Bazaar Meat by José Andrés opens on Thursday, October 22 inside Andaz Miami Beach, bringing the chef's live-fire steakhouse to the oceanfront hotel on Collins Avenue. Reservations are already open on OpenTable.

For Miami Beach diners with long memories, it is a homecoming of sorts. Andrés ran The Bazaar on Miami Beach before it closed, and his group has framed this opening as the return of that energy to the beach, now in a room built around the fire.

A steakhouse that does not behave like one

The José Andrés Group describes Bazaar Meat as a reimagined steakhouse, and the difference is mostly about theater. The room is dark, and the kitchen is the focal point: large-format cuts are seared over open flames where guests can watch them cook, the way you might watch a pizzaiolo at a wood oven.

Around the meat, the menu leans on the playful tapas Andrés is known for and on farm vegetables, so a table can build a meal that is not a slab of beef and a baked potato. The dish most likely to get talked about locally is a reinvented Cubano, Andrés's take on the sandwich every Miamian has an opinion about. The bar is built around bold cocktails.

Where it fits on the beach

Bazaar Meat is the kind of restaurant Andrés uses as a flagship: the big night out, where his tapas places are the easy weeknight. Putting one in an oceanfront hotel on Collins Avenue, rather than in Brickell or the Design District, keeps a destination dinner on the island for the people who live there.

How to get in

Reservations are being taken through OpenTable, linked from The Bazaar's own page for the Miami Beach restaurant. Opening-night and first-weekend tables at a José Andrés opening tend to go quickly, so if you want to be in the room the first week, now is the time to book.

Hours and a full menu with prices had not been posted as of this week. Bazaar Meat is not a budget night out anywhere it operates; plan on a special-occasion check, and on sharing, since large-format cuts are meant for the table.

Why it is worth noticing

Miami Beach has seen plenty of chef-driven restaurants come and go, but few names carry the weight of José Andrés, who is as well known for his World Central Kitchen relief work as for his restaurants. His return to the beach with a flagship concept, rather than a casual outpost, is a vote of confidence in Miami Beach as a dining destination in its own right.

For residents, it means one more reason to stay on the island for a big dinner instead of crossing a causeway. And for anyone who misses the original Bazaar, it is the closest thing to getting it back.