Almost two billion people celebrate the Lunar New Year across the globe. It is an important cultural celebration in Asia and among the Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean diasporas who live in different parts of the world. (I count myself as one of them, my family tracing ancestry to Fujian province in southern China.) Also known as Chinese New Year, Tết in Vietnam and Seollal in Korea, it is filled with customs and traditions centered around family and loved ones.
This year’s Lunar New Year, which follows the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar, falls on February 1. While in Miami there is a relatively small Asian population—less than 2% of the county’s 2.7 million residents are of Asian descent— it doesn’t mean the city is short of Lunar New Year celebrations!
From multi-course meals and lion and dragon dances to musical performances and fun cocktails, here’s a list of places to ring in the Year of the Tiger in Miami:
From February 1 through 6, Mandarin Oriental Miami will celebrate Chinese New Year throughout the property, beginning in the lobby, which will be decorated with red lanterns and a giant lucky tree with red envelopes. MO Bar + Lounge will feature a special cocktail, Easy Tiger ($18), made with ginger liqueur, ginger, sparkling sake, Miyagawa mandarin, shiso green, artisanal bitters, and soda water; and will also be serving pork and shrimp shumai ($18) and dan dan noodles ($23).
At La Mar by Gastón Acurio, executive chef Diego Oka will showcase specialties like tiradito Tusán ($29) a 24-hour marinated duck magret in soy sauce and spices, rocoto daikon, and chives; a dim sum basket ($19) which includes pork and shrimp siu mai and seared steam bao with BBQ pork and scallions; and chili duck ragu noodles ($35), where egg noodles are topped with Chinese inspired ragu with water chestnut, sesame butter, poached egg.
Diners will also be treated to a lion dance performance on February 5 at 8PM.
From February 1 through 6, Mandarin Oriental Miami will celebrate Chinese New Year throughout the ... [+]
Hakkasan Miami at the Fontainebleau Hotel and Resort in Miami Beach will kick-off the Year of the Tiger with a lion dance on Tuesday, February 1. The lion troupes will make their way from the hotel's Bleau Bar all the way to the restaurant where the lion will dance through the latticed woodwork cages, offering symbolic expressions of luck, fortune, wisdom and joy.
From January 28 to February 6, the restaurant will feature a limited-edition menu created by international chef de cuisine, Jian Loo. The prix fixe menu will be set at $138 per person (excluding tax and gratuity) for parties of two or more. Specialty dishes will include xingfu dim sum trio (baked truffle duck puff, tiger prawn dumpling, wild mushroom puff), salt-crusted fortune baked chicken, wok-fry wild sea bass, and XO sauce lobster egg fried rice.
Hakkasan at Fontainebleau Miami Beach
At the Asian food hall 1-800-Lucky, dim sum concept Yip will offer an assortment of dumplings ($6.90 for a basket of four), an extra-large pork soup dumping ($15), served with chili oil and black vinegar, alongside a specialty Tiger Boba Tea. The food hall has also created a specialty cocktail for the evening of February 1, Crouching Tiger ($14) made with gin, activated charcoal, passion fruit puree, lemon juice and simple syrup. Jairobi White from A Tribe Called Quest will spin at 7PM.
1-800-Lucky's specialty Lunar New Year cocktail, Crouching Tiger, made with gin, activated charcoal, ... [+]
2 Korean Girls x Loews Miami Beach
2 Korean Girls, by sisters Jennifer and Michele Kaminski, will be hosting a Lunar New Year pop-up at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel’s Bar Collins on February 1. Guests can expect dishes like tteokguk— the rice cake soup which symbolizes good luck and prosperity— their signatures, which include O.B. Original Bibimbap, Korean short ribs, Korean fried chicken, kimchi fried rice and specialty cocktails. The event runs from 6 to 10 PM.
In honor of Seollal, 2 Korean Girls will be hosting a pop-up at Loews Miami Beach Hotel on February ... [+]
On February 1, Vietnamese-Cajun restaurant Phuc Yea will celebrate the Year of the Tiger with an interactive dine-around priced at $65 per person. Five stations will be scattered around the restaurant offering signatures dishes like smacked cucumbers, veggie peanut noodles, bun bo hue and char siu roasted cod. There will be two seating options, 7PM to 8PM; and 8PM to 9PM. They will also be hosting a three-hour open bar with specialty cocktails for $55 per person. There will be a dragon dance at 8:45PM, a DJ and take-home surprises.
Phuc Yea will be having their traditional dragon dance on February 1 at 8:45 PM
Komodo will offer live entertainment with a traditional dragon dance and drummers. The menu will be offered a-la-carte with a a number of off-menu specials.
One of Komodo's specialties is its Peking Duck
From January 29 til February 1, Yuzu at The Citadel food hall is offering a Lunar New Year special of Vegan Longevity Noodles ($16), which features mushrooms, baby bok choy, scallions, carrots and vegetable shoyu sauce on top of ramen noodles. They are also giving out ang bao (red packets) filled with chocolates until supplies last.
Yuzu Miami's Vegan Longevity Noodles
The restaurant in Miami Beach that serves both Chinese and Japanese fare, will launch a special sushi roll, Lobster Tiger Roll ($24), by chef Jason Acoba. The roll, which features shrimp tempura and kanikama, topped with lobster and drizzled with eel sauce and chipotle aioli, will be available from February 1 to 6. Additionally, on the 1st, each guest will receive a special red envelope filled with various gifts including vouchers for free cocktails, appetizers and desserts.
Tanuki's Lobster Tiger roll
On Saturday, February 5 , from 6 to 9 PM, Coconut Grove will host a Chinese New Year celebration on Fuller Street, in collaboration with Wok Star founder and content creator Eleanor Hoh. A symbolic lion dance performance by Master Li of Lee Koon Hung Kung Fu will preface multi-cultural musical performances on Commodore Plaza featuring Taiwanese violinist Agnes Lin, Cuban sitar Arsenio Diaz, Japanese shinobue player Yukako, Vietnamese shamisen player Doanh Nguyen, and Thai dancer Nipawan Root. At any time, guests can opt to dine at any of the neighboring restaurants— there are eight—with an option to order takeout and enjoy on the benches of Fuller Street. These restaurants include: Minty Z, Atchana’s Homegrown Thai, Planta Queen, Duck 'N Sum, Sushi Garage, Bombay Darbar, Saffron at Grove, and Varsol by Akashi.
Minty Z, a plant-based dim sum restaurant in Coconut Grove, will be serving these specialty sunchoke ... [+]
In Fort Lauderdale, well-loved Temple Street Eatery will be offering a multi-course menu ($75 per person, inclusive of drinks) on January 31 at 6:45 PM. Dishes will include Taiwanese fried chicken, pork gyoza, Hong Kong borscht and lo han chai, also known as Buddha’s delight. The dining experience will also feature a lion dance show by members of the John Wai Martial Arts School, which will begin at 8 PM.
Temple Street Eatery in Fort Lauderdale will be offering a multi-course menu before a lion dance ... [+]
From January 28 to February 15, pan-Asian restaurant Casa Sensei in downtown Fort Lauderdale is serving the Eye of the Tiger roll ($19)— salmon, white fish, tuna and avocado, topped with crunchy seaweed, garlic kimchi vinegar and eel sauce.
Casa Sensei's Eye of the Tiger roll
