South Florida Area Restaurants Embark on the Estrella Damm Culinary Journey

The Estrella Damm Culinary Journey — spearheaded by Barcelona's most famed beer — kicks off this Thursday and runs through June 30. More than 70 restaurants are participating throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

"This is our biggest year yet," Marjanne Kalf, Miami market manager for Estrella Damm, tells New Times. "We've added a lot more restaurants, ranging from more boutique-style to chains. It's a great time to get out there and support our local restaurants and have some great food along the way."

Estrella Damm Culinary Journey restaurants offer one of two experiences as part of the program. The "Perfect Pair" entails a signature dish from the restaurant paired with an Estrella Damm beer, while the "Chef's Tasting" involves a multi-course meal paired with the beer.

Chef's Tasting participating restaurants include some of the area's most celebrated, like Café La Trova, the Michelin-starred El Cielo, Mareva 1939, and the Bazaar by José Andrés. Perfect Pair restaurants include Love Life Café, R Bistro, Rosie's, and Zeru Miami.

Perfect Pair offerings include a chorizo burger with fried calamari inside the burger at Boulud Sud ($35), a Cuban black bean ravioli with serrano ham at Cubata ($25), and a fisherman's stew for two at Doya ($45). Chef's Tasting options include a trio of crostinis, a smoked salmon white pizza, and tiramisu at Ironside Pizza ($50); and a six-course affair — anchored by a whole branzino or Australian Wagyu picanha — at Leku ($125). And, yes, everything includes an Estrella Damm beer.

This year's notable new restaurants include five Pubbelly Sushi locations and nine restaurants at Time Out Market. A full slate of locations is available at estrelladammjourney.com.

"We handpick the restaurants that are a part of this, and we've curated in a way that restaurants want to be a part of it," says Kalf. "June is a bit of a slower month in Miami, so it makes for a nice push for the restaurants. With that, we're not looking to grow too big or be a competitor for Miami Spice, which is later in the year."

The Estrella Damm Culinary Journey started in Miami in 2014. Since then, the program has expanded globally with experiences in Toronto, Athens, Santiago de Chile, and Dubai.

Estrella Damm Culinary Journey. Thursday, June 1 through Friday, June 30, at multiple locations throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties; estrelladammjourney.com.