Juvia Miami

A friend of a friend recommended this restaurant, and my girlfriends and I had no idea of what to expect. But we were advised to make reservations ahead of time. So we did, and requested to be seated outside but were told that depended on availability.

Juvia is an indoor and outdoor restaurant/lounge, located on the rooftop of 1111 Lincoln Road. We took the private elevators on the corner of Lincoln Road and Lenox Avenue to the penthouse level. We were happy to find out our table was outside.

It was love at first sight!

The rooftop has a beautiful vertical garden, limestone tabletops and hand-woven chairs. The roof is retractable, so even when it rains you can still enjoy beautiful views of South Beach’s Art Deco District and the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a DJ playing groovy lounge music outside, which made our dinner experience even more enjoyable.
If you choose to sit inside, you can enjoy watching your food being prepared in the open kitchen and the panoramic views of Miami’s Upper Eastside and the Biscayne Bay.

The menu features dishes with French, Japanese and Asian and Peruvian influences, such as a Cold Bar, ceviches, tiraditos, crudos, seafood and prime meats.

To start, we ordered a Kobe Beef Carpaccio with a citrus-ponzu vinegar dressing, daikons and micro greens and a Causa Tuna Croquette with Peruvian potatoes, aji amarillo, red onions and micro cilantro.

Tuna Potato Causa Croquette

Kobe Beef Carpaccio

They were both wonderful. The carpaccio was very light and refreshing with the citrus-vinegar dressing. The Tuna and Potato Causa Croquette was the perfect combination of salty deep-fried fresh fish and potatoes with the sweet spiciness of the Aji Amarillo.
For the entrees, we chose the Pan Seared Duck Magret with roasted brussels sprouts, grilled endive and enoki mushrooms;

Pan Seared Duck Magret

Rack of Lamb with Quinoa Couscous, shimeji mushrooms and bok choy

Rack of Lamb with Quinoa Couscous

Chilean Seabass and the salmon with maple glazed eggplant, grilled heart of palm and micro basil

Chilean Seabass

Salmon

and from the charcoal grill, we ordered Beef Tenderloin with jasmine rice and season vegetables which was good, nut nothing to write home about.

Dessert’s Menu

Because the dessert is always the best part, we had to order the Roasted Pineapple with Macadamia Financier and Brown Butter Ice Cream, Chocolate Peanut Bar with Coconut Lime Sorbet, and the deconstructed Key Lime Pie. Even though the Chocolate Bar dessert is the most popular and raved about, my favorite was the Key Lime Pie. I loved the perfect marriage of the super tart Lemon Curd with the Meringue Fingers, it was magical! The Chocolate Bar was also good, but if you’re not a big fan of dark chocolate do not order it. The Pineapple Financier was also good.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Key Lime Pie

The service started awful, with  servers nowhere to be found and the Sauvignon Blanc we ordered first being served when we were almost done with appetizers. The ice bucket provided for the wine apparently had no ice in it, because our wine was warm and nasty, and it took forever for somebody come by and refill our glasses. The problem was solved by the time we ordered the second bottle and as the place became less crowded service got better.

The ambiance is pretty chic, and the crowd is elegantly dressed, but it is not overly pretentious. The place was very packed for a Tuesday night, there were no empty tables.

Make sure you make reservations ahead of time, and be prepared to leave your credit card info so, if you don’t show up they will charge you. Juvia also e-mailed me a confirmation and called on the day of to “re-confirm” the reservation.

Overall it was an amazing experience, I loved loved loved this place, its views, ambiance and the food. I will definitely go back and recommend to anybody that is visiting Miami Beach.

Juvia is owned by restauranteurs Jonas and Alexandra Millan of Bonito restaurant in St. Barth. The executive chefs are Laurent Cantineaux,who is a protégé of Daniel Boulud’s, and Sunny Oh from Miami’s Nobu.The pastry chef is Gregory Gourreau, who worked with Alain Ducasse and François Payard.

Juvia Miami

(305) 763-8272

1111 Lincoln Road

Tags: Alain Ducasse, Chef Gregory Gourreau, Chef Laurent Cantineaux, Daniel Boulud, Francois Payard, Juvia, Juvia Miami, Lincoln Road, lounge, Miami Beach restaurant, Sunny Oh