Answer key
Erba, Coconut Grove, Elastika, Walrus Rodeo, the Messi Experience, Cult Gaia, Marquesa, Key West hotels, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Farm to booth
The Skinny: After debuting as a pop-up in 2019, Erba opened last fall in permanent Coral Gables digs. Chef Niven Patel’s restaurant reimagines traditional Italian dishes with a Florida twist, incorporating classic Miami flavors and seasonal ingredients grown on his Redlands farm, Rancho Patel.
The Vibe: A giant glass chandelier, warm lighting, velvet booths, textured glass, floral wallpaper, bright pops of color — Erba doesn’t hold back on the 1980s-era design elements, yet somehow pulls them off.
The Food: Starting with a complimentary butter candle and fresh-baked focaccia, the food is showy, sure. But beneath that flare is always substantial, excellent cooking — cacio e pepe potatoes, agnolotti with Wagyu beef cheeks and Robiola Bosina, mafaldine with Bahamian conch, and (the favorite on our table) a Mishima Reserve Denver steak served with bone marrow salsa verde, black garlic, and maitake mushrooms. It’s exactly the kind of smart, fun food we’ve come to expect from Patel. There’s also a six-course pasta tasting ($45 per) offered during happy hour, 530p-630p.
The Verdict: In a city with a surplus of Italian restaurants that overpromise and underdeliver, Erba refreshingly upends the standard. –Katelin Stecz
→ Erba (Coral Gables) • 227 S Dixie Hwy • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
DESIGN FORWARD: The first phase of the Design District's historic Moore Building transformation into a boutique hotel and private members club opens this weekend with Elastika, a new restaurant helmed by Florida born, Daniel Boulud-trained chef Joe Anthony. Named for the building's famous Zaha Hadid sculpture suspended in the four-story atrium (and above the restaurant’s dining room), Elastika promises to serve "globally eclectic dishes" with ingredients sourced from local farms. The Moore also will soon be home to executive offices, retail, and a gallery space. Brace.
MIAMI RESTAURANT LINKS: Brunch favorite Morgans has relocated from Wynwood to new space in Allapattah • South Beach seafood bistro Joliet shutters after one year • NYC’s Prince Street Pizza plans permanent Miami Beach outpost for this fall • What makes a good coffee shop?
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
South by southwest
Newly signed contracts on single-family listings over $1M in Miami-Dade County were up 10% in March, bucking a 6% decline in the broader market, per Elliman. There was even more action in the condo market, where $1M+ contracts jumped 24%.
A flurry of fresh listings at the high end — 367 new seven-figure offerings came online last month, a 34% jump from last year — portends heightened sales activity ahead. Here, three even fresher options in Southwest Coconut Grove, an active corner of the luxe market (average sales price: $2.2M, per Redfin).
→ 4067 Park Ave (Coconut Grove) • 3BR/2.1BA, 1797 SF house • Ask: $2.375M • 1930s home, fully renovated in 2019 • Days on market: 6 • Agents: Jacky Denault & Alexandra Lane, Elliman.
→ 3855 Poinciana Ave (Coconut Grove, above) • 5BR/4BA, 3304 SF house • Ask: $4.395M • gated contemporary with rooftop terrace • Days on market: 17 • Agent: Matthieu Tarac, Barnes International Realty.
→ 4191 Ingraham Hwy (Coconut Grove) • 5BR/5.1BA, 4461 SF house • Ask: $4.85M • covered terrace, summer kitchen, jacuzzi, and heated pool • Days on market: 17 • Agent: Alexandra Sierra, Compass.
WORK • Thursday Routine
Hard-hat tour
JACQUELINE PIROLO • managing partner & beverage director • Macchialina
Neighborhood you live in: Miami Shores
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
First thing, I typically hit up Soul Sweat, my favorite workout studio in Miami, run by a super caring (and very fit) couple, Analys and Jorge. I get home around 10 a.m. and check my email. Macchialina, the Italian restaurant my family and I opened in Miami Beach in 2012, is undergoing a big renovation/expansion, and at 12:30 p.m. we have our weekly OAC (owner, architect, contractor) meetings. To be honest, they aren't my favorite, but overall, I’ve loved the process of getting to expand little old Macchialina while staying at the same location.
We’re close to the finish line, so we’re mostly working on the final touches, getting inspections completed, and working out the flow of the new space. It's exciting, but nerve-wracking. We have a loyal local following, and you always risk people preferring the old space. But I try to remind myself that those who truly love us will support us. You’ll never be able to please everyone.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Selecting the wines for my upcoming wine club offering. April is a heavyweight showdown, a battle of two grape titans, nebbiolo vs. sangiovese.
Any bar or restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Walrus Rodeo! I went last weekend, had the most perfect meal that I haven't stopped thinking about. What else is there to do when that happens than satisfy the craving, and go back? I love QP Tapas for their pan con tomate and boquerones with a glass of sherry. Also, Tropical Chinese. I lived in New York most of my life, so Chinese food is a weekly staple. I make the 40-minute trek all the way to South Miami to get the best Peking duck. (Pro tip: go with a group, order two ducks, one all pancakes and the other half pancakes/half moo shu.)
Any weekend getaways?
Delray Beach. My mom and my fiancé's parents both retired from New York and moved across the street from one another in Delray. Our Mom's are bff's and see each other just about every day. On the drive up, we usually call Wine Wave — one of my favorite wine shops — and ask them to curate and deliver six bottles of their favorites, including some chilled bubbles. We cook and play games. The next day we usually go for a walk at the Wakodahatchee Wetlands, a bird sanctuary, and then pick up a New Haven-style pizza from AhBeetz. On the way home we stop at The Boys supermarket for hard-to-find Italian household ingredients, then Pho 78 in Pembroke Pines.
What was your last great vacation?
Las Vegas and Utah. I got engaged at Bryce Canyon on the most beautiful trail, Peekaboo Loop. I cried at the start of the trail because I was overwhelmed by the scenery. Of course the tears didn't stop once Will popped the question. He used to live in Vegas, and I’d never been prior to meeting him. He finally convinced me to go a few years back. I hadn’t realized how much amazing hiking is available in the surrounding areas.
It's now become a yearly tradition. First, two nights in Vegas, where we hit up all the amazing dim sum spots in Chinatown (off the strip), have cocktails at the Fireside Lounge (located in the back of the Peppermill diner) and omakase at Kabuto. On the way out, we stock up on supplies — good wine (Garagiste), good grass (Planet 13), good cheese, good snacks — and then head to the desert for a few nights of unplugging before heading home. It's the perfect mix of great food, a touch of glitz and bright lights, and then a full reset in the desert.
MIAMI WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Viceroy’s first stand-alone residential tower rising in Brickell • New two-and-a-half-mile segment of The Underline has opened • Hip hop photographer Mike Miller’s exhibit debuts Friday at Art of Hip Hop • So, what happens when the boss tries ketamine?
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Join the cult
Walking into Cult Gaia, a women’s boutique newly opened in the Design District, is like visiting an exclusive, invite-only museum. The front facade is crafted out of 1,800 hand-painted blue tiles, and the first thing that draws the eye when walking in is an abstract concrete figure of a woman’s silhouette that looks like it belongs at the Guggenheim — appropriate, given the brand’s mission of creating women’s clothes that are objets d’arte. This location is the lifestyle and resortwear brand’s fourth store (after NYC, LA, and St. Barts), and a must-visit for those seeking a (potentially museum-worthy) statement piece. –Katelin Stecz
→ Shop: Cult Gaia (Design District) • 135 NE 40th St.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Fever Dream
The Messi Experience: A Dream Come True, The Hangar at Regatta Harbor (Coconut Grove), Sat @ 11a, $50 per
Celtics vs Heat, Kaseya Center (Downtown), Sat @ 6p, section 107, $301 per
Miami International Piano Festival: Albert Cano Smit, Aventura Arts & Cultural Center (Aventura), Sun @ 5p, orchestra, $55 per
GETAWAYS • Key West
The road less traveled
In Key West, it’s not hard to veer from the beaten path. Simply turn off Duval — ideally by bicycle — onto one of the side streets lined with pastel conch cottages and white gingerbread porches, shaded by palm trees and riots of fuchsia bougainvillea. As a former local who (14 years later) still can’t get over the fact that I no longer live there, whenever I visit, I crave this kind of hotel in these types of environs. No place fits that bill better than Marquesa.
On the corner of Fleming and Simonton Streets in the heart of Old Town, Marquesa epitomizes Key West architecture — tin roofs, seafoam clapboard siding, and a wrap-around white porch. Beyond the façade, a secluded courtyard under a tangle of palm fronds is home to three swimming pools. There are 44 rooms inside a complex of restored, Victorian-style cottages dating back to the 1880s. While no two rooms are the same, they’re all spacious, and all decorated in a tropical-classical manner, with wood furniture sourced from around the globe. Plenty of them have a separate seating area and patio or balcony, making for an idyllic setting for a glass of wine before dinner.
The onsite café with big picture windows overlooking the sidewalk is easily one of the island’s most elegant, and favored by locals for special occasions. On a recent Monday night stay, I caught up with an old friend about our wild youth over dinner, indulging in martinis, Marquesa’s signature she-crab soup, grilled tenderloin “Oscar'' with lump crabcake, and the grouper special. For dessert, lighter-than-air beignets with crème anglaise that would do a New Orleanian proud.
After dinner, we ambled up Duval, contemplating a nightcap. A live band blared from the backyard of Virgilio’s, which we used to frequent Martini Mondays. We were just three blocks from Marquesa, but miles apart. –Shayne Benowitz
→ Marquesa (Key West) • 600 Fleming St.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Hotels, Key West
Marquesa (Old Town), 1880s-era Victorian-style conch cottage compound with two swimming pools and sophisticated café, $662
Ocean Key Resort & Spa (Mallory Square), stylish harborfront pool, Sunset Pier tiki bar with live music, $862
Sunset Key Cottages (Sunset Key), private cottages on private island, destination restaurant for best (and most romantic) sunset views, $2,787
The Perry Hotel & Marina (Stock Island), high design, off-the-beaten path on 220-slip marina with pool and schlep-worthy restaurants, $601
Casa Marina (Casa Marina), 1920s-era Mediterranean Revival opulence by oil tycoon Henry Flagler, formal poolscape on private beach, $875
The Marker (Historic Seaport, above), Key West vernacular architecture in rare new build property with three courtyard pools, $790
Opal Key Resort & Marina (Mallory Square), Harborfront stalwart with prime sunset views, rooftop bar, courtyard swimming pool, $749
Key West Historic Inns (Old Town), five historic inns across Old Town, each with lush courtyard swimming pool, $376-$418
The Mansion on the Sea (Southernmost Point), zany seafoam green and conch shell pink Victorian mansion with sublime oceanfront zero-entry infinity pool, $614
All rooms king, mid-June. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundmiami.com.
GETAWAYS LINKS: First renderings revealed for Renzo Piano-designed Center for Art and Innovation in Boca Raton • Luxury hotel boom set to transform once-sleepy Nosara • The freshest new tailors in London • Condé Nast Traveler’s 2024 Hot List.
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