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Instead of bringing some insipid blood-covered body part made of candy to the costumed alcohol binge you'll be attending this week, head to your neighborhood grocer and buy a pound or so of fresh beef hearts. Season them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and perhaps some cumin if you're feeling frisky. Grill 'em, dice 'em, and bring 'em to the party with little pieces of toast and horseradish sauce. Wait till everyone is belligerently drunk; then feed them. After they've swallowed, tell them what they ate. Report back their responses.

Turns out fresh beef heart ain't all that bad, and to most people it's undistinguishable from a "normal" cut of beef. Maybe that girl dressed up as a slutty Psy doing her best whore-inspired "Gangnam Style" will retch her last four drinks, but everyone else might like it.

Offal, the innards and undesirable cuts of animals once destined for the trash, has always been on the menus of hard-core ethnic restaurants. But it's becoming more mainstream, seemingly thanks to celebrity chef culture and food-obsessed media.

There are plenty of restaurants serving tender, tasty bits of guts, and you never have wait until Halloween to chow down. If you haven't gotten started, now is the time.

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Cheeses for the ACS Conference & Competition

Hebe Denis is a certified sommelier, FIU hospitality grad, and most recently one of two Miami cheese connoisseurs who passed the first-ever comprehensive (and very challenging) American Cheese Society exam. Now she is one of the very few certified cheese professionals in all of Miami.

The exam set out to raise the standards for cheese professionals and bring the industry to the forefront of the specialty market. But Denis is more than book smart -- she puts her knowledge to work every day as the specialty team leader for the South Beach Whole Foods. Over the course of her time there, she has noticed the interest in cheese and the industry as a whole on a steady rise in Miami.

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Coleslaw from The Dutch

What do fried chicken, ribs and burgers on July 4 have in common? Creamy, sweet, all-American coleslaw baby. Your stars and stripes barbecue won't be complete until you side it with the right slaw. Here are our top choices for a fill of the Independence Day classic, along with a special recipe from Chef Andrew Carmellini of The Dutch at W South Beach Hotel & Residences to make the dish on your own.

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Can you tell which restaurant serves this raw yellowtail?

On June 1, in anticipation of our final ten countdown of Miami New Times' favorite dishes, we asked you to choose the restaurant that serves the best dish in Miami.

The poll was furiously tweeted by restaurants and readers who felt strongly about which place was their favorite.

The poll pitted some of Miami's best restaurants against each other.

The venues were chosen by Miami New Times staff as having the top ten dishes. Voting closed at 11:59 p.m. last night, and the results are in.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is here and, with this item, ;Short Order is officially done serving up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305!

Photo courtesy of Scarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach

1. Lamb Agnolotti at Scarpetta

This is a newer offering that chef de cuisine Nina Compton added to the menu at Scarpetta, and although there were a bunch of old favorites at the table the first time we tried it (spaghetti, the polenta, duck and foie ravioli), this is the dish that had everyone's eyes rolling backwards.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is here. To celebrate, Short Order is serving up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305. If you want to vote on which restaurant has the best dish, click here.

Lesley Elliott

2. Sweetbreads at Michy's

The ingredients that compose the "other" degrees of this dish tend to change every now and then, but no matter how they are presented, the sweetbreads at Michy's are always delicious. They are served "Milanesa" style, meaning dipped and deep fried, and cooked just to a firm center. Sweetbreads can be tricky, because if you overdo the fry time, the sweetbreads themselves begin to liquify inside, turning runny. It's not pretty. Yet, Michelle Bernstein's sweetbreads are a joy to behold, snack-like lumps of glandular gold. The current menu version is one of our favorites; firm black eyed peas heavily scented with the smell and flavor of smoky bacon ($12 for a half portion, $18 for a full sized helping, which we highly recommend!). Atop the mountain sits the sweetbreads, which deserve a quick swirl in the sweet cider gastrique that rims the plate.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is coming June 14. Until then, Short Order will serve up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305. If you want to vote on which restaurant has the best dish, click here.

The Genuine Hospitality Group

3. Pie in a Jar at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink

There are two kinds of people in the world -- those that leave room for dessert when dining at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and the uninitiated.

Dessert at Michael's Genuine is not a mere piece of cake placed on the menu as an afterthought. It's the integral last chapter of a fully formed story. Chef Hedy Goldsmith creates desserts that are whimsical yet sophisticated, playing with sweet, savory, and smokey flavors and utilizing local ingredients.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is coming June 14. Until then, Short Order will serve up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305. If you want to vote on which restaurant has the best dish, click here.

Lee Klein

4. Goat Stew at Tap Tap

Tap Tap has anchored Fifth Street in South Beach for two decades, and goat stew has arguably been the most popular dish on the homestyle Haitian menu from day one. Goats have come and goats have gone -- meaning that over the years, the restaurant has used Boer goat from South Africa, then Bolinas goat from California, and now the current Caprine goat from North Carolina. All share the trait of unimpeachable quality.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is coming June 14. Until then, Short Order will serve up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305. If you want to vote on which restaurant has the best dish, click here.

Alex Rodriguez

5. Fried Chicken at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar

One of the most daunting tasks in all of Miami is to find good Southern chow. It's damn near impossible. Then Yardbird showed up. During fall of 2011, the self-proclaimed southern table and bar took Miami foodies by storm, wowing most with solid quality and impeccable flavors. The fried chicken, for example, exemplified solid quality and impeccable flavor to a tee.

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New Times' Best of Miami 2012 issue is coming June 14. Until then, Short Order will serve up 100 of our favorite dishes in the 305. If you want to vote on which restaurant has the best dish, click here.

Lesley Elliott

6. Pork Belly at Pubbelly

The pork belly ($15) at Pubbelly is truly a great example of a signature dish; although there are seasonal shifts and plate replacements on occasion, this belly has been on the menu since the restaurant opened. It's one of those things that falls under my grandfather's category of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

These fatty slabs arrive bathed in a thick butterscotch and miso glaze, a most glorious balance of sweet and salty. There's a meat meltdown in your mouth on first contact, the excess fat layers are beyond luscious. A golden purée made from Japanese squash coddles the pork, offering a dipping sauce of sorts that it pumpkin-tastic. "Corn powder" and a little sea salt create a crumb topping that sticks to the caramel coated belly. It's rich and heavy, and although the ingredients feel wintery, they mesh so well that it's irrelevant. Indulging in this small slice of fat-filled heaven is encouraged at all times.


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