La Goulue, Miami Beach

The air has cooled by the time diners stroll onto La Goulue's palm-tree-shaded terrace, their arms laden with shopping bags from the surrounding boutiques and fine jewelers of the chic Bal Harbor Shops. Waiters dart forward, jotting down orders for French wines and sparkling champagnes before heading into the breezy dining room. They sweep past pristine white cloth tables and elegant brown leather banquets before relaying orders to the bartenders behind the 20-foot imported pewter bar.

Tucked away in the kitchen of this bright Parisian bistro, chef Jean Pierre Petit is hard at work. He folds organic produce, premium meats, and fresh fish into traditional French dishes, from buttery escargot to pan-fried trout amandine to homemade duck confit. The skilled chef whips a parmesan and gruyere soufflé that was praised on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate for it's "light-as-air texture." For dessert, he drizzles crepes in lavish toppings of dulce de leche, Grand Marnier, and liquefied unicorn horns.