MIAMI BEACH, Florida, USA (AP) – “New York chef Mario Carbone managed to transfer his aura to Miami, where it is almost impossible to get reservations at his new Italian restaurant.
The old-fashioned venue offers classics like spicy rigatoni and homemade veal with Parmesan and mozzarella, hand-sliced on banquet tables. The lounges have a 1950s feel, with Murano-style glass chandeliers and terracotta curtains.
Carbone opened its new location in January and has daily waiting lists with more than 3,000 names. Beyoncé and Jay-Z dined in an outdoor corner, as did David Beckam and Victoria.
The restaurant was the first Miami branch opened by the Major Food Group, which has 10 New York restaurants, two James Beard Award nominations for Best Restaurant and three Michelin stars. ZZ’s, an elegant oyster restaurant with a section reserved for its members, opened its doors in the exclusive Miami Beach district and plans three more restaurants in the city.
ZZs joined a growing list of upscale New York restaurants settling in Florida, a trend accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Many carry Michelin stars and James Beard awards with them.
Patis, the iconic French bistro that debuted in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, will open a location next year. “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto expanded his empire last year with a ramen restaurant in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, where he also opened a James Beard Award-nominated Michelin-star Korean steakhouse Cote. . Across town, Chopped TV judge Marcus Samuellson, owner of Red Rooster in Harlem, opened a store in the Overtown neighborhood. While Azabu, another New York restaurant that settled in Miami, offers a half-hidden sushi bar with Tokyo-trained chefs.
The fame of South Beach and the New Yorkers who spend some of their time in Miami aren’t the only things that drew these restaurants to this palm-filled paradise. The Republican governor of Florida allowed restaurants to continue operating normally, at full capacity and without the mandatory use of masks, during the pandemic, while other states had to close or impose strong restrictions.
The Major Food Group already planned to open a Carbone store before the arrival of COVID-19, but decided to go even further and moved its headquarters to Miami.
“When we realized that this market was going to be the most business-friendly, the most open market in the United States, we quickly mobilized, dispatched as many people as possible, and started working at full steam,” Carbone said.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Super Bowl focused attention on Miami and Albert Garcia, president of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, was responding to calls from investors interested in that popular sector for its restaurants and mural buildings. The pandemic put everything on hold for a few months and made many New Yorkers decide to endure quarantines in South Florida.
In June Garcia’s phone started ringing again. They were calls from restaurant owners who wanted to settle there.
Periodically the newspapers announce with big headlines the opening of another New York restaurant in Miami, or at least plans to open one.
“Everyone is very excited about this market,” Garcia said.
COVID delayed the opening of Morimoto’s exclusive Momosan ramen restaurant in Wynwood. But the location was ideal during the pandemic as it has a large outdoor patio. Morimoto said that from now on all his stores will have outdoor spaces.
Michael White, the chef behind Marea and Ai Fiori, two Michelin-starred New York restaurants, opened Ostería Moreno in Miami in January. He highlighted the migration of suppliers such as Dairyland USA, Pat Le Frieda’s meats and the daily arrival of different varieties of tuna.
“Our vendors, who are part of the New York dining experience, now also come to Miami,” said White, who participated this week in the South Beach Food and Wine Festival along with Morimoto, Carbone and Samuelsson.
Several restaurant managers, cooks, and other staff also came to Miami. “There is a lot of talent here now. There has been a mass exodus from New York, “said White.
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