Morgans on the Beach doesn’t have the charming porch of the original Morgans in Miami’s Midtown neighborhood. Nor does it have the consistent comfort of Joe Allen, which occupied the same squat space for 13 years as an iconic respite from South Beach glam.

<span class="bold">The goods:</span> Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar is a seductive, noir-ish taco joint in the old Nemo space operated by CB5 Restaurant Group (sister restaurants are in Massachusetts and Connecticut).

Edge, Steak & Bar at the ever-elegant Four Seasons has done everything it can to dispel that fancy-hotel vibe of stuffy inaccessibility and make itself welcoming, especially to locals.

For years, it mystified me that a restaurant that boasted such appealing views served such appalling food as the Rusty Pelican. The contradiction kicked in with management, and the place is now reborn with new décor, hip ambient music, a bar serving the requisite trademark cocktails, a kicking wine list and a hot new chef. If once The Rusty Pelican was the place where one took guests who would value the wow factor and ignore everything else, today’s restaurant is much improved but a work in progress.

There is much to love about Peruvian cuisine, from its bracing ceviches to its bountiful potato dishes, but it is the exquisite sauces made with the uniquely flavored ají chile that most captivate me.

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Gastro-pubbed and tapas-plated out, we were eager to start the new year at Kopas, a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant on Eighth Street, especially since vaunted Spanish chef Ferran Adria and other world-trotting foodies call this South American country’s cuisine The Next Big Thing.

Despite the name, there are no herring sandwiches at The Dutch, the sexy new addition to the W Hotel on South Beach. Instead, the food is described as “roots-inspired American” with influences “from the Caribbean to Morocco, the Gulf Coast to the West Coast and Cuba to Italy.”

<span class="bold">The goods:</span> A clandestine supper club serving upscale American standards in South Beach’s revamped Shelborne Hotel.

The new little Chinese bistro, Wok Masters in South Miami, is taking over the world. Well, not exactly. But they are planning an aggressive expansion beginning with a Brickell location later this year.

It’s hard to stand out in the crowded field of dining and drinking establishments on Coral Gables’ Restaurant Row, so it’s not a surprise that some newcomers struggle to find their identity.

Sushi fans who scoff at cream cheese in their rolls should stop reading now. Pubbelly Sushi, the second outpost of the funky Pubbelly empire in South Beach’s Sunset Harbor neighborhood, is not for purists.

“I’m Spanish to the marrow of my bones,” says Eloy del Castillo, chef and co-owner of Château Madrid Restaurant in Sweetwater. “And I’m so Spanish I had to become a bullfighter.”

Pickles and ice cream were the least of it. When I was pregnant a decade ago, I wanted almond butter, bean sprouts, raw onions, rice pudding and, most urgently, fried chicken with honey, quite a common Southern touch.

What do you get when you cross a Venezuelan with a Southerner?

Miami has never been much of a barbecue town, but someone forgot to tell Hans Seitz and Kevin Kehoe, two New York transplants who opened Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue last year.