialty favorite sticky toffee pudding, which is doused with butterscotch caramel and accented with vanilla gelato. Offer runs all day long. 

Thursday

Happy Hour at La Mar
Tonight La Mar is launching its new Thursday night happy hour series. The bar, located inside the Mandarin Oriental, will feature the weekly, Thursday night happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. The menu will feature $8 specialty cocktails, $6 beer and wine, and $4 bites. They'll have a DJ too. 

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