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Greater Miami Convention
& Visitors BureauDavid Caruso must be doing something right; he’s the star of “CSI: Miami,” which premiered in 2002, and according to Reuters, it was the most-watched television series around the world in 2006.

Each week, an estimated 40 million viewers in 200 countries tune in to watch the hit drama series. What few of them know is that even though the majority of the series is shot in Los Angeles, Caruso has actually lived part-time in Miami for the last six years, long before the super-successful CBS television show even hit the airwaves.

Caruso, who spent more than 25 years appearing in movies and television series as varied as “NYPD Blue,” An Officer and a Gentleman, King of New York and Proof of Life before landing the role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine in “CSI: Miami,” is in love with the city and sat down in Los Angeles one evening to tell us what it is about Miami that keeps him coming back.

You’ve got a house in Los Angeles and a house in Miami; where do you and your family actually call “home”?

Miami, man! Miami, Florida. That’s where we go to relax, to let go. It’s where we connect with what is really important to us and it’s where we’re really nurtured. I also co-own a women’s clothing boutique there called Steam (www.steamstyle.com).

With your film schedule in Los Angeles, do you get to spend as much time as you’d like in Miami?

No, but I get to Miami every chance I get. All the major holidays, like Christmas, and then the summer (filming) hiatus. The show has been very generous in helping me with my schedule so that I’m having a few more four-day weekends now and again.

Of all the places in the world, what made you choose Miami for your second home?

Miami’s a magical place, a truly international place. It has this kind of… I say it’s a four-hour plane ride to Europe (from LA), which is what it feels like because it’s very European, and I believe the influences there are very good for you to experience. The priorities are different. It’s less about competition and material resources and money, and more about quality of life. A big decision in Miami is, “Where are we going to eat?”

Miami has always had a certain glamour to it but what I think America and the rest of the world has discovered is that it’s also a viable place to live and raise your kids.

“Miami’s a magical place, a truly international place.”

Do you have any secrets you want to share with the first-time Miami visitor?

Besides 60 SPF sunblock? The interesting surprise for people about Miami is that they think, “Oh my God, it’s so hot there.” But when you go there, there is an element of real cool in Miami, and I don’t mean non-emotional cool. People behave in a manner that is cool—hip cool, sexy cool. I think it’s almost intrinsic to the environment.

The other thing is that everything is right there… it’s the American Riviera. It has everything you could possibly want. It has Caribbean water, the most fantastic food, the most beautiful people in the world and an amazing arts scene. What some people might not know is that Miami now hosts the biggest art festival in the world, Art Basel (www.artbasel. com). Amazing.

Any favorite hangouts for food and drink when you’re in Miami?

Well, for a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere and superb Italian food, it’s hard to beat Rosinella (305-372-5756). Rosinella is an 85-year-old Italian woman who refuses to speak English (laughs). If she made the meatballs, you’ve got to have the meatballs. They completely embrace you as a guest there.

For a glamorous evening there’s always the Delano Hotel (www.delano-hotel.com) and its restaurant the Blue Door.

Very elegant. Also in South Beach is The Shore Club (www..shoreclub.com), which is also a hotel and very hip. It’s got [a lounge called] Skybar and Robert De Niro’s restaurant, Nobu.

That’s the thing about Miami. You can spend a single evening, go to someplace like The Shore Club and Skybar and you’re gonna go, “Wow, so this is Miami!”