Eating, Drinking, and Celebrity-Spotting in Miami

Well, Kyle took me to Miami this past weekend. It was part work trip for him, all vacation for me. And when I'm on vacation, it's pretty much an excuse to eat everything in sight. 

Sadly, the only time we ventured into South Beach (Miami is big, y'all!), was for Joe's Stone Crab. It's apparently a celebrity chef favorite and without taking reservations, a guaranteed 2-hour wait. But, wait you should! It's totally worth it.

I ordered that incredible claw dish above (two stone crab claws, two lobster claws, and an Alaskan King crab claw) and the seafood bisque. The wedge salad was Kyle's appetizer and we split their amazing key lime pie. Then Kyle freaked everyone when we thought he was having an allergic reaction to lobster. Spoiler alert: He kinda was, but everything was fine.

Oh, but I can't forget one of the best part's about dining at Joe's: sitting ten feet from Martha Stewart...

...and Guy Fieri, if you care about him.

I wanted so badly to go over and say hi to Martha (btw, we BOTH ordered iced tea and key lime pie so we're basically besties), but I just couldn't bring myself to interrupt her dinner. It was an exercise in restraint and tact I didn't know I was capable of. Apparently, Martha didn't feel the need to do the same when it came to Guy's dinner. Here she is getting a photo with him:

So anyway, spotting Martha Stewart upon being seated pretty much preoccupied every thought I had for the first 20 minutes of dinner. Then my crab came and it was like "Martha who?"

I saw a few things in Miami that were just too beautiful not to capture:

{An incredible flower arrangement for a wedding held at our hotel.}

{The clever way this bar held its lemons, pearl onions, mint, and other beverage mix-ins}

 {This insane Bulgari designed San Pellegrino bottle}

I was particularly looking forward to enjoying some authentic Cuban food while in Miami. Versailles, which is like, the mega-mall of Cuban food, did not disappoint.

If you go, you have to start with a mojito. The stick of sugar cane alone is worth it.

 The empanadas were insane...

 ...the yucca fries were like Heaven in my mouth (especially when dipped in this addictive green saucey concoction)...

 ...and the paella?? Omg, let's just say it was worth the 45-minute wait.

Oh, and since I firmly believe that you can never have too many empanadas, I found this great local market specializing in all kinds of fantastic varieties.

Because I couldn't make up my mind on just one, I did what I always do and got as many as I damn well pleased.

Ham and ricotta:

 Prosciutto and queso:

 Spinach:

 I am officially preparing for my next Paleo challenge as we speak.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who uses vacations as a reason to eat delicious food? TELL ME IT!!!