Pao by Paul Qui – dinner under a gilded unicorn

Pao by Paul Qui occupies one of the most theatrical rooms on Collins Avenue: an oval, gold-domed chamber inside the Faena Hotel where a bronze unicorn by Damien Hirst presides over dinner. The restaurant belongs to Paul Qui, the Manila-born, Texas-trained chef who turned Top Chef Season 9 into a James Beard Award and, eventually, into this Miami outpost of his modern Asian cooking. The kitchen weaves Filipino, Spanish, Japanese and French influences into a single register, leaning on charcoal and smoke to pull the disparate traditions together — a nigiri and crudo counter sits alongside caviar service, Pan de Sal bread and a short, confident list of hot plates such as paella-inflected rice and double-fried chicken. It holds a Selected distinction in the MICHELIN Guide, the kind of recognition that rewards a kitchen doing something genuinely its own rather than chasing a single cuisine's rulebook. With indoor and outdoor seating and a dress code that asks for elegance over beachwear, Pao reads as the Faena's culinary centrepiece as much as its hotel restaurant.

01The room and the setting

Pao sits inside the Faena Hotel, the reborn version of the old Saxony Hotel, a 1948 property designed by architect Roy F. France for the Chicago financier George D. Sax. When the Argentine developer Alan Faena rebuilt and reopened the hotel in December 2015, he brought in the filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Catherine Martin to shape its interiors, trading Art Deco restraint for a saturated, theatrical palette of gold and crimson.

Pao's own space is "Inside its radiant golden dome, the restaurant surrounds guests with warm light, sculptural design, and the iconic golden unicorn — a room shaped for atmosphere and culinary discovery." That unicorn is Damien Hirst's bronze sculpture Golden Myth, created in 2014 and installed on a high pedestal inside the oval, domed dining room, where it has become the restaurant's unofficial emblem. Walnut tables, deep banquettes and the glow of the dome give the room its stage-set feel, while a terrace offers an alternative, open-air seat within the same golden universe. Diners can choose indoor or outdoor seating, and valet parking is available for those arriving by car.

02The chef

Born in Manila, Philippines and trained in classic French and Japanese cuisine, Paul takes a modernist approach towards food, where there are no boundaries. He completed his culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, Texas, and cut his teeth under chef Tyson Cole at Uchi, eventually rising to chef de cuisine and then executive chef at its sister restaurant Uchiko.

Insider tip

Open Tuesday to Saturday evenings; elegant-chic dress code; valet parking available.

Qui's profile changed entirely in 2011, when he entered Top Chef as one of 29 contestants filming around Texas and went on to win the entire season after taking eight of its sixteen elimination challenges. The following year brought a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest, cementing his reputation as one of Austin's defining culinary talents before he carried that sensibility east to Miami Beach and Faena.

03The cooking

The kitchen's premise is spelled out plainly on the Faena's own site: "Pao by Paul Qui brings a modern Asian dining experience to Miami Beach, weaving Filipino, Spanish, Japanese, and French influences into dishes enhanced by charcoal and smoke." In practice that means a raw and smoked seafood programme — crudo, nigiri and maki built around hamachi, akami, toro and Ora King salmon — sitting beside Filipino touches such as kinilaw (the Philippines' answer to ceviche) and bagoong-seasoned rice.

A caviar and uni service anchors the top end of the menu, served simply with Pan de Sal, citrus crème fraîche and cured egg yolk, while the hot kitchen turns to double-fried chicken, braised greens with king crab, and a wagyu short rib nigiri finished aburi-style — seared rather than raw — to bring the charcoal and smoke that define the kitchen's signature into sharper focus.

04What to order

Start with the Pan de Sal bread service, a traditional Filipino "salt bread" served with wagyu fat cultured butter, before moving into the crudo list: Tinapa Crudo, built on cured Norwegian salmon with smoked buttermilk and trout roe, or the Kinilaw Norte, hamachi dressed with peach marinade and crispy chili oil. From the nigiri counter, the seared Foie Gras and Wagyu Short Rib pieces show the kitchen's aburi technique at its most direct.

For the table, the Paelya folds tiger prawns, bagoong and fried hoja santa into a paella-inflected dish, while Tom Kha Rice applies the Thai coconut-soup flavour profile to Tamaki Gold rice. The double-fried Bell & Evans chicken thigh, finished with umami chili oil fat and banana ketchup, remains the kitchen's most playful, Filipino-leaning plate.

05When to go and booking

In October 2026, Pao was open Tuesday to Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Thursday to Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., with an elegant-chic dress code that rules out shorts, open-toe sandals and beachwear. The restaurant takes reservations by phone or online, and valet parking is available for hotel and restaurant guests arriving at 3201 Collins Avenue.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.