Miami's Best Eats and Drinks This Week: Miami Spice 2019 Preview, Hungry Harvest, and Collab Dinners

This week, Bourbon Steak's series Local Eats returns with Taquiza's Steve Santana, while the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau teams up with David Grutman’s Groot Hospitality for a Miami Spice 2019 preview dinner featuring chef Benjamin Goldman of Planta and chef Carlos Torres of Swan.

Plus, Life House Little Havana’s café, Parcela, partners with Hungry Harvest for a one-night-only Out of the Box Chef’s Challenge dinner to raise awareness about hunger and produce waste.
Out of the Box Chef's Challenge at Life House Little Havana. Raising awareness about the 20 billion pounds of produce waste produced in the U.S. each year, Life House Little Havana’s café, Parcela, will partner with Hungry Harvest for the one-night-only dinner Out of the Box Chef’s Challenge. Tuesday night, chef Francisco Viñas of Life House Little Havana and chef Persefoni Vordokas of Life House South Beach will create a family-style, multicourse meal from ingredients in a surprise box supplied by Hungry Harvest. In addition to enjoying a unique dinner, guests will be able to connect with representatives from Hungry Harvest and the local nonprofit Feeding South Florida to learn more about how to support this important cause and help eradicate hunger and make a positive environmental impact by rescuing produce and providing access to more than 915,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to those who are food-insecure. Tickets cost $50 per person, and a portion of the proceeds will go toward Hungry Harvest and Feeding South Florida. 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Life House Little Havana, 528 SW Ninth Ave., Miami; 866-466-7534; lifehousehotels.com. Tickets cost $50 via eventbrite.com.
Cafe Boulud Summer Pop-Up Series: Culinary Muses at Boulud Sud. Tuesday, Boulud Sud's summer dinner series will celebrate four chefs, four cities, and four culinary muses representative of Daniel Boulud’s culinary philosophy: la tradition, la saison, le potager, and le voyage. Each muse will have a ticketed dinner event hosted by a guest chef. The menus will then be featured à la carte at Boulud Sud for the following two weeks. To kick off the series, chef Aaron Bludorn of Café Boulud in New York will host a four-course dinner with wine pairings showcasing la tradition, which will include French classics such as terrine de canard and trout amandine. Each chef will bring the style of their region and restaurant to their menu in collaboration with Boulud Sud Miami’s executive chef, Clark Bowen. The menu will be available through June 25. 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Boulud Sud, 255 Biscayne Blvd. Way, Miami; 305-421-8800; bouludsud.com. Tickets cost $65 via eventbrite.com.

Spritz Social at MC Kitchen. Wednesday, MC Kitchen will host a spritz social offering $7 Aperol-themed cocktails, including the signature MC Spritz, made with Aperol, prosecco, strawberry, and blood orange. Pair a drink with a few bar bites ($7 each), including short-rib pizzette topped with caramelized onions, ricotta, and fontina, and the salumi and cheese board with marinated olives and rosemary crostini. 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, at MC Kitchen, 305-456-9948; mckitchenmiami.com.
Miami Spice Mashup Series at Swan. As it prepares for the 18th year of Miami Spice, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) will team up with David Grutman’s Groot Hospitality for a collaborative dinner featuring chef Benjamin Goldman of Planta and chef Carlos Torres of Swan. The two will host the first Miami Spice mashup of 2019, giving attendees a first look at their Spice menus before the program kicks off August 1. The three-course meal, priced at $75 per person, will include two dishes per course, one from each chef. Plus, expect cocktails from Absolut Juice. 7 p.m. Thursday, June 13, at Swan, 90 NE 39th St., Miami; 305-704-0994; swanbevy.com. Seating is limited; reservations must be made  by emailing [email protected].