Best Local Girl Gone Bad 2016 | Anjali Ramkissoon | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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We all have our bad nights and unflattering moments. But most of us don't end up having to apologize for them in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. Yet that's exactly what happened to Anjali Ramkissoon, a fourth-year neurology resident at Jackson Health System. After a night out in Brickell, during which, she later explained to Stephanopoulos, she broke up with her boyfriend, the petite, young doctor tried to steal someone else's Uber ride. Then she berated the driver and jumped into his car. As bystanders filmed, she scattered the contents of the car onto the street. "You don't know who the fuck you're messing with right now," she said at one point. However, when a video of the incident was uploaded to YouTube, a horde of internet trolls made it their business to figure out exactly who the fuck she was. Even though once the video stopped rolling, Ramkissoon made amends with the driver and paid him for the damage, the internet did what it seems so intent on doing nowadays: the complete humiliation and obliteration of anyone who dares raise its ire. At least Ramkissoon's national mea culpa on GMA featured all the class she seemed to lack in that now-infamous viral moment, which eventually cost the physician her job at Jackson.

Courtesy of Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau

A warm shavasana settles your inner worries as your nose fills with the scent of the lavender oil dotted on your forehead by a fit yogi. As a light, attractive sweat glistens on your forehead, you tune that messy brain into the universe's alpha waves right alongside the beta waves of Biscayne Bay. This is all thanks to the elastic gurus of Prana Yoga, who not only get you to a higher level of consciousness at the Coral Gables studio, but also bring their gifts on the road one Sunday each month to an equally spiritual location, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. In the shadow of this early-20th-century faux-Mediterranean villa, you can fortify your gray matter and watch healthy bodies all around you bending and folding and downward-facing-dogging into the grass. More important, the ladies at Prana's Vizcaya class know that body and mind are inextricably linked. Taking care of one nourishes the other — which is so hot. And each class is held at a different spot onsite so you can introduce yourself to toned babes in plenty of different, and hopefully all flattering, lighting. Classes cost only $16.82, so you'll have plenty of cash left for a post-yoga cool-down drink somewhere — and maybe take the first step toward relationship enlightenment.

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There are perfectly fine reasons to pursue that guy you ran into who was totally hammered at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday — but don't kid yourself that there's anything intellectual about that attraction. You can't reliably expect to find your future date to next year's O, Miami poetry fest stumbling around drunk at a happy hour either. So if you want a man with good taste, even better timing, and a big brain, check out Pérez Art Museum's monthly shindig Third Thursday, which is free with a museum admission. It doesn't start too early and doesn't stay open too late. It's there, on romantic Biscayne Bay, where dolphins play at the foot of the museum's grand outdoor staircase, where you will gaze into the eyes of your new smarty-pants beau, still sober enough to remember your name but one drink away from going in for the kill. How do you know he's probably not a total drag on society? He has come to PAMM either to enjoy the modern art on display or to groove to the live music and DJs presented by Poplife, Miami's enduring party-throwing tastemaker. There are drinks and music, but in this case, you'll be straining your voice to talk to a guy who's actually worth your time.

Photo by Masson Liang

A good first date is casual but personable. You want to get to know the person better, but sitting across from each other in a thunderously loud restaurant or a too-intimate romantic spot can be boring or anxiety-ridden. Going to the movies is just bad form, and Netflix and chilling is not a date at all. Hitting the bars is a good social lubricant but also offers the danger of getting too messy. What if there were a place that was a bar, a restaurant, a garden, a dance floor, and a cool event space rolled into one? Wouldn't that be, like, the best place to take an adorable stranger? Good thing Miami has the Wynwood Yard, the latest outdoor, communal dining and entertainment hub that feels more like a small public oasis than an overly commercial plaza. You and your hopeful cuddle-partner-to-be can order from one of the Yard's gourmet food trucks and wash the bites down with some of the pop-up bar's local brews. You can walk the produce garden and enjoy some of the locally grown fare or take a cooking class and elevate your veggie game. Most nights offer an enjoyable event, whether it be performances from local bands or DJs ranging from reggae to dance and rock. There are yoga classes, pet powwows, and a healthy rotation of nutritional and spiritual wellness courses too. There's always something to do, it's free to walk in, and it's something different. Even if your date is lame, the evening will never be.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®