Savor Miami Cuban Bistro & Wine Market, Doral

When working in the kitchen at Savor crafting Cuban fare, chef Ariel Alvarez draws on culinary training in Havana and years of restaurant experience, including time at El Floridita, where he served former president Jimmy Carter, Giorgio Armani, and Naomi Campbell. He passes between cooks, who chop fish for ceviche and simmer cauldrons of paella, while forging a menu that adds hints of European cuisine to traditional Cuban recipes. Servers deliver platters of crab-stuffed plantains and oxtail cooked with wine and fresh herbs past photos of Cuba that ornament the walls alongside chalkboards scrawled with the daily specials.