Take a Look Inside the Design District’s Newest Italian Restaurant with a Pink Flair – Sofia
With the opening of Sofia in Miami’s Design District, the team behind Miami favorites Byblos and Amal has continued to grow throughout South Florida. The chic, predominantly pink restaurant is a Toronto import that offers fine Italian cuisine.
In close proximity to the recently Michelin-recognized Itamae, Sofia debuts a menu of both contemporary and classic Italian meals that are produced with a refined technique and seasonal ingredients to honor the true flavors of Italy. A variety of antipasti will be available, including Crudo, grilled octopus, citrus salads, and ricotta-stuffed zucchini.
For entrées, Sofia serves traditional handmade pasta dishes like rigatoni alla vodka and cacio e pepe al tartufo. Among the standouts from the carne mains are wagyu filets, breaded veal, and prime striploin, among others. The pesce area also includes branzino, aragosta (butter-poached crab), and gamberetti (wild king prawn).
Sofia’s Italy-inspired cocktails stress execution and graceful presentation, and its wine list includes a variety of vintages and difficult-to-find Italian wines, which are garnished with locally grown herbs. The restaurant’s flamingo-pink, Italian-glam indoor-outdoor settings was created by award-winning group Studio Munge, and they will be brought to life every night with DJs and live performances.
Sofia hopes to become Palm Court’s newest signature restaurant, according to INK founder and CEO Charles Khabouth, despite the fact that the Design District is already home to a number of upscale eateries, including well-known Italian restaurants like MC Kitchen and Palat and Pharrell’s ultra-trendy pastel wonderland Swan.
The Sofia restaurant will be open every day of the week starting at 5 p.m. breakfast and lunch service will start soon following the supper service, which will start now.
Lettuce Entertain You Launches Aba at Bal Harbour Shops
Photo Credit: Lettuce Entertain You
Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, a Chicago-based restaurant chain, has officially opened its first Bal Harbour Shops location with Aba, a well-known Mediterranean eatery.
Aba’s cuisine, which was developed by Top Chef alum CJ Jacobson, and Marc Jacobs, an executive partner, features tastes from all across the Mediterranean with inspirations from Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece.
The everything Jerusalem bagel with smoked salmon spread, hamachi, and charred avocado, as well as the shawarma spiced skirt steak, are some of the standout dishes on the menu. In addition to a full bar program, a “reserve” cocktail list with higher-end portions, and a large selection of zero-proof alternatives, the wine list and bar program offer options from all around the Mediterranean and Southern California.
Aba was initially launched by the group in Chicago in 2018 to great acclaim, winning restaurant of the year from Eater Chicago readers. The popular group will open two restaurants in South Florida; the RPM Italian concept is expected to open in Palm Beach in 2023. Since 1971, Lettuce Entertain You has opened more than 130 eateries, including Beatrix, Shaw’s Crab House, Mon Ami Gabi, and RPM Italian.
With climbing ivy, olive trees, and vintage lighting, including authentic Parisian street lamps and gilded Moroccan fixtures, the 250-seat restaurant maintains its Mediterranean theme. The room is divided into two halves by an arched passageway with textured walls and leather, wicker, and teak furnishings. Both floors of the two-story building have outside dining areas, while the second-floor mezzanine has a bar and additional seats.
The Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Avenue, Unit 101, is where you can find Aba. Every day from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., the restaurant is open for dinner; later this month, lunch and brunch will be added.
Photo Credit: Lettuce Entertain You
Major Food Group Officially Opens Italian Restaurant in Miami’s Design District-Contessa
The upscale, well-known Italian concept Contessa has officially debuted in the Miami Design District thanks to Major Food Group, the renowned hospitality company that is responsible for bringing Carbone, Rao’s, and Dirty French Steakhouse to Miami.
Contessa is a classic yet utterly modern Italian restaurant created by MFG Co-Founders and creative powers Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi. It is inspired by the old-world refinement of Northern Italy’s famed villas and estates.
Visitors at Contessa Miami can begin their dinner with one of the several antipasti starters, which include Proscuitto, Chianina beef carpaccio, and squash carpaccio. Of course, the menu features a number of sumptuous pasta dishes, such as the fiery lobster cappelli, the tortellini in broth, the rigatoni carbonara, the fusilli Genovese, and the rigatoni carbonara. Entree choices include grilled branzino, the traditional veal Milanese, and a 40-ounce dry-aged Fiorentina steak. The meal is finished with a variety of sweets such as gelato and cakes with pistachio, amaretto, and gianduja chocolate.
Contessa’s original location made its debut on the rooftop of The Newbury Boston last year, and it rapidly established a reputation as one of the most opulent and outstanding Italian restaurants in America.
It was hailed as the city’s “crème de la crème” of restaurants by the opulent publication Boston Common. Boston Magazine has also raved about the restaurant stating that it is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city.
Contessa Miami promises exquisite Northern Italian cuisine in addition to MFG’s renowned warm, charismatic, and polished hospitality, which is specially tailored to the city the company has called home since 2021. At that time, the company began a historic run of restaurant openings in the area, including ZZ’s Club in the Miami Design District and Sadelle’s in Coconut Grove.
Over 40 restaurants, pubs, hotels, and private clubs are now managed by the organization across the world. The company has numerous new openings scheduled for South Florida over the next six months, in addition to Contessa Miami and a variety of upcoming projects in the United States and internationally.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and is housed in a two-story building in the renowned neighborhood at 111 NE 41st Street.
Chicago’s Mediterranean Restaurant Aba to Launch in the Bal Harbour Shops Miami
With its most recent expansion news—the launch this fall of Chicago’s Mediterranean restaurant Aba on its first floor—The Bal Harbour Shops in Bal Harbour shows that it is more than just a place to shop. It arrives in Miami courtesy of former Top Chef contestant CJ Jacobson, senior partner Marc Jacobs, and Chicago-based hospitality company Lettuce Entertain You, which is working with Aba for the first time on a South Florida project.
Aba, a sister establishment of Ēma in Chicago’s River North, features chef Jacobson’s more casual approach to Mediterranean cooking. The cuisine emphasizes vegetables and offers a variety of dips, such as avocado hummus with Dungeness crab and carrot sunflower with sunflower tahini.
Other notable meals are the shawarma Spiced Skirt Steak with Black Garlic Mushroom Jus, the grilled Mahi Mahi with Roasted Garlic Yogurt, and the torched toro toro with watermelon and crystalized Castelvetrano olives.
A wine list that focuses on wineries that use sustainable, organic, and/or biodynamic farming methods was chosen by mixologist Liz Pearce and has cocktails that combine elements of the Mediterranean and Southern California.
Hebrew named Aba which translates as “Father,” is a continuation of Chef CJ Jacobson’s earlier eatery, Ema, which means “Mother.” Chicago and Austin currently house the two Aba sites.
The first floor of the mall will include Aba, which will have an indoor dining room with more than 240 seats, a covered patio, a mezzanine bar, and a terrace. It goes without saying that it will be a spacious and much-needed contrast to the slew of other Mediterranean eateries that are opening this season, including the tapas-focused Mazeh, the stunning Lebanese Amal, and the modern Israeli restaurant Neya.
Miami Bar Ranked No. 21 for 50 Best Bars in the World
One of the top bars in the world is once again located in Miami. The cocktail bar, restaurant, and music venue known as Café La Trova in Little Havana has climbed the list of The World’s 50 Best Bars for 2022 for the third year in a row!
Café La Trova was ranked No. 21 in the yearly list of 50 Best Bars in the World with a ranking of No. 6 for Best Bars in the United States.
This old-world Cuban bar in Little Havana was founded by Michelin-starred chef Michelle Bernstein, her husband David Martnez, and cocktail guru Julio Cabrera.
Cabrera’s father owned a bar in Cuba before Castro was in power. His father taught him everything he knows which he showcases through Café La Trova’s nightly mixing shows. Along with the shows, it’s very common for Cabrera to dance among the patrons.
Café La Trova’s menu includes classic daiquiris and cervacas but their award-winning drink is the Buenavista cocktail. This drink includes Bombay Sapphire gin, cucumber, mint, elderflower liqueur, lime juice, and sugar.
Café La Trova also features a dinner menu with classics like handout steak empanadas, jamon Serrano croquetas, arroz con pollo, and vaca fritz sliders.
Café La Trova is located at 971 SW 8th Street in Miami.
Miami Worldcenter Welcomes Sports & Social-New Bar by Live! Hospitality and Entertainment
Miami Worldcenter and Live! Hospitality & Entertainment has a deal to bring its widely regarded Sports & Social concept to the $4 billion, 27-acre mixed-use development that is reshaping Downtown Miami.
Live! Entertainment’s premier dining, entertainment, sports viewing, and social concept is called Sports & Social. One of the biggest restaurant and entertainment concept creators and operators in the US is Hospitality & Entertainment. The company’s main goal is to build iconic venues near prestigious sports arenas, world-class resort casinos, and popular entertainment and lifestyle areas around the nation.
The Sports & Social Miami Worldcenter location will occupy about 20,000 square feet in the development’s glass-encased “Jewel Box” retail building and will feature an open-air third level and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the World Square public park and plaza. It will be situated just steps from Miami’s FTX Arena.
The establishment will provide sophisticated food and drink options, including made-from-scratch gameday favorites, handmade cocktails, and specialty drinks, like its iconic Crush selection, and a variety of beers from popular local and national beers. A number of special food-related events will be held at Sports & Social, including a brunch experience you won’t want to miss on Saturdays and Sundays that will feature its renowned #brunchtails table drinks and menu favorites like avocado toast, savory breakfast skillets, and its signature Chicken & Bliss.
Sports & Social in addition to offering some of the top sporting events in the area, Miami will host a range of live music performances and unique events throughout the week. With cutting-edge technology throughout, the venue will include a striking 53-foot LED display as its focal point, which will simultaneously stream different athletic events and games.
Additionally, visitors can take part in a variety of games like shuffleboard, Beirut, skeeball, foosball, pop-a-shot, and arcade games. Each location of Sports & Social is uniquely designed with careful attention to every detail by some of the highest profile firms in the world including ICRAVE, Jeffrey Beers International, and Knauer Incorporated. ICRAVE, a highly regarded and award-winning strategy, design, and development company, is creating Sports & Social at Miami Worldcenter. ICRAVE, a Miami- and New York-based company, has been in charge of designing Sports & Social’s nationwide expansion.
Three residential towers, Paramount Miami Worldcenter, Caoba, and Bezel Miami, as well as about 175,000 square feet of retail space, were among the phases of the project that were already finished. A 351-room citizenM hotel and an additional 125,000 square feet of retail space are slated to debut at Miami Worldcenter before the end of the year.
The Legacy Hotel & Residences, a 50-story mixed-use tower with 310 branded residences atop a hotel and 50,000 square feet of medical office space, as well as the second phase of Caoba, which will encompass an adjacent 40-story tower with 420 apartments, are also under construction. The 52-story Miami World Towers, which will have 550 apartment units, is also under construction.
The Witkoff Group’s three-tower mixed-use project, which will include up to 2,000 residential units as well as 550,000 square feet of office space and an additional 50,000 square feet of retail, is one of the planned developments. The Crosby, a 450-unit turn-key condominium by Related Group and Merrimac Ventures, two “supertall” residential towers by New York-based Naftali Group, and The Crosby are a few other projects that are in the works
‘Sports & Social’ will add to Miami Worldcenter’s alluring list of recently revealed tenants, which also includes Sephora, Bowlero, and Lucid Motors as well as two food and beverage concepts, Brasserie Laurel and El Vecino, that will soon open under the direction of Michelin-starred Chef Michael Beltran. Around 110,000 square feet of leased retail space are shared by these seven businesses and the newest tenant of the property in Downtown Miami.
Bad Bunny and David Grutman Unveil Gekkō at Grand Opening in Brickell
Thanks to Bad Bunny, David Grutman, and Groot Hospitality, the bustling Brickell district of Miami has new eating alternatives. The world’s most streamed music artist and the restauranteur have officially debuted Gekkō, their new joint venture.
Although the official opening is tonight for the most talked about restaurant in Miami, the exclusive unveiling was last night which included many notables and so much delectable food!
Attendance included David Grutman and Bad Bunny themselves, with special guest Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Timbaland, Lil Wayne, Future, Lele Pons, Jake Paul, and Candice Swanepoel. The turntables were taken over by Zack Bia, who played music for the partygoers to dance to.
The Japanese-inspired steakhouse offers the best Wagyu beef in the world along with creative and enhanced sushi options, opulent takes on classic chophouse dishes, brand-new handcrafted drinks, and much more.
In addition to being the name of a dedicated lounge, Gekkō—which translates from Japanese to English as “moonlight”—brings a creative, small nightlife venue to the center of the city’s social scene.
According to Bad Bunny, “Sitting down with friends to enjoy a good meal is one of the moments I value the most. I am thrilled that now I will have a hand in creating this experience for others.”
Gekkō’s menu combines the convivial and well-liked food of a steakhouse with the accuracy and modernism of Japanese cooking. Before moving on to starters, seafood, and steak, this starts with shared dishes, featuring traditional Japanese milk bread and a Kumamoto oyster with “Lava and Ice.”
Lobster dumplings and a creatively updated version of a wedge salad with yuzu buttermilk ranch dressing are two appetizer standouts. Highlights for raw dishes, sushi, and sashimi include Hokkaido Scallops and the novel 24k Otoro, a creation exclusive to Groot Hospitality.
The menu is anchored by a number of exquisite steaks, such as a Tomahawk cut, an olive-fed filet mignon from Kagawa, Japan, and a snow beef strip from Hokkaido, Japan. There are specialty dishes like Wagyu Skirt Steak and a Bone-In Ribeye. A variety of main meals are available, including Daring plant-based chicken, Creamy and Spicy Lobster, and more in typical Groot Hospitality fashion.
Up to 185 diners can be accommodated at Gekkō throughout a lavishly designed, flawlessly integrated indoor-outdoor flow. Rockwell Group, an architecture and design firm with offices in New York City, created the interior.
Gekkō’s charisma and nocturnal ambiance are enhanced by stylistic elements, such as a unique gold and red dip-dyed rope installation, graphic wall coverings, and velvet drapes. At the same time, the air is charged by lighted cuts and bars. Gekkō is located in Miami, Florida, 33131 at 8 SE 8th Street.
