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Where to Eat, Play and Stay for Miami Art Week 2026

5 hours ago
7 min read

Miami Art Week now runs well beyond the fairs themselves, filling the city with gallery openings, museum shows, pop-ups and late dinners for about a week every December. Its origins are fairly recent: Art Basel staged its first Miami Beach edition in December 2002, and the satellite fairs and parties that followed gradually turned a single event into a season. At Miami Living, we pay close attention to what happens between the booths. Below are the new restaurants, long-standing tables, hotels and cultural stops we would send a friend to once the fairs close for the day.


Where to Eat: New Arrivals



Photo: Courtesy of Lucky Cat Steak


  • Dates: Opening November 25, 2026


Gordon Ramsay returns to South of Fifth with a reworked Lucky Cat, now built around steak. The 152-seat dining room pairs a globally sourced beef program with open-flame robata cooking and flavors borrowed from Japan and Korea, while a late-night lounge keeps the evening going. It opens just days before Art Week begins.




Photo: Courtesy of The Mexican Miami


  • Dates: Opened April 9, 2026


The second location of a Dallas favorite takes over more than 10,000 square feet on the Brickell Key waterfront, with skyline views and a menu inspired by Monterrey. Look for Northern Mexican dishes such as barbacoa de arrachera and a tuna tomahawk made only for Miami. During Art Week, the dining room also hosts Joca’s exhibition A Taste of Dreams, with a four-course menu by Chef Santiago Hiriart.




Photo: Courtesy of Harbour Club


  • Dates: Dinner service begins November 10, 2026


Inside Sunset Harbour’s members club, this 80-seat restaurant is open to the public and becomes an all-day address this season. Pastry chef Antonio Bachour leads breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch. Dinner arrives November 10 under Executive Chef Bogdan Danila, who has spent more than two decades in Michelin-starred and fine dining kitchens.




Photo: Courtesy of Starr Restaurants


  • Dates: Opened March 17, 2026


Stephen Starr moved into the original Makoto space at Bal Harbour Shops and built a steakhouse around Hollywood’s golden age. Designed by Gachot, the room combines plush leather banquettes with murals by illustrator Christoph Niemann. Prime rib and a serious martini list anchor the menu, which makes it a calm, polished stop after a day of gallery viewing.



Art and Dining Under One Roof



Photo: Courtesy of Sofia Design District


Sofia serves modern Italian cooking in a pink and amethyst dining room beneath the Palm Court dome. The art on the walls is part of the draw: an evolving collection assembled by Taglialatella Galleries, with works by Mr. Brainwash, Marco Grassi and Russell Young available for purchase.



Tried and True



Photo: Courtesy of AVIV / Michael Persico


Chef Michael Solomonov and restaurateur Steve Cook, of the James Beard Award-winning CookNSolo group, opened their first Florida restaurant on the ground floor of 1 Hotel South Beach in 2025. Hand-rolled Yemenite-style bread, Solomonov’s hummus, spiced mezze and kebabs grilled over fire carry the menu, with ancient techniques meeting the energy of Miami and Tel Aviv.




Photo: Courtesy of Casadonna


Casadonna occupies the ground floor of the historic Miami Woman’s Club on Biscayne Bay, and its name translates to “house of the woman.” The kitchen cooks Riviera-style Italian food inspired by Naples, Taormina, Bari, Positano and Gaeta, with fresh seafood and handmade pastas. Interiors are by Ken Fulk, and the waterfront terrace is best at sunset.




Photo: Courtesy of Double Knot Miami


Philadelphia chef Michael Schulson brought his izakaya to Wynwood Walls, spread across two floors. A moody sushi bar and robata grill sit downstairs, while a cocktail lounge occupies the upper level. Sushi, robatayaki skewers and seasonal small plates keep the menu moving at a late-night pace.




Photo: Courtesy of Groot Hospitality


David Grutman and Bad Bunny opened this Brickell steakhouse in August 2022, with a nocturnal look inspired by its name, which means “moonlight” in Japanese. Premium steaks and Wagyu share the menu with sushi and sashimi, and the cocktail program makes the lounge a natural late-night stop.




Photo: Courtesy of Groot Hospitality


Komodo stacks three levels of indoor and outdoor dining in the heart of Brickell, with a DJ setting the pace every night. The Southeast Asian menu leans on Peking duck, dim sum, sushi, premium seafood and the lobster dynamite that regulars order first.




Photo: Courtesy of Faena Miami Beach


Francis Mallmann’s open-fire restaurant sits in the courtyard of Faena Miami Beach, around the hotel’s Tree of Life. Wood-fired cooking takes center stage here, with Argentine-inspired dishes built on prime meats, fresh seafood and seasonal ingredients. The theatrical setting suits a long dinner after a day of fairs.




Photo: Courtesy of Papi Steak


This South of Fifth steakhouse blends classic Jewish and American steakhouse traditions, best known for the Papi Steak, a kosher-style 32-ounce ribeye. It reopened in late 2025 after a redesign, and the room still runs lively well into the night.




Photo: Courtesy of Pastis Miami


Keith McNally and Stephen Starr transplanted their Parisian-style brasserie from New York to Wynwood in 2023, recreating the original dining room nearly piece by piece. Miami adds a leafy garden and courtyard, which suit the steak frites, ribeye and profiteroles.




Photo: Courtesy of SHINGO


Chef Shingo Akikuni, a native of Osaka, earned a Michelin star for this 14-seat counter in Coral Gables’ historic La Palma building. The intimate room was built in Kyoto and reassembled here, and it serves an 18-course omakase of nigiri, seasonal sashimi and yakimono dishes.




Photo: Courtesy of Stubborn Seed


Chef Jeremy Ford, who won Top Chef in its 13th season, opened Stubborn Seed in South of Fifth in 2017. It has held a Michelin star since the first Florida guide in 2022, and the kitchen’s tasting menu is built around seasonal ingredients.



Where to Stay



Photo: Courtesy of 1 Hotel South Beach


A beachfront property with 425 rooms, built around sustainability and natural materials. It holds a 5 Green Key rating, and its wellness program and dining options, including AVIV, make it an easy base for a busy week.




Photo: Courtesy of Faena Miami Beach


Faena is maximalist by design, and it doubles as an Art Week stop. This year’s Faena Art commissions include Christopher Joshua Benton’s A Lore Supreme, a 27-foot mirrored disco ball on Faena Beach, and Marinella Senatore’s light installation inside the Faena Cathedral.




Photo: Courtesy of Fontainebleau Miami Beach


A Miami Beach landmark since 1954, the resort has 1,504 rooms, oceanfront pools, the 40,000-square-foot Lapis Spa and a long list of restaurants. LIV is also on property, which keeps the nightlife close.




Photo: Courtesy of W Miami


W Miami sits in Brickell with panoramic views of Biscayne Bay and the Downtown skyline, close to the mainland fairs. On Saturday, December 5, from noon to 4 p.m., TULUM Rooftop Bar & Restaurant hosts a live art activation with Chilean artist Nicolás Rojas Leon during its Brickell Brunch Sessions.



Where to Play



Photo: Courtesy of Aqua Art Miami


  • Dates: December 2 to 6, 2026


Aqua marks its 20th edition at the Aqua Hotel in South Beach, a relaxed fair for emerging and mid-career artists where exhibition rooms open onto the central courtyard. Shepard Fairey will paint a new exterior mural and play a DJ set during the VIP Preview.




Photo: Courtesy of Art Miami + CONTEXT Art Miami


  • Dates: December 1 to 6, 2026


Miami’s longest-running contemporary and modern art fair returns for its 36th edition on Biscayne Bay with more than 140 galleries from 25 countries. Shepard Fairey receives the Art Miami Lifetime Visionary Award.




Photo: Courtesy of Art Miami + CONTEXT Art Miami


  • Dates: December 1 to 6, 2026


Art Miami’s sister fair, connected by a passageway, spotlights emerging and mid-career artists through more than 50 international galleries. Fairey plays an exclusive DJ set on opening night, December 1.




Photo: Courtesy of Faena Miami Beach


  • Dates: Faena Jazz Series, October 2026 through June 2027


This 150-seat theater inside Faena Miami Beach hosts original productions, cabaret, music and comedy. The ninth annual Faena Jazz Series, curated by Rachel Faro, runs through June 2027 and includes the Reginald Policard Quintet featuring Jean Caze on November 25.




Photo: Courtesy of LIV Miami


  • Dates: Art Week programming, December 3 to 6, 2026


Inside Fontainebleau Miami Beach, LIV brings four nights of Art Week programming, with the UK duo Prospa on Thursday and PAWSA on Friday. The club has VIP tables, private skyboxes and three bars.




Photo: Courtesy of Museum of Sex Miami


  • Dates: November 15, 2026 to August 2027


In Allapattah, the museum presents the Miami debut of The Life Force: Portraits from the Amparo & Manuel Foundation, with 45 paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs on the body, desire, fragility and resilience.




Photo: © Michael Malyszko (provided to Frost Science)


  • Dates: October 10, 2026 to April 11, 2027


Downtown, the museum’s planetarium and aquarium are joined by The Science Behind Pixar, an interactive exhibition with more than 50 hands-on elements covering how animators and engineers build films such as Toy Story and WALL•E. It is included with museum admission.




Photo: Andrea Mora, AMOarts (provided to Superblue Miami)


  • Dates: Ongoing


Superblue’s large-scale installations fill an Allapattah warehouse. The current highlight is James Turrell’s Blue Sea Sky, a Ganzfeld installation that dissolves the edges of a room into pure light and color.



By ML Staff. Photos: Provided by each featured venue in this story.

 
 
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