Opening
At The Palms Hotel & Spa, Essensia Restaurant & Lounge, which opened on Mother's Day, offers two Miami Beach rarities: healthy gourmet spa cuisine (with an emphasis on sustainable seafood, hormone-free meats, organically-grown produce, and ingredients that allegedly detoxify), and free valet parking with dinner. Essensia Restaurant & Lounge, 3025 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33140, 305-908-5458.
Philadelphia restaurant mogul Stephen Starr (Buddakan, Morimoto and roughly a dozen-and-a-half more) has just opened his first South Florida restaurant, oceanfront Steak 954, in the new W Fort Lauderdale. Executive chef Jason Smith (formerly of Table 8 South Beach) is head honcho at the upscale steakhouse, which serves dinner nightly plus weekday lunch and Sunday brunch. Steak 954, 401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304, 954-414-8333.
Dueling pianists who can out-flash Liberace, playing requests; an eclectic menu of international greatest hits; and diners singing with their mouths full: that's the formula at Crazy Pianos, a Netherlands-based resto-lounge whose first U.S. outpost just opened at Cocowalk. Crazy Pianos, 3015 Grand Ave., Coconut Grove, FL 33133, 305-567-2462.
On the 15th floor of the luxe new Viceroy Miami resort hotel, just-opened Eos ("new dawn" in Greek) presents a new concept from celebrity restaurateur Donatella Arpeia and young chef Michael Psilakis of contemporary Greek restaurant Anthos in NYC. In deference to Miami's large Latin population, Psilakis' typically elegant inventions (mostly small plates) at Eos demonstrate strong South American and Spanish, as well as Italian and Greek, influences. Eos, 485 Brickell Ave., Miami, Florida 33131, 305-503-4400.
News Bytes
Norman Van Aken Back in Action
It's true: Chef Norman Van Aken, who closed his famed Norman's in Coral Gables and moved to Key West to open Tavern N Town in the Spottswood-developed Beachside Resort (since December a Marriott) is opening a new restaurant back in the Gables. While Van Aken's association with Tavern N Town terminated just a few months after opening---the originally cutting-edge restaurant is now a simple steak/fish house---Robert Spottswood's press release at the time (stating, "Our parting is amicable, and Norman is remaining on as a consulting chef for Spottswood Hotels") evidently was not mere mealy-mouthed corporate booshwa. The location of the new Norman's 180, which the chef says he hopes to have open by November, is in the Colonnade Hotel (at 180 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables), also a Spottswood property.
Bottleshock at The Setai
Diners at The Restaurant at The Setai can enjoy the nightly promotion "Bottleshock at The Setai." Executive chef Jonathan Wright's three-course prix-fixe dinner menu is available for $45 per person, and wines from a special cellar list are discounted by 40%. When making reservations, mention "BottleShock at The Setai" for the chance to receive a complimentary dinner with wine pairings for two. The Restaurant at The Setai, The Setai, 2001 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139, 305-520-6000.
Chef
Shuffle
Alex Pinero, formerly from South Beach's Casa Tua, is now chef de cuisine at the casual-chic Design District Italian café Fratelli Lyon in the Design District. He replaces original chef Brian Morales. Fratelli Lyon, Driade Miami, 4141 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33137, 305-572-2901.
Now you see him, now you don't: Following an ultra-short stint at Abokado in Mary Brickell Village (which followed short stints at 1 Bleu, Café Sambal, Karu and Y, and Mundo), Miami's most migrating chef Gerdy Rodriguez has been named head honcho de cuisine at MIA. The mammoth (14,000 square feet) dining/entertainment complex, scheduled to open later this summer in downtown Miami, promises a menu mixing tradition with thermo-whipped food foams.
Chef Michael Gilligan has left his position as executive chef at the Brickell area's Conrad Miami (including top-end restaurant Atrio) to serve as executive chef at the new W South Beach hotel. As well as overseeing banquets, in-room dining, and other general hotel food operations, Gilligan will be top toque at the hotel's Mediterranean restaurant Solea. (An outpost of Mr. Chow, scheduled to open soon in the W, will be under separate culinary management.) W South Beach, 2201 Collins Ave., Miami, FL 33139, 305-938-3000.
Closings
Kobe Club in South Beach has closed, but China Grill Management's product development director Terry Zarikian says that the closing's temporary. The restaurant will re-open in August, in time for Miami Spice. Kobe Club, 404 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, FL 33139, 305-673-5370.
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