NYC’s Ensenada Opens in Miami Today

The wait is over. New York’s Mexican seafood and mezcal hotspot, Ensenada, opens in Miami today inside the Vagabond Hotel on Biscayne. Co-owners Bryce David and chef Luis Herrera have partnered with the long-standing Mandolin team to bring the second location to the city. The team hopes to differentiate the Miami restaurant from New York’s with new items on the menu.

Chef Herrera (previously at Cosme, a Mexican fine dining spot in New York) draws inspiration from his Venezuelan upbringing for the food. Expect plenty of fresh seafood on the menu, including specials unique to the Miami location like the “La Fiesta Cruda” with oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, stone crab, and scallops. Also look for Peruvian and Venezuelan-style ceviches, an assortment of aguachiles at different heat levels, fish and shrimp tacos, larger fish entrees like pescado al pibil, and pork carnitas and carne asada.

Beth Rhodes

Raven Simone Walker will create a seasonal ice cream program under her brand Pachamama Helados, including a yuzu concha ice cream sandwich. Passion fruit tiramisu, sorbets, and affogato will also be on the dessert menu.

Beth Rhodes

Many of New York’s Ensenada cocktails are on the menu, along with new drinks made for Miami, offering small-batch mezcal producers. The Amor Eterno is made with mezcal, Mexican white rum, guava, banane du bresil (a liqueur made from the slow maceration of bananas from Brazil), and lemon. The beverage program is led by Alex Velasquez (formerly at Lost Boy and Company and Soho House in Miami and Toronto) and includes wine, beer, and mezcal flights.

Beth Rhodes

The breezy restaurant with neutral tones has 90 seats in the main dining room, with an additional 50 seats on the terrace. The bar, with plenty of natural light spilling into the room, is the central focus of the restaurant. Reservations are open now.

Beth Rhodes