Zest Miami (CLOSED)

Chef Cindy Hutson’s iconic “Cuisine of the Sun” is shining bright in downtown’s southeast financial center, where grab-and-go eateries and chain restaurants have long cast a dark shadow on the area’s dining scene. For its part, Zest feels light and airy, injecting a dose of the islands with help from an indoor-outdoor bar, brimming with options for fresh-fruit cocktails made with organic spirits, and various living walls, where the lifecycle of most herbs and garnishes used in dishes begins. Caribbean-inspired appetizers and entrees stray just enough from what you’ll find in Hutson’s popular Coral Gables restaurant Ortanique to feel new—think root beer-braised pork belly with a cherry vanilla-scented boniato foam and a surf ‘n’ turf ravioli with oxtail and lobster. Adjacent to Zest will be Zest MRKT, which is currently operating as a temporary pop-up but promises to be downtown’s answer to fast food with shawarma, freshly prepared paleo meals and other healthy options for on the go (back to your desk).