Doya

The old chef from Mandolin sets up in a secluded garden along NW 24th Street, plating Aegean specialties good enough to earn the place a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Doya is one of Miami’s most romantic restaurants not just because of its dreamy, twinkling garden setting. It’s also because eating here is a sharable exploration, where dishes with names like turkey pastrami hummus and pacanga pie beg you to discover what’s next. Doya’s dips stand above any Mediterranean eatery in Miami, with a red-pepper based muhammara that’ll have you begging for the recipe as you leave.

Perhaps the most impressive design feat at this Wynwood Aegean eatery helmed by the old Mandolin chef isn’t the eye-catching bar or the light-strewn patio. It’s that they’ve managed to make a space on busy NW 24th Street feel like a secluded secret garden, where high shrubbery and soft music shield diners from the endless parade of booming car stereos. The food is pure sharable bliss, whether you’re fighting for the last bite of Spicy Adana Kebab, or grazing hands as you simultaneously dip fluffy pita in Turkish Pastrami Hummus.

Tucking away from the colorful concrete maze of Wynwood is tough these days, as Miami’s hottest destination neighborhood seems to always be packed with people. But if you’re looking for a delicious group dinner that feels a bit removed, head behind the hedges at Doya, where stunning design and a wall of tropical plants seems a world away from busy NW 24th Street. The food is absolutely fantastic, the product of a former Mandolin chef who has created Miami’s best Muhammara. It makes for a stellar shareable starter, before your group dives into Turkish Pastrami Hummus, grilled Sucuk sausage, and paprika and olive oil marinated lamb chops.