Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann — Restaurant in Miami Beach

It started innocently enough. I fully intended to try just the Miami Spice menu at Los Fuegos last summer. Instead, I went rogue, had a brief YOLO moment, and decided to order off the regular menu. Confession: I was 100% skeptical. There’s no such thing as Argentinian “fine dining” in my book. Just like a Cuban “upscale” dinner; por favor, que insulto. I have zero interest in having a palomilla steak cutely curled up on my plate and topped with single long plantain. No, thank you. Given my husband also happens to be un Argentino and I’ve had more asados than I can count in my lifetime, my curiosity was certainly (albeit cautiously) peaked.

Located inside the posh Faena Hotel, I’d already visited months before while Alinea hosted a pop-up. I had no idea Los Fuegos would be taking over the very same space immediately afterwards. Set against a paneled ivory background, the cheetah print upholstered booths, red leather chairs, gold tropical print curtains, and red floral carpeting all sit boldly and unapologetically. You’ll know you’ve arrived when your eye-gaze has been forced upwards to the grand, multi-tiered, gold-bulbed chandelier. Admittedly on the over-the-top side, the space can be a lot to take in at first. Ultimately, I fell in love with the look and vibe and now I can’t get enough. They even have live jazz piped in from the nearby Living Room lounge into the dining room. Feeling cold? Someone will be right over to offer a pashmina for those bare Miami shoulders.

The concept for Los Fuegos, by Argentine grillmaster Francis Mallmann, stems from the ancient art of live-fire cooking. If you haven’t caught his Chef’s Table episode on Netflix, I suggest watching it before going. There is no shortcut, no artsy plating, and no deconstructing tried and true recipes; everything old is new again. Despite the restaurant’s elegance, the food remains rustic, authentic, and flavorful simply by following traditional techniques and using high quality ingredients.

What I’ve tried:

Almond Soup Wood Oven Empanadas Octopus a la Plancha 12 oz. Australian wagyu strip steak 12 oz. Australian Lamb Rack Butternut Squash Ravioli Polenta a la Plancha Dulce de Leche Flan Napoleon Dulce de Leche Panqueque Espresso (Faena Blend by Starbucks)

HITS (oh, so many of them…)

First up, the lamb and its accompanying pistachio dressing. Several years ago, I fell in love with the one at Wolfgang’s Steakhouse and no others have ever come close to being as good. Until now. Los Fuegos has taken over that top spot. The lightly charred octopus (garlic aioli, smoked paprika oil, tomato, sun-dried black olives) and potato confit had me slowing down and longing for each new bite. Filled with hand-cut filet mignon, the freshly baked empanadas do not qualify as the average, everyday ones found at Argentinian bakeries. No way. No how. Testing my will power, I successfully managed to make each bite smaller in the hopes they would last longer.

Casually displayed by the entrance , the Napoleon caught my eye from the moment I arrived. Think chocolate, real sweet and thick dulce de leche and mascarpone layered between golden puff-pastry sheets. Lastly, as a self-professed flan snob, I must admit their version caught me off guard. I did not expect to be served the creamiest, smoothest, sweetest flan I would come to crave and order with every single future visit.

Alongside PAO by Paul Qui, the beautiful outdoor space, and the Living Room lounge, the FAENA complex makes for a great all-in-one visit.

Note to self, bucket-list experience wanted: a FAENA Hotel staycation including dinner at both restaurants and a show at Faena theater. Aaah, a...

The place is GORGEOUS, the live music and our server and the bartender were excellent. TLDR: go for Miami spice if you really want to try, but skip the food (beets were good though) drinks are solid, bathroom and ambience of restaurant is the best thing about the place.

Unfortunately, as a lot of places in Miami you get ambience, but the food is terrible one exception being the beets, they were excellent. Probably one of the worst meals I’ve had in Miami all year, but this is exactly why I’m eternally grateful for Miami Spice as it gives us a chance to try places for a smaller investment before trying it for real and this is definitely a place I’m glad I tried over Miami spice but wouldn’t come back. I also think many restaurants don’t use spice to their advantage, as I see spice as the menu that should tantalize someone to want to come back and try the full menu, Los Fuegos did the absolute opposite. The snapper crudo was just okay, absolutely nothing special, and I found the fish way too thickly sliced. The burrata with Polenta again wasn’t special enough to try or ever have again. I chose the Pasta for my main meal as I love to judge restaurants on how well they can do basics, and they bombed the pasta completely. It was so bland and the burrata on the side was also bland so it didn’t help. The noodles were great, but with a bland pomodoro no bueno. A friend who got the ribeye said it was way too salty and for an Argentinian place for them not to cook a steak to the temp requested (medium was the request, but it was more medium on the outside and as you got towards the middle was definitely medium rare - I like medium rare so I ate some of hers but she does not, again I expect outback to not be able to cook a steak fully through to the requested temp but not an Argentinian steakhouse at one of the hottest hotels). Lastly our desserts were gross. They put dulce de leche in and on everything which I actually love, but it was way too much. The chocolate dessert was also underwhelming - the menu feels like they tried too hard to be unique and creative in certain ways but failed to care if it ACTUALLY tastes good. Los Fuegos is the stereotypical restaurant in Miami, very pretty but little substance. Go for the service, drinks, beets, and live music. What I will absolutely give 10 stars for however is the bathrooms! Good and clean...

One of the worst restaurant experiences of my life. Made a reservation 1 month in advance and requested to be seated inside. Called morning of reservation and requested again. They said they would try their best to accommodate me. We show up and we’re told by the hostess that there are no available tables inside despite the fact that there were at least 4 empty tables. We were told that there would be at least a 1.5 hour wait to sit inside. So we agreed to wait and we were told by the hostess that we can go order drinks and wait in the living room. However we were denied access to the living room by the doorman. After going back to the hostess, who was somehow unaware that the living room is not the same place as the restaurant, even though it is, she told us that we could sit at the bar, only once again to be denied by the other doorman, who said that there was no availability at the bar. So we decide to just take a table outside. It was an unusually freezing cold night in Miami, and the heater next to our table was clearly running out of gas. We were shivering and kept requesting that they replace the gas tank. Nothing was being done. After requesting the manager multiple times, including after him purposely ignoring us, he finally came over to our table and told us that there was absolutely nothing he can do. Apparently the restaurant which charges $70 for an average dish doesn’t keep any extra gas tanks, in case, you know, maybe they run out of gas? We were also told by the manager, who was what you would describe as a “hothead”, that there was absolutely no way he could move us to a different table. He started to become aggressive, extremely rude, and told us that we could leave. He then childishly commented on our clothes and told us that the dress code is business casual, despite the fact that we were all dressed up and frankly nicer than many other patrons in the restaurant. Very surprised this man landed a job at such a high end restaurant, he’s more of proper fit for TGI Fridays. On another note, the food was pretty good, although my steak was over cooked. I would expect more from a place where the check is over $500. Aside from the manager, I have to give credit where it is due, the wait staff are great. Overall, I am extremely disappointed in this restaurant and I would highly advise...