AUTHOR BIO: Dana Somerstein’s passport is stamped with perfect pizza slices, delicate dumplings, and buttery baked goods. When she’s not chasing her next reservation, she practices real estate and banking law as a partner in Fort Lauderdale.
Miami Beach doesn’t lack for glamorous Italian restaurants. Bella makes its case with something less predictable: an artichoke-shaped fountain, lamb ragù worth planning around, fiery Israeli zhug, and the curious feeling that you’ve eaten here before—even though it opened in January.
At first glance, Bella feels like the kind of restaurant that has always existed in Miami Beach. The sort of effortlessly chic spot where wine glasses clink beneath twinkling lights and every table looks like it’s halfway through a beautiful Mediterranean vacation. The space itself is stunning but not artificially staged: Vines blooming with bright pink flowers snake across the courtyard, soft lighting bounces off terracotta stones, and the artichoke-inspired fountain anchors the dining room with old-world charm. It’s romantic but not trite. The culinary equivalent of linen pants that somehow never wrinkle.
Bella’s courtyard
Inside the Liberty Park Hotel, Bella is the first Italian concept from celebrated Israeli chef Eyal Shani, whose restaurants, including HaSalon and Miznon, have earned global acclaim for turning simple ingredients into something emotional and deeply alive. Here, Shani collaborates with chef Neil Strauber, a longtime protégé mentored by Shani since his teenage years on MasterChef Junior Israel. Together, the pair channel Italy through a Mediterranean lens, with handmade pasta, vibrant vegetables, herbs, olive oil, and bright acidity doing most of the talking.
The restaurant takes its name from the owner’s imagined nonna, a fictional Bella whose spirit seems to linger over the meal like garlic and rosemary in the air. And though it opened only in January 2026, Bella serves dishes with the ease of a nonna who has been cooking for decades.
The meal begins best with the antipasti, a platter assembled by servers from a display just inside. It’s filled with marinated peppers bursting with tangy brightness, silky, smoky eggplant, and roasted garlic with a bouquet any sensible adult would gladly choose over roses. One of the surprises is the dollops of labneh in place of the mozzarella you might typically expect. Creamy, tart, and smooth, it doesn’t overpower the dishes around it. Instead, it elevates everything it touches.
Antipasti assembly
Bella’s cooking is molto buono. Nothing is fussy. Nothing is trying too hard. Each plate feels intentional and, in some cases, transportive. One bite of the lamb pappardelle took me straight to a tiny trattoria in Florence, minus the jet lag. The pasta sheets are so delicate they practically flutter, coated in a lamb ragù that brings together meat and mirepoix cooked low and slow.
Antipasti platter
Lamb ragu
The hanger steak, swimming in tomato seeds and vibrant green zhug, perfectly captures Bella’s Italian-meets-Israeli sensibility. The Israeli influence never overwhelms the menu; it simply adds freshness, herbs, and ingenuity to familiar Italian forms. Mediterranean cousins sharing the same dinner table.
Tiramisu
Dessert arrives as a generous mound of chocolate mousse sharpened with Maldon sea salt and rounded with olive oil, its deep bitterness softened by Chantilly cream. The tiramisu comes as a scoop, delivered onto a golden plate, oozy and soft. Bella knows exactly how to push diners pasta the point of no return.
In a city often obsessed with spectacle, Bella succeeds by focusing on warmth, ingredient-driven cooking, a fresh perspective on a familiar cuisine, and genuine hospitality.
Bella may be imaginary, but after one dinner here, you may begin to feel like you’ve known her for years.
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