This luxurious Basque restaurant in a Miami art museum is finally opening for dinner

Leku, the restaurant tucked away inside the Rubell Museum in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, is ready for the spotlight.

The Spanish Cote Basque-influenced restaurant will finally debut its dinner menu on Sept. 30, months after the launch was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, Leku tested the waters by opening a pop-up restaurant on the museum’s outdoor terraces overlooking the garden. Now, with Miami-Dade restaurants allowed to open to 100 percent capacity for indoor dining, the menu has expanded with new flavors while keeping many summer favorites.

The menu, from executive chef/partner Mikel Goikolea and chef de cuisine Aitor Garate Berasaluze, will feature such new dishes as Basque potato salad, prawns carpaccio and sea asparagus or mussels in marinara sauce as starters. Entrees include organic wagyu beef tenderloin with Sicilian-style Trumpets, eggplant “cremoso” with apple and tarragon compote; salmon filet a la plancha with cauliflower pil pil and sunchokes and sole Meunière.

Don’t worry, lunch fans. You’ll be able to find your favorites on the menu, too, like croquetas, beet tartare and slow-cooked rack of lamb.

Craft cocktails are available, too, of course, and there’s a Gin & Tonic Bar, where diners choose the macerado (infused gin of choice, including strawberries and basil, rosemary and Florida citrus, roasted pineapple and mint or green apple and ginger) to blend with a tonic of their choice.

“Earlier this year, we had no idea what the future held for Leku,” said Andreas Schreiner, Leku’s owner/operating partner in a press release. “After months and months of concept development, recruitment and working closely with the Rubells to cultivate our dream restaurant for this community, due to COVID we didn’t know if we would ever see it come to fruition.

“We are so grateful to all of our local Miami guests who have shown such a deep appreciation for Leku’s cuisine, it was the motivation we needed to keep going.”

Outdoor dining isn’t going away, though. Later in October, Leku plans to unveil its Magic Garden, an outdoor area for tapas, wine and cocktails. The restaurant plans to add a brunch menu and a collaborative dinner series with local, national and international chefs.

Leku

Where: Rubell Museum, 1100 NW 23rd St., Miami

Hours: Noon-3 p.m. for lunch, 6:30-11 p.m. for dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Reservations: www.lekumiami.com