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This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Miami

I was born and raised in South Florida, which carries a lot of cachet in this city of transients, visitors from everywhere and multi-ethnic languages, flavours, sounds and cultures. This town is so much bigger than the Miami I grew up in. We ate a lot of Cuban food, which was the primary Latin- American cuisine represented in Miami at the time, as well as my mother’s Argentine/American-Jewish recipes. But today you can taste it all here. We were always known for having some of the best Cuban food and drink in the country (I believe we still reign supreme) but with the influx of so many Venezuelans, Colombians, Nicaraguans and so on, we now have so many choices, and they are just as delicious and as vibrant as the people. 

Here are just a few of my favourite Latin American places. Some I grew up enjoying, while others are more recent.

Puerto Sagua

700 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139

One of the city’s oldest and most traditional Cuban restaurants happens to be on South Beach. For me, Puerto Sagua’s food has always been something that vuelve a la vida (brings you back to life). Everything is delicious, affordable and you never know who might be sitting at the counter sipping on a café con leche or digging into the ropa vieja (beef and tomato stew). It’s old school, and I love that it doesn’t change (aesthetically or deliciously). I always get the fish soup; they specialise in seafood, but you can’t really go wrong. Stick to the classics as they are the best. puertosagua.org; Directions

Wolf of Tacos  

locations around Miami

The only place on my list that is not a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, but this pop-up is so good I felt it was a must. The wolf, chef Eduardo Lara, is so very talented. His tacos and salsas make me and my husband and business partner, David, swoon. David is from Oaxaca in Mexico, and he is not easy to please when it comes to tacos — it’s his favourite dish. Come ready to stand in line (it moves quickly) and, if Eduardo is making it, be sure to get the gaonera, with melting cheese and thinly sliced beef filet (though anything else he’s making that day will be outstanding). He and his business partner Pablo Reyes are always there, and they give great attention to service, even though you’re outside eating on paper. Follow them to know where they will be @wolfoftacos. thewolfoftacos.com

Madroño

10780 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33174

Just thinking about Madroño makes my mouth water. It’s a clean and bright little family-owned Nicaraguan restaurant that is so unassuming you will be surprised at the colours and flavours that come out of the kitchen. Everything is so fresh and well prepared. I recommend ordering the repocheta, a tortilla filled with cheese and melted on the plancha, topped with my absolute favourite kind of shredded pickled-cabbage slaw, which is used on a lot of Nicaraguan dishes. I go for the meat dishes because they are so flavourful and fun, and you can’t beat the prices. Have a sangria with your meal and a flan before you leave. madronorestaurant.com; Directions

La Camaronera

1952 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33135

I’ve been going to this no-frills Cuban seafood restaurant since I was about five years old. It’s the type of place where you see everyone from truck drivers and families to people in suits having business meetings. It serves its own catch, including stone crab and other seafood and fish of the day, but go for the crispy shrimp with delicate Cuban spices or the minuta sandwich (a tiny, whole but totally boneless and butterflied fried snapper on Cuban bread with onions, ketchup and mayo) — it’s heaven on earth. The owners, the Garcia family, changed the decor a few years ago, adding tables and chairs to the stand-up-only bar I grew up at. But none of the recipes have changed, and the owners are the children of the original founders. It’s all in the family! lacamaronera.com; Directions

Bandeja Paisa 

9511 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33174

This family-owned Colombian restaurant has been around for about 15 years. The servers treat their customers like family and help you order — and there’s always a lot of food on each plate. Just wait until you receive your bandeja paisa. The platters of steaks, chicharrónes, chorizos, rice, egg, tostones, avocado . . . there’s more, and it’s all delicious.

Paisa is bustling — it’s always busy, always tasty. Be ready for bright lights from games on the television, loud music or just a lot of people, and it’s all worth it. The ajiaco (not your typical chicken soup) is always one of my favourites. Order more than you can eat and take it home to feast on over the next few days. bandejapaisa.com; Directions 

Salmon & Salmon 

2907 North-West 7th Street, Miami, FL 33125

Small, family-owned and refined, Salmon & Salmon is one of my favourite Peruvian restaurants in Miami. What I love about it is that if you ask a local Peruvian where to get great ceviche or lomo saltado (a creole Chinese-Peruvian dish with steak, fries and tons of flavour), this is the place they will always recommend. My favourites include any ceviche they serve, though the mixto (mixed ceviche with seafood and fish) and the chicha morada (purple-corn juice) are not to be missed. Nor are the sudado (poached fish in the most amazing broth with rice) or the seafood, which is served crunchy and fried — somehow greaseless but tasty. And the service is the best. instagram.com/salmonsalmonmiami; Directions

Michelle Bernstein is a James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur from Miami. Her new restaurant, Sra. Martinez, opens this winter in Coral Gables

What are your favourite Latin-American restaurants in Miami? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter

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An item on the City of Miami commission agenda is stirring up controversy after residents claim it would eliminate public input in projects on city parks. 

“Parks are for the people. We have the right. We should have the right to help decide what goes into a city park. These are our neighborhood parks. We use these parks every day,” said Nicole Desiderio, a resident of Miami. 

Commissioners are expected to vote Thursday on an agenda item regarding what’s known as “warrants.” Currently, if residents don’t approve of a project or warrant, they can appeal it. 

Commissioner Damian Pardo says the proposal “moves to eliminate all warrants in the City of Miami.”

“What the warrant process does, it notices properties when there is an installation in a park,” he said. “As an example, gym equipment. It also provides for an appeal process if residents choose to appeal that action.”

Desiderio and Pardo claim this warrant item was raised after gym equipment was installed at Maurice Ferre Park. Some residents went against the project.

There is currently an open court case on the gym, with a hearing scheduled next year. Commissioner Joe Carollo supported the outdoor gym project and was frustrated with residents going against it. 

“Why is it that over 40 of Miami’s parks, in the city of Miami, have outdoor exercise gym equipment, people use it all the time, they have no problems – but in this park, they say nobody would use it, they don’t want it, they claim,” Carollo told NBC6 in August. 

Commissioner Christine King said in a statement that there is “no effort on behalf of the City of Miami Commission to get rid of citizen participation.”

“The warrant requires notification to abutting property owners of a park. Parks serve a much greater population than the abutting property owners,” she said. “Moreover, the Parks Master Plan provides for exercise equipment in parks, which was created with community input. The residents’ voices have and will continue to be heard regarding parks in their neighborhoods.”

The commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m. at City Hall. 

“They are going in a roundabout way to try and change the Miami code to now allow the gym to stay but it now affects all parks in Miami,” Desiderio said.

MIAMI – More than a year after announcing charges, Broward prosecutors have dropped the criminal case against former Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and attorney William Riley.

Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor, who took over the case’s prosecution, made the announcement Wednesday.

Diaz de la Portilla, 60, who served on the Miami city commission representing District 1 from 2020 until he was suspended from office shortly after his arrest on corruption charges in September 2023, was accused of secretly taking in tens of thousands of dollars from owners of a private school.

The commissioner and Riley, 49, were accused of laundering approximately $245,000 in concealed political contributions to support the construction of Centner Academy’s athletic complex on public land in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.

In a statement, Pryor said that after “a substantial follow-up investigation and extensive depositions of witnesses, we have concluded that there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

“When the arrests were made, I promised that our prosecutors would pursue justice in this matter and that is what we have done,” he said.

In a closeout memo, prosecutors wrote, “The evidence does not demonstrate corrupt intent, unlawful benefits, or falsification of records. Witness testimony is unreliable and lawful actions have been misconstrued as criminal.”

“Substantial follow-up investigations and depositions have occurred that revealed that the foundation of this entire investigation was misguided and buttressed by unverified information,” prosecutors wrote, calling the case “purely circumstantial.”

Diaz de la Portilla, who consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing, tried to regain his seat in the 2023 election, but lost to challenger Miguel Gabela under the cloud of criminal charges.

Those charges are now a thing of the past.

This is a developing story. Stay with Local 10 News and Local10.com for updates.

Read the closeout memo: