Anne Burrell's Miami Dine-Around

Anne Burrell loves Miami's food scene.

Anne Burrell sure gets around. The Food Network celebrity is finishing up filming a new season of Chef Wanted, which has the chef flying all over the states to visit restaurants in need of a new head of the kitchen.

The final stop for filming was Miami Beach, where Burrell filmed on location at Nikki Beach. By the way, local food truck Latin Burger and Taco provided the craft services for the shoot.

Burrell was relaxing with a cocktail poolside at her hotel before hopping on a plane to get back to New York -- only to fly right back for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival when we caught up with the blonde chef to find out where she's been eating while in Miami.

New Times: First of all, what's in your glass?
Anne Burrell: I'm enjoying a vodka with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and a splash of soda.

You've been in town for a few days. Where have you been eating?
In the past few days, I've been to Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill twice. We also ate at Pubbelly. It was the last day of shooting and my whole crew went to Pubbelly for dinner. We were like 25 people. I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

What did you have?
We had every dumpling on the menu. The standout was the pastrami, which was kind of like a mini Reuben sandwich in a dumpling. What didn't we have? We had pork belly and chorizo stuffed dates. We started out with croquettas, and some fried rice. I think we had almost the whole menu.

Where are you eating tonight?
We're a little late getting a reservation somewhere, so maybe we'll do a little drive-by at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink. I'm a big fan of Michael Scwartz but I realize it's Valentine's Day, so maybe we can at least sit at the bar.

Anyplace else on your radar?
I'm dying to eat at MC Kitchen because I've heard it's so good. I'm also dying to eat at Mandolin because I've heard it's also delicious. Yardbird is a great choice because I like their chicken. Last year I ate at Barcelonetta three times in a row. The Pubbelly guys are really cleaning it up. I heard from Lee Schrager that their Italian restaurant, Macchialina, is doing good things.