Karetnick is the restaurant critic for Miami magazine and features editor for Wine News & Arts . Her poetry collection, Eve and After, will be published this fall by Southern Hum Press; Born-Again Vintage, co-written with designer Bridgett Artise, also appears this fall, from Potter Craft.

Calls We Can Live Without

As a mom and full-time freelance writer who works from home, there are two kinds of phone calls I dread: The first is from the school nurse, and the second is from an editor or art director relaying a problem with one of my stories—which generally only happens when the story is about Miami, where people and events change paths as unpredictably as a hurricane. I received both types of calls while writing “Miami Turns Up the Heat.” My son developed a violent stomach flu (which he then kindly passed on to me), and Endless Vacation® magazine's photo editor and photographer, who had both flown to Miami to shoot the restaurants I was covering, found themselves blocked from taking pictures at two establishments on my list: La Bodeguita del Medio and Maison d’Azur.

Have a Mojito

The photo shoot for La Bodeguita del Medio, a splashy new Cuban restaurant and nightclub on Miami’s famous Miracle Mile, had been approved through the establishment’s PR reps prior to the arrival of Endless Vacation® magazine's photo editor and photographer.  But then the PR firm couldn’t seem to locate La Bodeguita’s owner, so our cameras were a bit unexpected. Once management understood the situation, they were hospitable—and we got some great shots of this multimillion-dollar restaurant. While I didn’t include La Bodeguita in my list of top 10 places to dine (that MIA owner has something to do with it), I still highly recommend it for mojitos and Cuban-style nightlife. (That is, if it’s still open.)