“Oh great,” we whispered to each other sarcastically, assuming the couple would spend the next twenty minutes ordering drinks over our heads and stalking our bar stools with their eyes.

Instead we made friends, and stayed friends.

The male half of the couple, Mark Kuller, subsequently opened his own restaurants, Proof and Estadio in DC. The much prettier half, Kristin Connor, is Managing Partner of Whisk Gourmet in South Miami at which her brother Brendan is Executive Chef.

The lovely couple married several years ago and splits their time between two cities.

Mark kindly agreed to share Five Great Eats in Miami. Hopefully a guest post by Kristin isn’t far behind!

1. Little oyster sandwiches, caviar and house made blinis at the bar at The Dutch on Miami Beach.

2. Bánh cuốn and Vietnamese chicken curry at Hy Vong in Little Havana.

3. Truffled Roast Chicken and roasted tri-color cauliflower on the patio at Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill in Midtown.

Via Ocean Drive

4.  House made pastrami with a side of the house made kimchi on the patio at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District.

5. Fried green tomatoes, chicken n’ biscuits, and pretty much everything on the menu at Whisk Gourmet in South Miami/Coral Gables.

If you have Miami favorites, share ‘em in the comments.

Related posts:

• I went to South Beach
• Five things I want to do in DC

We hear they have a garden here, but will we tend it? We will have to wait until next week to find out.

UPDATE: Wow. D.C. rocked.  We have photos up from our event with chef Critchley and many more yet to make it to Flickr.  And we even made it to the White House and to visit its beautiful organic garden!  More photos to come..

If we can pry him away from “A Genuine Adventure” at Relais & Chateaux property Blackberry Farm i.e. chef heaven in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Michael and I will meet up in the nation’s capital next week with some Miami-connected, D.C.-based friends who are graciously hosting MICHAEL’S GENUINE FOOD happy hour events. Both are free and open to the public, so please stop by if you’re in the area. While our main growing season is winding down in South Florida, D.C. is just ramping up, so we’re excited to check out the bounty up yonder.  For the scoop on our mystery hosts, and their local farmers markets, follow the jump.

Wednesday, April 20, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Chef John Critchley who gracefully hung his hat on sustainable seafood at Area 31 in downtown Miami’s Epic hotel has now settled at Urbana, the restaurant at the (Kimpton) Hotel Palomar.  We miss John and are looking forward to checking out his new digs.  We sent up a copy of the cookbook, and he picked kingfish escabeche, deviled eggs, falafel with tahini sauce, and shiitake mushroom pizza with cave aged gruyere to make as complimentary hors d’oeurves, featuring seasonal, local ingredients sourced from the nearby Dupont Circle Farmers Market and the Maine Avenue Fish Market. Here’s hoping he has plenty of these sour cream and onion beer nuts waiting on arrival, too! Copies of the cookbook will be available for sale and signing. 2121 P Street NW, Washington, D.C.;  202-956-6650

Thursday, April 21, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Chef/partner Haidar Karoum and owner Mark Kuller of restaurants Estadio and Proof host Michael at Proof for wine, cocktails, and complimentary hors d’oeuvres including crispy gnudi, grouper ceviche, and chicken liver crostini, with local ingredients sourced from the Penn Quarter Farmers Market.  Mark is Kristin Connor’s husband. You know, co-owner (with her brother Brendan) of the most amazing Whisk Gourmet in South Miami?!  We’re big fans and can’t wait to hop over to Estadio to share some quality time after the event with this most capable of couples. Copies of the cookbook will also be available for sale and signing. 775 G Street NW, Washington, D.C.; 202-737-7663