A veteran of many a Miami restaurant kitchen, Nuno Grullon became his own boss in 2020 when he and business partner Akira Van Egmond opened Uptown 66, a taco ventanita across Biscayne Boulevard from Legion Park. With the pandemic as its crucible, Uptown 66 flourished, winning "Best Tacos" in the 2022 edition of this issue and backing that up with a $20,000 grand prize in Good Morning America's "United States of Tacos" tour in '23. Last fall Grullon doubled down on Biscayne with the debut of Grand Central by Nuno Grullon, a hole-in-the-wall bistro just north of 79th Street. The menu is focused — a half-dozen starters, a half-dozen mains, and a few dessert options. But service and execution are superb from the moment you step inside. Standout appetizers include a plate of baked clams and a wonderful Little Gem wedge salad, and, among the mains, a decadent lobster ravioli, one of the best burgers on the eastern seaboard, and a chicken pot pie that's nothing like Mom used to make unless Mom wore a toque for her day job. And all of it exists in the least likely of locations — sandwiched between a vape shop and a payday loan establishment — for a wee, French-inspired white-tablecloth restaurant, but Grullon and Van Egmond pull it off with grace, flair, and more than a soupçon of affection.