5 Reasons Why Miami Is NYC's Sixth Borough
By Rebecca Kleinman. Photos by: Getty Images and courtesy of venues.
They don’t refer to Miami as New York’s sixth borough for nothing. Besides Amy Sacco and Susanne Bartsch being up to their old tricks at Faena Hotel and El Tucán, respectively, and Sullivan Street Bakery opening soon, the uncanny connection encompasses many restaurants. Here are five new imports, with dashing design to boot.
Blue Ribbon Sushi tapped its go-to architecture firm, Asfour Guzy, for its Florida foray in the Plymouth boutique hotel. The sushi bar’s glazed tiles by Wa-kei glisten like iridescent fish scales, while white fabric light pendants reference Japanese tatami rooms. “The afromosia woodwork was hand-crafted, as is the food,” said architect Edward Asfour.
Chef Richard Ampudia of New York's Café Habana, Bar Bruno, and La Esquina fame named Lolo’s Surf Cantina, in the Marriott Stanton South Beach, after his nana. “He wanted it to feel like his grandmother’s house in Mexico,” said Andrew Deibel, an associate with Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, of mismatched vintage chairs, pink and green floor tiles, and a rather flamboyant matador painting.
Upland, whose original outpost is near Madison Square Park in Manhattan, brought its sunny disposition in the form of preserved lemons to the South of Fifth neighborhood. Roman and Williams’s field-fresh palette and warm wood and copper further stand out in the sea of stark towers. "We opted for Iroko instead of the Manhattan restaurant’s oak to complement Miami's temperature and added double hung windows to feel the warm breeze inside," said Roman and Williams cofounder Robin Standefer.
The Smile, with a few New York locations, sprouted down south as OTL, short for Out To Lunch, an apt double entendre for the creative-minded Miami Design District. Locally based Deft Union’s daydream-y pastels and rustic plywood furniture encourage a playful mood. “You don’t find a lot of exposed brick in Miami,” said the firm’s creative director Michael Dolatowski, of a complete departure from its northern sister.
Employees Only’s Art Deco prototype, on Hudson Street in the West Village, made its South Beach expansion all the smoother. The retro speakeasy also has a penchant for historic buildings and scored with one of the last remaining coral-rock bungalows. “People thought we were crazy to cover the windows,” said Shana Hoffman, designer and partner for the Miami branch. “But the best compliment we can receive is, 'This feels just like New York.’”
More: The 30 Best NYC Architectural Landmarks to Visit
This story originally appeared on Architectural Digest.
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