Coral Gables Magazine October 2018

THE MAGAZINE

WORLD PREMIERE!

BEHIND THE SCENES OF HAVANA MUSIC HALL

OCTOBER 2018

Barbara Stein, executive director of Actors’ Playhouse, and Richard Kagan, creator and composer of Havana Music Hall

ALTHEA ROW

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The Greening of the Gables

Reducing our carbon footprint, curtailing traffic, fighting sea level rise, banning Styrofoam and plastic-bags, going electric with the city’s car fleet: It all adds up to a city that is preparing for the eco-compromised future.

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Broadway Bound

The Making of Havana Music Hall: Inside the Actors’ Playhouse production of Richard Kagan’s musical of love, hope and redemption. Above photo: World class musicians in rehearsals at the Playhouse on Miracle Mile.

To Protect and Grow

Coral Gables is the perfect place for wealth managers to practice the art and science of protecting and growing their clients’ portfolios. A look at some of the local firms and their philosophies on asset management.

Barbara Stein, Executive Director of Actors’ Playhouse

Where else but Miami would you do this? It’s a Cuban story, but it’s also a story about immigration, which is profound for our community...

SMALL ENOUGH TO BE PERSONAL LARGE ENOUGH TO BE GLOBAL

OUR BOUTIQUE FIRM IS READY TO EXPERTLY HANDLE THE COMPLEXITIES OF MIAMI’S LUXURY PROPERTY MARKET WITH PERSONALIZED SERVICE AND BRILLIANT RESULTS.

Pictured from left to right: PATTI CECCHERINI, CARLA OLIVARES, BLAIR SONVILLE, LILIANA QUINTERO-SIDERIS, BEATRIZ CARDONA, LANI KAHN DRODY, JOHANNA ROLDAN, LAUREN BILLINGSLEA DOWLEN, JJ SNOW HANSEN, CARRIE FOOTE, SUZANNE SANTOS

Editor’s Note

This month we’re not running our usual fullpage Editor’s Note. The reason is that we decided to run our readers’ letters full length, so had to cut my space here (see Letters to the Editor). My reaction? Please keep them coming. We value your input tremendously, even (and perhaps especially) when it is critical. Please send your comments to letters@thecoralgablesmagazine.com, plus any story ideas to editor@thecoralgablesmagazine.com

On another note – no pun intended – we cannot express enough enthusiasm for the upcoming Havana Music Hall extravaganza at the Actors’

Playhouse. Our personal thanks and appreciation goes out to Richard Kagan, the man who conceived of the musical and wrote its score.

Our thanks also to his director Maria Torres, for convincing him to stage it in Coral Gables. And our thanks to Barbara Stein, who has kept the playhouse going for 30 years. That’s all I have to say –and all that can fit – except I implore you to see the production. You won’t be disappointed.

J.P.Faber Editor-in-Chief

PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P.Faber

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amy Donner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Toni Kirkland

VP SALES DIRECTOR

Sherry Adams

SALES EXECUTIVE

Gloria Glanz

SENIOR WRITER

Doreen Hemlock

STAFF WRITER

Lizzie Wilcox

WRITERS

Karen F. Buchsbaum

Mike Clary

Kimberly Rodriguez

Cyn. Zarco

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jonathan Dann

Cyn. Zarco

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dennis Nason

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

Coral Gables Magazine is published monthly by City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. Telephone: (786) 206.8254. Copyright 2018 by City Regional Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photograph or illustration without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Send address changes to City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. General mailbox email and letters to editor@thecoralgablesmagazine.com. BPA International Membership applied for March 2018. thecoralgablesmagazine.com

thecoralgablesmagazine.com

On the cover: Barbara Stein, executive director of Actor’s Playhouse, and Richard Kagan, creator and composer of Havana Music Hall, on the stage set. Photograph by Jon Braeley

BY SOUTH FLORIDA’S REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY

Readers Letters

Each month we will print letters that we receive from our readers. We encourage any and all commentary, including compliments as well as criticism, and of course comments about our community.

If you are interested in writing to us with your opinions, thoughts or suggestions, please send them to: letters@thecoralgablesmagazine.com

Don’t Forget Public School

I read your “Guide to Private Schools” in the September 2018 magazine. The author wrote, “Attending private school has become the norm in Coral Gables” and “you want to send your child to the best school you can afford, which might mean to a private school.” I am proud to say that I work for an excellent public school in Coral Gables. 90 perecent of children in the United States are educated in public schools. It is time to support the public schools and celebrate top quality schools. I hope that Coral Gables magazine recognizes that there are many families who attend public school in Coral Gables… I look forward to seeing a “Guide to Schools” which includes public and private in a future edition of Coral Gables Magazine.

Laurenne Moreland

Editor’s Note: Point well taken, Laurenne. We will make it a point to better cover our fine public schools – though we have profiled two Coral Gables High students in our first and third issues.

Re-Open the Umbrellas

As a citizen of Coral Gables, I love the umbrellas and would like to see a permanent installation. This is not a commentary on whether I think business will plummet on Giralda if they are taken down. I simply think the space is more attractive with the umbrellas. Frankly, the space is too wide and empty in the middle, gets entirely too much sun no matter what time of the year, and is a better space with a colorful cover. It also provides protection from the rain that we get on almost a daily basis for about 8 months of the year. I am not opposed to other ideas but would flags, balloons, or kites provide any rain or sun protection? If not, stick with umbrellas. As for white canvas, it would provide shade but traps heat and white would be incred-

ibly boring. Hopefully the thousands of people who visited Giralda this summer will come back in the fall for dinner, with or without umbrellas.

Bonnie Seipp

Editor’s Note: The city has promised something new and exciting to replace the umbrellas, so we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully the umbrellas will have won a permanent new audience for the street.

Scooter Worries

In your recent issue, there is an article entitled “To Scoot or Not to Scoot” that describes the trial program testing scooters with a 15 mph max speed in downtown Coral Gables until the end of November 2018. Your article said that “In the first 30 days of testing 75 scooters in August, no complaints or accidents so far.” I live on Biltmore Way, three blocks from Miracle Mile, and frequently walk along it and the neighboring streets. I’m age 76 and my walking is not as stable as it used to be, so it is disturbing to me that any type of vehicle, bike or scooter, would be permitted in the downtown core as pedestrian traffic is increasing. It is a difficult problem for the city -- how to strike a balance between pedestrian safety while encouraging people to visit downtown without using cars. FreeBee service is a wonderful addition to the transportation mix, but bikes and motorized scooters using pedestrian walkways is a bad idea. I believe that bikes and motorized scooters are not allowed to be ridden on Giralda Plaza or Miracle Mile and that is to preserve these areas for walkers. However, there are no City employees to enforce those rules. Scooters

in use and bikers are frequently riding on the Miracle Mile sidewalk. Either enforce the rules or get rid of the scooters.

Robert Petzinger

Editor’s Note: We rode the scooters and they were huge fun, but if you had been in the way I would have knocked you flat. Our understanding is that the city is reducing the top speed.

Keep the Ceiling

Some thoughts about your latest Edition of Coral Gables Magazine. 1) Your fold-out cover was an eye-catcher and certainly novel for local magazines in this area of the world. 2) The Slesnick family was thrilled with the Umbrellas Sky exhibit and the positive impact it had on Giralda Plaza. However, the City’s attendance figures were very much exaggerated to the point of being “fake news.” As to the future: now that so much money has been expended on the metal supports erected to secure the umbrellas against the elements – the idea of attaching flowing sail cloth (possibly of different colors) has merit. The two main attractions of such an installation are the novelty of a “ceiling” in an otherwise open space and the protection provided from the sun. 3) Thanks for the feature article highlighting the historic preservation work of Mike Steffens – a preservationist not by word and political battles, but by deeds.  Bravo!

Don Slesnick

Editor’s Note: We wish that the metal supports would remain in place. But apparently they were leased and must come down, just as have the umbrellas.

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A Shift at the Top

CORAL GABLES PROMOTES A NEW CITY MANAGER

September marked a major transition for the city leadership, as Coral Gables City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark resigned and was replaced by Assistant City Manager Peter Iglesias.

Iglesias, who joined the city two years ago as Assistant City Manager for Operations & Infrastructure, has been responsible for a long list of public services and works, including the Streetscape project completed earlier this year. He has a strong background in managing civic and engineering projects; he previously served as Senior Director of Building, Planning and Zoning for the city of Miami, with oversight of IT Integration.

All of this will serve him well as he takes the helm for running a city with a $195 million annual operating budget, 1,100 full- and part-time employees, and a five-year $220 million capital plan. Among his first challenges will be the construction of a massive new city safety building to house the police and fire department.

Iglesias has big shoes to fill, namely those of his immediate past boss and mentor, Swanson-Rivenbark, who resigned on Sept. 10 following disputes with the city commission regarding oversight of the Police Department. In this context, her resignation is somewhat ironic, since during her four years as City Manager she directed an increase in the size of the police force and its IT capacity, leading to a sharp drop in crime (residential burglary down 59 percent, and vehicle burglary down 29 percent).

Also under Swanson-Rivenbark’s tenure, the city’s finances were tightly run – Moody’s, Standard & Poors, and Fitch all gave the city’s bonds AAA ratings, making Coral Gables one of only three cities in Florida to earn that distinction. She enhanced employee benefits, increased city green space, implemented a tree succession plan, upgraded the city’s IT capacities, and strengthened the transparency of the city’s procurement processes. In her previous role as the city’s Development Director, she pushed through deals that created the Village of Merrick Park, restored the Miracle Theater, and established the Art Cinema.

“I have given full measure to my duties and responsibilities,” Swanson-Rivenbark wrote in her resignation letter, but “It is not my intention to cause further distraction as there is much work to be done in governing this great city.”

As for Iglesias, “I find it a privilege to be the City Manager in the city that I grew up in and where I attended the university,” he told Coral Gables magazine. As for priorities, he says, those include the large capital improvements of the Public Safety Building, a new fire station and a new parking garage – and “working toward our renewal of the downtown by the incorporation of our successful Streetscape project.”

Says Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli, “He is experienced, he has been with us several years, and he can be a wonderful city manager.”

Top: New City Manager Peter Iglesias examines plans for Public Safety Building

Above: Outgoing City Manager Cathy Swanson-Rivenbark, flanked by Finance Director Diana M. Gomez and Assistant Finance Director Keith R. Kleiman

I find it a privilege to be the City Manager in the city that I grew up in and where I attended the university...

Peter Iglesias City Manager

The New FiscalYear

THE MAYOR’S STATE OF THE CITY: GOOD MARKS IN MONEY AND CRIME

Much like the return of students to class, fall marks the psychological beginning of the new year for Coral Gables. That’s because Oct. 1 marks the beginning of a new fiscal year for the city, and includes both a new city budget and the mayor’s annual address to the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce on what to applaud from the previous year and what to hope for in the coming year.

In terms of the budget, this year’s $196.7 million is a net decrease of $50.3 million, or 20.4 percent, from last year. Most of that savings comes from a $53 million decrease in capital improvement projects.

In terms of the operating expenses for ongoing services, those climbed just .3 percent, or $458,860, the smallest increase in years. While salaries grew by $1.3 million, and pensions by $1.2 million, these were offset by less money spent on debt, employee payouts, fleet equipment, and worker’s comp.

“What I want for the coming year,” Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli (right) told Coral Gables magazine, “is to achieve continuity. We are doing great financially and in terms of crime. I want to emphasize the quality of life, the cultural opportunities, and security in schools. I want to make it a more alive city!”

To Serve and Observe

THE CITY EXPANDS ITS WI-FI FOOTPRINT

Since 2013, Coral Gables has been installing free Wi-Fi. It began with public buildings, like City Hall, and has since slowly spread across the city. The network became available on Giralda Plaza in April, and on Miracle Mile in June.

“The goal is to come up with more communications in public areas,” says Raimundo Rodulfo, Director of Information Technology, serving businesses, visitors, students –anyone who uses the Internet.

But the Wi-Fi doesn’t

merely provide internet access.

“Before it was just like a hotspot,” Rodulfo says. “Today this technology comes with sensors, with analytics, it tells you density of visitors… it gives you live data that you can connect to your systems, so it has a lot of intelligence.”

What’s helping the city’s IT Department has been a sharp drop in cost. A few years ago, the project would have cost millions of dollars, says Rodulfo. So far, the city has spent less than $300,000.

Mayor photo by Cyn. Zarco

Not on My Ticket

A GABLES FIRM WRESTLES WITH THE FLORIDA BAR

It’s a Croc

To water it down, Coral Gables-based TIKD is essentially an Uber for lawyers. Drivers who receive a ticket can upload it onto the app. They pay a flat rate and are assigned a lawyer to fight the ticket. TIKD makes a profit when the attorney’s fees are lower than the flat rate. If it costs more, the company eats the loss. If the case is lost, the driver receives a TIKD refund.

TIKD used to operate in 18 counties in Florida. Now they are only in four: MiamiDade, Broward and two near Tampa. “We’re still operating, still providing services in Florida, but on a dramatically reduced scale,” says Chris Riley, CEO of TIKD.

The reason: The Florida

Bar is threatening members who work with them, and the Ticket Clinic, which is staffed by lawyers, filed a lawsuit against TIKD for engaging in the “unlicensed practice of law.” Last November, Riley filed a federal anti-trust suit against the Florida Bar for $11.5 million in damages. Last month, he jumped that to a $20 million suit based on lost revenue. Despite the lawsuit, TIKD is still growing outside of Florida. They now operate in four other states and 10 major metropolitan areas, where they have faced no legal issues. “It says a lot about how the Florida Bar does business,” Riley says. The case is set for the end of November.

–– Lizzie Wilcox

Visiting golfers at Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club don’t think their round is complete unless they’ve had a sighting. Of a crocodile, that is, because it’s a favorite spot for the reptiles; since the Coral Gables Waterway is the northern boundary of the Biscayne Bay Estuary, and canals and shorelines are their favorite habitats, it is no surprise to find crocs in the area. They have been spotted sunning on golf fairways, swimming in neighborhood canals and lagoons, and visiting the UM campus.

The American crocodile was first documented on Biscayne Bay in 1869. In 1926, the Coral Gables commission voted to update their city seal with the head of a crocodile in one quadrant. (In today’s seal, it’s been replaced by a pelican.)

American crocs grow to between seven and 15 feet, and

weigh up to 450 lbs. Unlike alligators, they are grayish-green in color, not black. They also have a more tapered snout, with a fourth tooth that sticks out when their mouth is closed. When the mouth is open, by the way, the croc is not inviting a meal to drop in, but just adjusting body temperature.

Rest assured that our local crocs are consistently studied and many are tagged and monitored. It’s hard to pin down an exact population number. One study published in 2011 documented sightings of more than 600 crocs in the Biscayne Bay Estuary.

If you see a crocodile (or alligator) keep a safe distance away. If you have a problem call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1.866.392.4286.

–– Karen Buchsbaum

FORGET GATORS. CORAL GABLES IS HOME TO A SIZABLE POPULATION OF AMERICAN CROCODILES

Croc photo by Don Elliott

Shop p20

Where the Kids Are Flower Power

TREND BOUTIQUE

FILLS A CRITICAL FASHION NICHE FOR PREAND YOUNG TEENS – AND THEIR MOMS

By Kim Rodriguez

Photos by Lizzie Wilcox

Styles modeled by Georgia Walter

If you haven’t been to Trend Boutique, situated strategically next to that Coral Gables institution, Chocolate Fashion, you must pop in. It can be a one-stop shopping experience for the busy mom with kids in tow. Trend features clothing for the often neglected “tween” and young teenager market, as well as offering options for mom. It can be a lifesaver: a small boutique where you can shop for the family and enjoy a very personal experience with owner Ana Mari Fuertes.

Fuertes opened Trend in 2016, and I believe it will be a mainstay in Coral Gables because she has created a boutique that caters to a forgotten niche – and knows what she is doing. Fuertes was born and raised in Puerto Rico, schooled at Boston College in business and then at UM in art and photography. She learned how to envision, create and then market a business, opening two women’s stores in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic after graduating UM. But it wasn’t until she became a mom of two girls that she set her sights on a new venture.

“Every time the girls needed clothes I would have the hardest time shopping for them,” says Fuertes. “I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t I just open a boutique where girls could find trendy, unique and

age-appropriate clothing and accessories at affordable prices?’” And so, Trend was born. She decided on Coral Gables because, “It’s a city in constant growth with a great sense of community involvement.”

Trend caters to the female tween and young teenager, with a bit of young boys mixed in, offering affordable brands in apparel, accessories, and shoes. They have a little of everything to complete outfits for their clientele, mom included. Some of their more popular brands for the younger set include Vintage Havana, Mayoral, Rails and Habitual. For adult sizes, they carry JOA, Moon River, Two Sisters, Hudson, AG, Pistola and BlankNYC. Prices range from $18 to $130, and they receive new merchandise every week.

“Trendsetters, as we call our clients, are all those girls and women who are looking to express their individuality through fashion,” says Fuertes. “They want to be trendy and comfortable at the same time.” So, calling all trendsetters: You can look forward to a lot of animal prints, camo and sparkles for this fall at Trend, where the attention is one-on-one, without the hard sell.

Kim Rodriguez is a Personal Stylist and Shopper whose clients include many Coral Gables residents. Krpersonalstyle.com

Trendsetters, as we call our clients, are all those girls and women who are looking to express their individuality through fashion...

Owner, Ana Mari Fuentes

was running late on a Wednesday night, desperate to buy flowers for my wedding anniversary. Someone told me where to find an outdoor stand; I sped down Alcazar toward Le Jeune but jammed on my breaks when I passed a store called Belle Fleur. It was after closing time but the door was still open. Inside it was densely packed with bouquets, blooms, vases and cascades of flowers, heavy with a delicious aroma.

Owner Mario Fernandez – along with his Australian Shephard Choco – greeted me. He was not perturbed that had I burst in after closing. He was ready to save me. He’d been working on some floral arrangements in the back, but quickly put together a colorful bouquet for me – allowing me to join the 40 percent of

Americans who, according to researchers, say florists have helped them in a relationship.

Belle Fleur has now been opened for 20 years. After moving to Miami from Nebraska when he was 12, Fernandez (right) got into the floral design business “at the bottom” by making deliveries for a woman at church who owned a flower shop. He worked at several other shops before opening his own on Alcazar Ave. “It’s the center of Miami and it’s the nicest part of Miami,” Fernandez says on why he chose the Gables. It is also a city with disposable incomes, which means he works long hours because the shop is always booked. No matter, he says. “I just love flowers, this is playing for me,” he says.

–– James Broida

Another home fit for a celebrity in Islands of Cocoplum, on an oversized lot on wide Lago Maggiore. Fully redeveloped with a custom, contemporary redesign by Ramon Pacheco, maximizing wide water views. Gated entrance motorcourt with cement pavers, landscaping, water features, brise soleil trellis and slate garden wall. Living and entertainment areas enjoy views of pool patio and Lago Maggiore. Enjoy a gas heated, salt system lap pool and spa, 119 of waterfront, one bridge (21 ft. clearance as per Coral Gables City Map) to Bay.

Islands of Cocoplum features; a guard gated entrance and roaming patrol, manicured parkways, club house with heated pool and swimming lanes, playground, basketball courts, gym and exercise room, party rooms, 8 lighted HydroCourt clay tennis courts, beach volleyball court, mandatory HOA $35,000 application fee and $1,200 quarterly.

Shelton and Stewart Realtors, LLC - Luxury Real Estate 6301 Sunset Drive, Suite 202, South Miami, FL 33143 Office: 305.666.0669 I Fax: 305.666.6674

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7222 Monaco St. Cocoplum, Coral Gables Split lever built in 1997. High ceilings, 3 car garage

8000 Los Pinos Blvd. Cocoplum, Coral Gables Classic Palladian arch. with today’s lifestyle amenities!

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753 Majorca Avenue, Coral Gables Two storey remod. home! Also for Rent $11,500/mo.. 5/5/1 | 4,018 sf. | 10,890 sf. lot | $1,895,000

Cocoplum offers a guard gated entrance, Coral Gables police patrol, and voluntary HOA tennis courts

Bites

Where the College Crowd Chows Down

Gables’ Unique Vegan

ON A STREET WHERE PORK AND BEEF IS A STAPLE, VEGANAROMA STANDS OUT. IN A GOOD WAY.

By Doreen Hemlock

When her mother died of cancer in 2006, fashion designer Sabina Torrieri wondered why doctors hadn’t delved more into what her mom had been eating and suggested changes. By then, Torrieri had been a vegetarian for years, but she decided to study nutrition at school to try to avert cancer herself and help others stay healthy, too.

The result: Coral Gables’ only vegan restaurant, VeganAroma Organic Cafe, where nothing on the menu comes from animals. That means not only no meats but also no eggs or dairy products. The “cheese” on the lasagna, for example, is made from nuts. Creamy smoothies use coconut milk.

Torrieri opened her cozy cafe nine years ago on SW 8th Street in an area known for Cuban restaurants specializing in pork and beef. She initially sold only raw – not cooked –vegan meals, calling her 14-seat café La Vie en Raw, a name suggested by her first chef. But that format proved “very utopian,” she says, with a smile. “How can you open a raw food place on Calle Ocho?”

Since 2013, she’s adopted the current menu that also features cooked dishes, many based on foods from her native Italy, such as minestrone soup in marinara broth and pizza served gluten- and yeast-free on a crispy, brown-rice tortilla.

Torrieri says she chose Coral Gables for the venture,

partly because she wanted a place where she could concentrate on lunch for nearby office workers. Today, she counts among her best customers engineers from India who work down the block at MasTec, the infrastructure builder. She also attracts travelers heading in and out of Miami International Airport and students from the University of Miami. Top-selling dishes include ravioli, halfraw and half-cooked, made with nut-cheese between steamed, sweet potatoes on a bed of raw marinara and topped with homemade pesto, for $14.

Among frequent customers is Ricardo Martins, 39, a Brazilian who works at the nearby Latin American headquarters of Movado watches. He enjoys soup and an empanada for lunch at the peaceful locale away from the office hubbub. He likes vegan fare for multiple reasons: He prefers not to kill animals for food, feels lighter and better without eating meat and dairy, and “it helps the environment,” says Martins. What’s more, he finds VeganAroma meals tasty and “so fresh you feel like home.”

Torrieri said she became vegan after studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, because she felt meals without dairy were easier to digest and left her feeling more energized. Bottom line, says the Italian entrepreneur remembering her mother fondly: “It’s healthier.”

Owner Sabina Torrieri opened her cozy cafe nine years ago on SW 8th Street in an area known for Cuban restaurants specializing in pork and beef.

PRESTIGIOUS SOUTH GABLES ESTATE

5901 Maynada St, Coral Gables 33146

4 BEDROOMS | 2 MASTER SUITES | 3 BATHS | 4,013 SF | 2-CAR GARAGE

Overlooking the Biltmore Golf Course, this inspiring gated residence is sure to amaze you with its masterfully planned living spaces. Built in 1924 and situated on nearly an acre, Spanish influence is found throughout. Volume ceilings, renaissance-style double doors and stunning hardwood floors enhance the residence’s appeal. The interior boasts a grand formal living room with 20 foot coffered wood ceilings, formal dining room, library, sun porches, antique lighting fixtures, 3 fireplaces and a modern kitchen featuring top appliances. The split floor plan offers a private wing for residents, and a guest suite in the north wing. The estate has not changed hands in 75 years, offering a rare opportunity to purchase one of Coral Gables’ original gems.

This lovely home, located in the heart of Coral Gables, is the perfect blend of contemporary architecture and modern updates. It features 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Two master suites, one is upstairs, the ultimate private refuge. The second master suite is downstairs. Some recent upgrades include recessed lighting, new impact windows and doors, interior paint. Fantastic natural light, beautiful marble floors, plentiful storage. Grand formal entertaining areas overlook a lagoon-style pool & private spa. Expansive kitchen and family room with center island, oversized wine chiller, built-in entertainment center and separate desk provide many areas for family gathering. This elegant home sits on a lush, walled, corner lot, filled with a mixture of majestic oaks and mature fruit trees. Perfect central location. 2 car garage. Call today for a private appointment.

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The Happiest Hour

SO LONG AS WE’RE IN THE UM HOOD: NO ICEBERGS AHEAD

A Different Kind of Snack

We’re all familiar with the standard bar snacks of peanuts and pretzels. Now Doc B’s on Miracle Mile takes that salty concept to another level, with complimentary candied

bacon at the bar. Yes, the saltiness makes you want to drink more (that’s the idea). But who can resist? Okay, you vegetarians out there. But for the rest of us, impossible.

What You See is What You

Get

The only brewery in Coral Gables, Titanic prides itself on being a neighborhood pub. Owner Kevin Rusk, who used to work at Tobacco Road in Brickell, bought two properties in 1997: A dry cleaners and an Italian Restaurant. Two years later, Titanic opened its doors on Ponce de Leon near the University of Miami.

From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the pub serves house beers for $4 and house wines and well

drinks for $5. But one drink clearly steals the show. “People come here for the beer,” Rusk says, who describes his restaurant as a “brew pub,” or a pub that makes its own beer.

Plaques and trophies from beer festivals festoon the walls, testifying to the quality of their craft beer. Rusk explains that the “grain to glass” process can take anywhere from 18 days for lighter beers to as long as a month for IPAs.

At Graziano’s Gourmet market place on Galiano Street you can get artisanal goods, wines and takeout treats. And with perfect transparency,

you can order dinner from a glass case. Pay at the register, take a number, take a seat and await your cooked meal. No surprises here.

CHEAP EATS AROUND THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

Where the College Crowd Chows Down

By Lizzie Wilcox

Going to college in Coral Gables is, well, expensive. Between tuition, rent and bottomless appetites, it adds up. Whether you’re sick of the UM dining hall or didn’t have time to go to Publix while juggling exams, papers, presentations and, of course, tailgates, you don’t want a meal that breaks the bank. Luckily, restaurant owners realize that college students are balling on a budget and strategically located themselves around campus.

SHAKE SHACK

Convenient for the ‘Canes who don’t have cars on campus, this burger chain is walking distance from the freshman dorms. There is even a mushroom burger for your roommate who wants to give the whole vegetarian thing a try now that she’s not eating her mother’s cooking every night. The walk back is enjoyable –and needed – when you feel

bloated from all the cheese fries. The Shack Burgers are also to die for ($5.69 for a single, $8.49 for a double) but won’t kill your allowance. 1450

S. Dixie Hwy.

MIAMI’S BEST PIZZA

A pizza joint so good even the swarms of New Yorkers who attend UM can shut up about being excited to go home and have a real slice of pizza. Right past the Mark Light Field on Ponce, MBP is everything you could ever want out of a pizza place: quick, cheap and delicious. Prices vary based on size of the pie and toppings, but a 14-inch cheese pizza pie goes for $14.50. Mama mia! 5833

Ponce de Leon Blvd.

BAGEL EMPORIUM

A mix of a diner and deli, students get a big bang for their buck right across from campus. For starters, their standard omelet is made with four eggs.

It comes with a side of fruit or potatoes (and the obvious choice here is potatoes) AND a choice of toast or a bagel. Isn’t a bagel a meal in itself? Allot yourself plenty of time to devour the large portions and clear your calendar for the rest of the day so you can lay on your couch – or futon – until the food baby goes away. Whether you’re hangry or hungover, Bagel Empo is always a good idea. $9.99 for a four-egg cheese omelet with all the fix-ins. 1238 S. Dixie Hwy.

APOKE

For students willing to journey a little farther off campus, there’s a poke place with tons of options. A small bowl goes for $8.50, and while a large bowl or a burrito costs $11.50, it comes with complimentary miso soup. Base options include rice, quinoa and salad, and protein ranges from tuna to octopus to salmon

to shrimp. You can then add an unlimited garnishes like cilantro, edamame, ginger and pineapple or choose to splurge for avocado, cream cheese or a seaweed salad for $1 extra. Apoke is located beneath the Red Road Commons, which is essentially an off-campus dorm. 6620 SW 57 Ave.

T.G.I. FRIDAY’S

Failed an exam? Go to Friday’s. Homesick? Go to Friday’s. Need a bigger TV to cheer on the ‘Canes than the one in your dorm? Go to Friday’s. It’s the perfect combination of comfort food and game day food. There’s no amount of stress, whether academically-induced or FSU-induced, that soft pretzels dipped in warm queso with bacon can’t fix. It also won’t break the bank. Friday’s All-In special features an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert starting at $10. 1200 S. Dixie Hwy.

MIAMI’S BEST PIZZA

SHAKE SHACK

Pinecrest Perfection

12001 Pine Needle Lane, Pinecrest, Florida • Offered at $1,575,000

Meticulously updated in a park-like setting is this move-in ready, unique architectural gem. The 5 bedroom 5 bath split plan home sits on a lush acre, with abundant natural light and white marble throughout. Many amenities and features include beautiful lagoon style pool, huge terrace, stunning circular living room, large granite chip driveway, two car garage, new security/alarm system with cameras, new tile roof, central vac, three zone sprinkler system, two new a/c systems, impact windows and doors plus bonus steel shutters, large laundry room with new appliances, floating balcony, best school district and much more.

For Private Viewing contact: Miriam Lourdes, Investor/Developer 305-439-4118

ACTORS’ PLAYHOUSE HAVANA MUSIC HALL

The heartwarming story of two musicians, Rolando and Ramona Calderon, and their lives in Cuba from 1958 to today. Just as they are about to get their big break, the Revolution starts. This moving and relevant musical explores the challenges and joys of a family’s 50-year odyssey for survival, more relevant today than ever.

Oct. 10 – Nov. 18

ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER DRACULA

Using Bram Stoker’s novel as a starting point, award-winning playwright Michael McKeever has reinvented the Gothic horror tale and created female characters from a feminist point of view. Breaking the mold of what a Victorian lady should be, the women are strong, determined and unwilling to play victim.

Oct. 11 – 28. Carnival Studio Theater

MIAMI CITY BALLET: COMPANY B

Concerto Barocco, a signature George Balanchine ballet, set to Bach’s Double Violin

Concerto in D Minor; the fan-favorite Company B, set to popular ‘40s hits like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Rum and Coca-Cola”; Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, in the spirit of imperial St. Petersburg.

Oct. 19 – 21. Ziff Ballet Opera House

YOUSSOU NDOUR

Senegalese Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, activist and the leaded performer of mbalax, his country’s music that fuses classic African praise-singing, percussion and guitar-based pop.

Oct. 258. Knight Concert Hall

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and three-time Gram-

Live!

my-winner, Buckingham is best known as the producer, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac and as a widely celebrated solo artist.

Oct. 27. Knight Concert Hall

ANNA NETREBKO & YUSIF

EYVAZOV

Two of the world’s best opera voices will perform in concert for one night only.

Oct. 28. Knight Concert Hall

LA BOHÈME

A lyrical romantic tragedy of young lovers in the Latin Quarter of 19th century Paris. Will Mimì and Rodolfo find a way to make their love survive terrible poverty, the freezing winter and Mimì’s life threatening illness? Borrowed time in a timeless classic.

Nov. 3 – 11. Ziff Ballet Opera House

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY: EMANUEL AX PLAYS BEETHOVEN

Pianist Emanuel Ax plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New World Symphony. Also Wagner’s overture to the Flying Dutchman and Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Nov. 3 at Knight Concert Hall

DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY

A multimedia experience featuring Nobuo Uematsu’s music from one of the most popular video games. Conducted by Grammy award-winner Arnie Roth, who will be joined by more than 100 musicians, including the Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.

Nov. 4. Knight Concert Hall

JAZZ ROOTS: LEONARD BERNSTEIN 100 AND BEYOND

The inaugural show of the 2018-19 JAZZ ROOTS season consists of a special tribute to the world-renowned composer,

conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein featuring Ann Hampton Callaway and Kirk Whalum.

Nov. 9. Knight Concert Hall

BUIKA

Latin Grammy-winner and singer-songwriter BUIKA returns to the Arsht Center on a world tour for her newest album “Tiger Eyed.” Fearless in both her music and her life, BUIKA’s soulful voice is revered as the “voice of freedom” by NPR.

Nov. 11. Knight Concert Hall

GAD ELMALEH: DREAM TOUR

Gal Elmaleh is one of the biggest and most recognizable comedic talents in the world. Since his

move to the U.S., Gad has quickly grown from being France’s most popular standup comedian to becoming a global comedy sensation.

Nov. 15. Knight Concert Hall

CONTRA-TIEMPO

Based in L.A., this multilingual company creates dance that speaks to the Latin community everywhere. Contra-Tiempo engages its audience with dynamic and compelling Salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip-hop and contemporary choreography.

Nov. 16 & 17. Carnival Studio Theater

CELIA: THE MUSICAL

This modern show finds Celia

Grammy Award winning bass player Christian McBride

Dec 8th

Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, on stage one last time. Taking a journey through her musical legacy, she recalls stories and anecdotes from her career. Please note that this production will be performed entirely in Spanish.

Nov. 16 & 17. Ziff Ballet Opera House

CHINESE WARRIORS OF PEKING

A group of Chinese acrobats and martial artists who have gained worldwide recognition touring with Cirque du Soleil. Qui Jian directs this production set during the Ming Dynasty in the ancient Chinese capital of Peking to tell the historical story of two rival martial arts disciplines.

Nov. 17. Knight Concert Hall

AUGUST GREENE

This newly formed group is the perfect marriage of jazz, hiphop and soul. The super group is comprised of Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning emcee Common, Grammy award-winning pianist and composer Robert Glasper and world-renowned percussionist and producer Karriem Riggins.

Nov. 18. Knight Concert Hall

HELLO, DOLLY!

Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Betty Buckley stars in the universally acclaimed show that NPR calls “the best show of the year.” Directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks.

Nov. 20 – 25. Ziff Ballet Opera House

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE IN CONCERT

Get ready, Muggles, the musical numbers from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are coming to Miami. From the Quidditch World Cup to the Dark Lord’s return, you’ll be transported straight to Hogwarts by Patrick Doyle’s score.

Nov. 24. Knight Concert Hall

CITY THEATRE’S WINTER SHORTS

Get in the holiday spirit with a jolly program of short plays and musicals that last eight to ten minutes each. The works were written by the country’s best playwrights and performed by a company of South Florida theater all-stars.

Dec. 6 – 23. Carnival Studio Theater

JAZZ ROOTS: ARTEMIS: GREAT WOMEN IN JAZZ

Hailing from America, Canada, France, Chile, Israel and Japan, Artemis is an extraordinary group comprised of seven of the finest performers in jazz today. The band features trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, pianist and music director Renee Rosnes, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Alisson Miller and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant.

Dec. 7. Knight Concert Hall

SLEEPING BEAUTY DREAMS

The world premiere of a contemporary art exploration of the age-old fable. It features global prima ballerina Diana Vishneva as Princess Aurora and Tony Award-nominee Desmond Richardson as Prince Peter in a fusion of dance, music, art and revolutionary 3D technology.

Dec. 7 & 8. Ziff Ballet Opera House

MIAMI CITY BALLET: THE NUTCRACKER

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without this beloved tale. A vibrant and animated winter wonderland comes to life featuring appearances by the sugarplum fairy, toy soldiers and mischievous mice, with George Balanchine’s iconic choreography and Tchaikovsky’s timeless score.

Dec. 14 – Dec. 24. Ziff Ballet

Opera House

AREA STAGE COMPANY GUYS AND DOLLS JR

Set in the 1930s, Guys and Dolls tells the tale of two New York gamblers, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson. Detroit bets Masterson that he cannot take the straightlaced missionary Sarah Brown out to dinner. Masterson accepts, but has he bargained more than money in this high-stakes bet?

Oct. 12 – 21

DISNEY’S THE LION KING EXPERIENCE!

The beloved tale of a lion cub who cannot wait to be king of the pride. But when a tragic accident occurs, Simba must flee home. The African savannah comes alive with a cast of colorful characters.

Nov. 9 – 18

MARY POPPINS

Set in 1910 England, the Banks family has gone through nannies faster than you can say “spoonful of sugar.” The classic Disney tale, brought to life at the Area Stage Company.

Dec. 7 – 16

GABLESTAGE ADMISSIONS

The head of the admissions department at a New England prep school is fighting to diversify the student body. With her husband, the school’s headmaster, they’ve brought a stodgy institution into the 21st century. But when their only son sets his sights on an

Ivy League university, personal ambition collides with progressive values.

Oct. 13 – Nov. 11

ACTUALLY

Two freshmen at Princeton spend a night together that alters the course of their lives. They agree on the drinking, they agree on the attraction, but consent is foggy –and if unspoken, can it be called consent? A funny, witty and lyrical investigation into gender and race politics, our desire to fit in and the three sides to every story.

Nov. 24—Dec. 23

MIAMI JAZZ COOP/OPEN STAGE UM FROST CONCERT JAZZ BAND

The Frost Concert Jazz Band has been UM’s premiere large ensemble for over 30 years, with numerous recordings to its credit that showcase its lineage of worldclass talent.

Oct. 15

MIAMI JAZZ CONSORT

A new Miami jazz sextet, with Dante Luciani on trombone, Peter Brewer on sax, and Cisco Dimas (long time member of Sammy Figueroa’s ensemble) on trumpet.

Oct. 22

MJC VOICES AND JAZZ VOCAL JAM

A community based jazz vocal ensemble, the MJC Voices is devoted to the performance of traditional and contemporary music including jazz, pop, gospel and other genres.

Oct. 29

The Nutcracker: the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without this beloved tale.

Arsht Center (Ziff Ballet Opera House)

Living

NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

Jazz Ensemble with John Fedchock. Hailed a world-class trombone soloist, John Fedchock joins the 19-piece NWSA High School Jazz Ensemble for some swing jazz.

Nov. 5

JASON HAINSWORTH

Jason Hainsworth is in demand both as a saxophonist and as a composer/arranger. Studied at the University of New Orleans with legendary jazz educator Ellis Marsalis.

Nov. 12

MAGELA HERRERA

Flautist, vocalist and composer, today Magela Herrera is considered one of Cuba’s leading flute players in jazz, with Latin Jazz, European jazz, and Afro-Cuban music traditions.

Nov. 19

LINDSEY BLAIR CD RELEASE

Guitarist Lindsey Blair studied jazz guitar at UM, and toured with jazz trumpet legend Maynard Ferguson releases his latest CD on the Open Stage.

Dec. 3

JACK SIEGEL BAND

Songwriter (the Imposter) and trumpeter brings his quintet to paly jazz, Dixieland, and whatever else he pleases to play.

Dec. 10

CHRISTMAS PARTY/JOE DONATO

South Florida Jazz Hall of Fame

Inductee Joe Donato wails on his saxophone in the last Jazz Cooperative concert of the year.

Dec. 17

MIAMI-DADE C0. AUDITORIUM

BENISE “FUEGO!” SPIRIT OF SPAIN

Benise’s new PBS production is an unprecedented journey of music and dance that celebrates the fire, passion and spirit of Spain. Armed with a Spanish guitar, he is backed by a stage full of musicians and Spanish dancers.

Oct. 13

ENRIQUE CHIA IN CONCERT

Spend the evening remembering the most beautiful Cuban and Latin American melodies with

Oct 13 to Nov 11

Gablestage: Admissions

pianist Enrique Chia and his band. The admired singer Cristy Arias and the well-known Duo Contraste will perform melodies from the Cuban songbook.

Oct. 14

LUISA MARÍA GÜELL

CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS

Güell’s concert celebrates 50 years of international musical hits from Europe to America. The international pop singer, Grammy-nominee and Edith Piaf gold medal winner will sing her lifetime hits with her director, musicians and the Tango Times Dance Company.

Oct. 20

Y ELLAS CANTABAN BOLEROS

A tribute to the most important bolero songs of the ‘50s and ’60s.

Oct. 27

composer Randy Brecker has helped shape jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. He has played on albums for Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa. Formerly of the Horace Silver Quintet.

Oct. 20

RAMSEY LEWIS AND URBAN KNIGHTS

Three-time Grammy Award winner Ramsey Lewis has been an iconic leader in contemporary jazz for over 50 years with crossovers to pop and R&B. Throughout his illustrious career, Lewis who is a NEA Jazz Master, has also joined forces with countless other artists.

Nov. 17

CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE’S NEW JAWN

and delicious eats.

Oct. 20. Back Yard Concert Lawn & Plaza

SERAPHIC FIRE WITH AMERICAN BRASS QUINTET

Miami’s multi-Grammy nominated classical vocal ensemble joins the American Brass Quintet to explore a Spanish tradition of music celebrating the Camino de Santiago, the old-world route of religious pilgrims.

Oct. 21. Main Stage

KIBBUTZ CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY

Fostered in a close-knit creative village in northern Israel, the Kibbutz Dance Company’s thrilling physicality and powerful theatricality have brought them to leading venues around the world.

Oct. 27. Main Stage

A NEW DEFINITION

OF DANCE FEATURING

ILL-ABILITIES

The international dance crew performs its new, full-length show “Dis-Connect,” which explores the premise of connection. In a world in which we all appear connected, we’re constantly searching for what we really are connected to.

Nov. 9

PINECREST GARDENS JAZZ SERIES

RANDY BRECKER with the South Florida Jazz Orchestra

The five-time Grammy Award winner, jazz trumpeter and

Five-time Grammy Award winning bass player Christian McBride has become one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today. A graduate of New York’s Juilliard, McBride’s career now into its third decade.

Dec. 8

SOUTH MIAMI-DADE CAC BACKYARD BASH V:

Backyard Bash V: Featuring Morris Day and The Time

A free, family-friendly celebration of culture, community and music. Relax on the Concert Lawn, listen to live music and enjoy craft brews

FLAMENCO PURO

Join Clarita Filgueiras and her dance company for “Flamenco Voices,” a celebration of flamenco at its unadulterated best, in the intimate setting of the Black Box.

Nov. 3 & 4. Black Box Theater

DIMENSIONS DANCE THEATRE OF MIAMI BALLET: BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL

Miami’s youthful, acclaimed new classical dance troupe returns from its NYC debut for a second season at SMDCAC. Their fall program

Contemporary Dance Company Oct 27th

Kibbutz

Friday,

is accompanied by live Tambora.

Nov. 17 & 18. Main Stage

COMIC CURE: MIAMI: A VERY FUNNY HISTORY

Step back in time with HistoryMiami historian and award-winning comedian Freddy Stebbins as he relives – through costume and impersonation – the magical moments and people that shaped Miami. A one-of-a-kind journey.

Nov. 17. Black Box Theater

DECADES REWIND

A multimedia concert experience celebrating the greatest hits of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Video and staging combine with a top-notch band to bring back the era and songs of ABBA, Aretha, The Beatles, Prince and more.

Nov. 24. Main Stage

THE NUTCRACKER

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the enchanting dance story of a little girl and her

Nutcracker Prince, who overcome the malevolent Mouse King to journey to a fantastical Land of Sweets. Professional ballet stars join talented young dancers of the Miami Youth Ballet.

Nov. 30 & Dec. 1. Main Stage

A SERAPHIC FIRE CHRISTMAS Seraphic Fire will fill you with the spirit of the season, singing beloved traditional English carols and mystical Gregorian chants in a candlelit performance.

Dec. 16. Main Stage

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI GUSMAN CONCERT HALL BRUCKNER’S SYMPHONY –Gerard Schwarz Conducts Frost Symphony Orchestra. Join the Frost Symphony Orchestra as they play David Diamond’s Symphony No. 4, the world premiere of Ben Webster’s “Junction” and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major.

Oct. 13

November Luncheon with Doris Kearns Goodwin in celebration of her new book, “Leadership In Turbulent Times.”

The Prologue Society is a not-for-profit literary organization that encourages interest in and understanding of the history and culture of all peoples and nation.

BROADWAY AT FROST – JOSHUA HENRY AND MARCUS LOVETT

Tony-nominated star of Broadway’s “Carousel” and lead of the U.S. tour of “Hamilton,” Frost alumnus Joshua Henry returns for an evening of music from “The Great White Way” with Marcus Lovett, who played “Phantom” on Broadway and London, along with Frost students.

Oct. 15

GUITAR, PIANO AND VOICE. HARMONIES FROM THE AMERICAS

World-renowned Cuban-born soprano Eglise Gutierrez joins Frost professor and guitarist Rafael Padrom performing pieced by Spanish and Latin American composers Falla, Rodrigo, Granados, Villalobos, Lecuona and more.

Oct. 27

A NIGHT OF JO LAWRY - Frost

Extensions and Frost Jazz Vocal I

Top student vocal groups join songwriter and jazz/pop vocalist Jo Lawry, called a “singer of dazzling

Ingrid Jensen with the Frost Studio Jazz band Nov 14th

self-possession” by the New York Times, on expanded arrangements of original material from her 2017 album “The Bathtub and the Sea” along with other jazz, pop and rock tunes.

Nov. 13

Juno award-winning trumpet player Ingrid Jensen has performed with jazz and pop stars like Clark Terry, Esperanza Spalding and Sarah McLachlan. She joins the Frost Studio Jazz Band on compositions written by Stephen Guerra, her sister Christine Jensen and herself.

Nov. 14

ADAM ROGERS WITH THE FROST CONCERT JAZZ BAND AND FROST JAZZ SEXTET

The Frost Sextet and Frost Concert Jazz Band premiere “Concerto for Guitar and Jazz Orchestra,” a new work from guitarist and composer Justin Morell, featuring jazz guitarist Adam Rogers.

Nov. 15

EUROPEAN CLASSICAL MASTERWORKS - Michelle Merrill Conducts Frost Symphony Orchestra

The Frost Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Michelle Merrill perform a range of European masterpieces, including Giuseppe Verdi’s “La forza del destino” overture, Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major” and Manuel de Falla’s “El sombrero de tres picos.”

Nov. 16

SAXOPHONEPALOOZA – FROST WIND ENSEMBLE

The Frost Wind Ensemble joins top saxophonists PRISM Quartet, playing the world premiere of Matt Browne’s “Cabinet of Curiosities,” and Dale Underwood, playing Joel Love’s “Lyric Concerto.” The Frost Wine Ensemble opens with the

Nov. 30

SWINGING FOR THE HOLIDAYS –THE STEPHEN GUERRA BIG BAND Exuberant big band performances of beloved holiday tunes, including “The 12 Days of Christmas,” “Blue Christmas,” “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and new songs from around the world that celebrate the season.

Dec. 14

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI RING THEATER

A SIMPLE SONG: A Leonard Bernstein Centennial Celebration This year marks the 100th Birthday of cultural icon, composer, conductor, author, and pianist Leonard Bernstein, best known for his musicals On the Town, Candide, and West Side Story. With special permission from the Bernstein estate, the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre presents a retrospective of his contributions to American of Theatrical Art forms.

Through Oct. 6

BOY GETS GIRL

It all begins with a blind date. Theresa is set up with Tony by a mutual acquaintance. They meet for a beer, and things seem to be going okay. Then come the phone calls, the flowers, the unannounced visits – and the creeping realization that Tony won’t take “no” for an answer. Playwrite Rebecca Gillman’s stunning play is how one seemingly innocent encounter leads to terrifying results.

Nov. 8th - 17th

work of Carlos Simon.

WDNA

JAZZ ENCOUNTERS: TIM JAGO

Guitarist Tim Jago performs followed by a jam session for student musicians

Oct. 12

JAZZ@WDNA

Cuban composer, vibraphone and percussion player Alfredo Chacon performs

Nov. 3

JAZZ ENCOUNTERS: MARTIN BEJERANO

Pianist Martin Bejerano performs followed by a jam session for student musicians

Nov. 9

JAZZ ENCOUNTERS: DAVE FERNANDEZ

Saxophonist Dave Fernandez performs followed by a jam session for student musicians

Dec. 14

VENUES

ACTORS’ PLAYHOUSE

280 Miracle Mile www.actorsplayhouse.org

305.444.9293

ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER

1300 Biscayne Blvd. www.arshtcenter.org

786.468.2000

AREA STAGE COMPANY

1560 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 103 www.areastagecompany.com 305.666.2078

GABLES STAGE AT THE BILTMORE 11200 Anastasia Ave. www.gablestage.org

305.445.1119

MIAMI DADE COUNTY AUDITORIUM (MDCA) 2901 W. Flagler St., Miami www.miamidadecountryauditorium.org

305-547-5414

OPEN STAGE CLUB 2325 Galiano St. www.openstageclub.com

305.441.7902

PINECREST GARDENS 11000 Red Road Pinecrest, Florida www.pinecrestgardens.org

305.669.6990

SOUTH MIAMI-DADE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER 10950 SW 211th St., Cutler Bay www.smdcac.org

786.573.5316

UM GUSMAN CONCERT HALL 1314 Miller Drive www.frost.miami.edu

305.284.2438

UM RING THEATRE 1312 Miller Dr. www.as.miami.edu/ringtheatre 305.284.3355

WDNA JAZZ GALLERY 2921 Coral way, Miami www.wdna.org

305.662.8889

Watch beloved classics and new favorites for the whole family at Family Day on Aragon. Hosted on the second Saturday & Sunday of every month. Tickets are $5 with a free small popcorn and soda. In partnership with Books & Books and the Coral Gables Museum.

Ernest & Celestine

Academy Award® Nominee for Best Animated Film

Coral Gables Art Cinema 260 Aragon Avenue

Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14, 2018 11:00 am

For tickets, visit: gablescinema.com/events/ernest-and-celestine/

William Scott Wilson lives quietly a few blocks from UM, where his wife works as a writer. But in Japan he is famous as a translator of ancient texts, receiving both the Order of the Rising Sun from the emperor, and a commendation by the Foreign Ministry for spreading Japanese culture. Among his best-known translations is Hagakure, a book on the samurai warrior code of honor that became the basis for the movie Ghost Dog, starring Forest Whitaker. He is also known for his unique translation of the Tao Te Ching from the original 4th century B.C. Chinese and for his biography The Lone Samurai, about Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Five Rings. His translation of a book by a samurai doctor on how to stay healthy, Yojokun, sold out at Books & Books after he spoke there.

William Scott Wilson

WORLD-RENOWNED TRANSLATOR OF ANCIENT JAPANESE LITERATURE

LATEST ACHIEVEMENT WHAT HE SAYS

His most recent book, Walking the Kiso Road, is about his journey on the ancient road in Japan that passes through villages unchanged in 300 years. His next project, funded by a National Endowment of the Arts grant, is a translation of the haiku poetry of Zen priest Santoka Taneda, for which he is in Japan this month.

On his book Walking the Kiso Road: “Everyone wants to see old Japan. The first thing you don’t do is get a 5-star hotel. You go on the Kiso Road and stay at an old inn.”

On his toughest job: “I had to translate a 4,000-page Japanese novel called Taiko, about a farm boy who rose to become the most powerful man in Japan in 1600. I had to

be incredibly disciplined and sit down every day, five days a week, for two years. But the advance royalties got my kids through college.”

On living here and not Japan: “I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and I love South Florida. I love the ocean. I am a kayaker and canoe paddler, and there is no more beautiful place than here.”

I am a kayaker and canoe paddler, and there is no more beautiful place than here...

Venezuelan entrepreneur Alirio Torrealba is developing mid-rise luxury townhomes and other real estate in Coral Gables through the company he started in 2015, MG Developer. He recently broke ground on MG’s four-unit Villa Blanc project, part of an $80 million initiative to create buildings in walkable distance to the downtown. A supporter of the arts, he funded the recently completed 30-foot-long stone couch in Balboa Plaza that’s been dubbed “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

Alirio Torrealba

LATEST ENDEAVOR WHAT HE SAYS

Torrealba is raising awareness and funds for the nonprofit Fundahigado (Liver Foundation), which provides liver transplants for low-income children in Latin America using healthy liver sections from parents or other live donors. U.S.-trained surgeon Pedro Diaz started the program in his native Venezuela some 15 years ago, providing hundreds of successful transplants there to date. His group is now training medical teams in other Latin American nations to perform the procedures.

In his own words in Spanish: “I know Dr. Pedro Rivas, the founder of Fundahigado from Venezuela, and long admired his passion and perseverance to provide liver transplants for children whose families can’t afford the surgeries. These children risk dying without urgent transplants. I started out donating to the nonprofit, and last year, got involved in fundraising. [Venezuelan fashion designer] Carolina Herrera also is an active supporter.

“We just had our first event in Coral Gables to promote Fundahigado and plan another soon, possibly with a documentary to show how the group saves children’s lives… I think it’s important that people have a social purpose in their lives and their communities. Fundahigado may not resonate with everyone, but as human beings, we have to find ways to help others.”

FOUNDER AND CEO OF MG DEVELOPER

I think it’s important that people have a social purpose in their lives and their communities… as human beings, we have to find ways to help others...

935BellaVistaAve.com

MAURICIO J. BARBA, P.A.

Broker-Associate I Estate Agent

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

t 305.444.7224 c 305.439.8311

mauricio@miamisignaturehomes.com

MiamiSignatureHomes.com I HomesOfSplendor.com

Offered at

501AlcazarAve.com

Offered at $1,399,000

501 Alcazar Avenue | Coral Gables

4 beds | 4 baths | 3,091 adj sf | 10,000 sf lot

La Casa Reposada II” was originally designed in the 1930’s by prominent architect E. Dean Parmalee, whose style typically encompassed outdoor living areas, cathedral ceilings and other architectural components.

2614AlhambraCr.com

Offered

Castania Avenue, Coral Gables

3920PalmaritoSt.com

Offered at $829,000

3920 Palmarito Street | Coral Gables

3 beds | 3 baths | 2,054 total sf | 5,000 sf lot

Historically designated Old Spanish residence originally designed in 1926 by architect, Charles Paul Nieder.

Offered at $1,596,000

2614 Alhambra Circle | Coral Gables

3 beds + den | 3/1 baths | 2,799 adj sf | 5,500 sf lot

5011AlhambraCr.com

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5011 Alhambra Circle | Coral Gables

4 beds | 2/1 baths | 3,098 adj sf | 10,500 sf lot

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Offered at $875,000

117 San Sebastian Ave | Coral Gables

3 beds | 2 baths | 2,085 adj sf | 7,062 sf lot

Urbane elegance awaits you in this chic, single-level, stylishly renovated residence, offering all the creature comforts you’ve been looking for.

1607PonceDeLeonBlvd-8a.com

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935 Bella Vista Avenue | Coral Gables

3 beds | 2 baths | 1,959 adj sf | 10,008 total sf

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Villa Verano is a contemporary gem that is engulfed in natural light and masterfully crafted with the finest materials, offering all the modern amenities available today!.

Charming 1-level jewel enjoying a very fluid floor plan and perfect for just about all family dynamics.The location is ideal as it’s near the many venues of Coral Gables & South Miami.

Paola Mendez

Almost four years ago, Coral Gables native and UM grad Paola Mendez (B.S in computer science) founded South Florida Bloggers, headquartered in the Gables where she blogs via the www.coralgableslove.com site. It has since then morphed into the national Blogger Union and spread to seven other cities – Fort Lauderdale, Greenville (NC), Houston, Minneapolis, Orlando, Madrid and Rome, and today has 4,000 members. The purpose of the union is to offer education to help members become professionals – or to perfect their blogs as hobbies. They also instruct small businesses that want to blog for marketing purposes. The South Florida Bloggers meet monthly around South Florida, but mostly in Coral Gables.

LATEST ENDEAVOR WHAT SHE SAYS

Mendez today is expanding the membership of the bloggerunion.com by adding additional chapters to the mix, with West Palm up next. Others likely to emerge this year and next include Charlotte (NC), Omaha/Lincoln (NE), Port St. Lucie (FL) and Williamsburg (VA). She is also now using the union to funnel leads from businesses to bloggers.

“We work with brands for paid posts – influencer marketing from the union for brands. They are always looking for bloggers to help promote a specific product, or a new line,” she says. “We reach out to members to see who wants to work with a brand. We have members in every niche… It’s very important for running a blog to have a relationship with

your audience. You don’t want to do something that is not authentic for your life. Beauty brands don’t fit with food bloggers. If they did, their audience would say, ‘What are you doing?’ Most of our members are good about staying with their authentic coverage.”

It’s very important for running a blog to have a relationship with your audience...

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, THE BLOGGER UNION

The Greening of Coral Gables:

Creating a Sustainable City

By Doreen Hemlock

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT, CURTAILING TRAFFIC, FIGHTING SEA LEVEL RISE, BANNING STYROFOAM AND PLASTIC BAGS, GOING ELECTRIC WITH THE CITY’S CAR FLEET – IT ALL ADDS UP TO A CITY THAT IS EXEMPLARY IN PREPARING FOR THE ECO-COMPROMISED FUTURE

Matt Anderson, Coral Gables’ Senior Sustainability Analyst

Photo by Jonathan Dann

City

When you think about going green, not only are you helping the environment and helping the planet, but you’re also saving money...

Commissioner Vince Lago at his home with rooftop solar panel system

Photo by Lizzie Wilcox

Ask Matt Anderson what the city’s top priorities are for making Coral Gables more sustainable and eco-friendly, and he will say, well, it depends.

“It’s hard to say because it’s everything, like being more water efficient and more fuel efficient,” says Anderson, who has been Coral Gables’ Senior Sustainability Analyst for the past three and a half years. “Sustainability is a broad umbrella and a lot of things can fall under it. One day it’s dealing with plastic bags and the next it’s coming up with mitigation efforts for sea level rise. The day after, it’s educating our kids in school [about the environment].”

Ask Anderson what he’s proudest of, however, and there is no hesitation. “We are most proud of our electric vehicle fleet, the largest in Florida. The plastic bag legislation is also something we have great pride in, being the first in the state to implement a ban. And, we have very proactive staff and elected officials.”

Among those is City Commissioner Vince Lago, now serving his second fouryear term. Lago was an early proponent for the “greening” of Coral Gables, fighting for laws that banned Styrofoam containers and plastic bags, and that required new buildings of more than 20,000 square feet to earn a “green building” LEED certification. He also backed the creation of traffic reduction programs such as the city’s trolley and “freebee” micro-buses, and has been a strong advocate of more green spaces and additional trees in public spaces. And all this while being a Republican.

“Sometimes it’s not the most politically correct stand to take, but people need to be aware that by preserving the environment, you’re also ensuring that business can thrive in this community,” he says, noting that economic drivers like tourism, international investment and agriculture depend on clean air and water. “This is not about whether you’re an environmentalist, or whether you believe in global warming. This is about protecting what we hold so vital and so close to our heart, and that is

The City’s Sustainability Plan

Coral Gables has drafted a 10-year plan aimed to run government operations more sustainably. Here are highlights:

Cut energy use by 20 percent by 2025. How? Switch to more efficient LED lighting for streets and city garages, use more efficient air conditioning in city buildings, install solar panels on select buildings.

Cut fuel use by 20 percent by 2025. How? Buy more electric vehicles, add bike lanes, create more pedestrian-friendly areas.

Cut water use by 20 percent by 2025. How? Upgrade city irrigation, install low-flush and low-flow fixtures.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2025. How? Use less fuel, use less energy, maintain a thick carbon-eating tree canopy.

Divert solid waste from landfills by

75 percent by 2020. How? Expand recycling, organize hazardous waste collection. Reduce the impact of sea-level rise. How? Raise bridges and pumping stations in vulnerable areas, protect and expand mangroves.

Coral Gables developed the draft with Jacksonville engineering consulting firm RS&H, which has worked on similar sustainability plans for Sunrise, Hallandale Beach and other South Florida cities. The City Commission has yet to approve the final version. But city departments, working with Senior Sustainability Analyst Matt Anderson, have already started work on 24 projects to boost sustainability. For instance, some public works buildings have switched from fluorescent to more efficient LED lights that use less electricity and last longer. Initial studies show savings from those 24 projects over the first 10 years topping $2 million.

A SIMPLE FORMULA: USE LESS ENERGY, FUEL AND WATER

Keeping it Green: Coral Gables tree czar Brook Dannemiller

Photo by Jonathan Dann

The Rising Tide

Visit bayside Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables during king tides, and you’ll find the parking lot flooded. It’s an unmistakable sign of sea level rise and the vulnerability of Coral Gables, which sits on more than 40 miles of waterfront property, both on natural and man-made shores. The result could mean a loss of one-quarter of all property taxes, ruining city finances.

Coral Gables ex-mayor Jim Cason early on recognized the need for urgent action, including elevating bridges and pumps for wastewater. “It’s prudent to begin preparing for what we see already

happening,” says Cason, who also knows that the costs are too great for cities to shoulder alone.

Fortunately, Miami-Dade County has also recognized the threat to Matheson, issuing a report earlier this year that showed it would cost $55 million over the next 20 years to keep the park above water, including the installation of boardwalks, floating docks, and raising the level of parking lots. Its proposed 2019 budget sets aside $4.3 million to heighten the most deteriorated of the park’s seawalls – enough to contain an additional two feet of water at high tide.

South Florida’s environment.”

Lago also practices what he preaches. He drives an electric car and has solar panels on his house. This personal commitment has led directly to some of his green initiatives: expanding the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program to let residents borrow money for energy improvements on their homes and to pay back those loans with their property taxes. He used PACE himself to finance the bulk of the $30,000 rooftop solar panel system on his home. By producing his own sun energy, he says, he’s slashed his monthly payments to Florida Power & Light from $200-plus to less than $10, and saved another $150 to $200 a month in gasoline bills thanks to his electric car. And those savings fit perfectly into the pro-business message of any Republican.

“When you think about going green, not only are you helping the environment and helping the planet, but you’re also saving money,” he says. “So that’s the message that I try to send to people, that you can be a capitalist and, also, a conservationist.” Most recently, Lago backed a resolution that waives the fee for city permits to install rooftop solar, saving property owners $100 to $350 depending on the size of their solar panel projects.

Lago is not the only political or private sector leader striving to make Coral Gables a leader in sustainability. Most, if not all, of the greening initiatives the city has advanced have come with unanimous support by its commissioners and its mayors. Among them has been Jim Cason, Coral Gables mayor for six years starting in 2011, who today spends much of his time working with coastal groups nationwide to push Washington, D.C. to adopt policies that mitigate sea level rise.

Cason had almost no idea about the threat of sea level rise when he moved to the city in 2009 after a career as a U.S. diplomat. But as Coral Gables mayor, the studious Republican got a quick education. He learned that one-fourth of the city’s prime real estate faces flooding as the atmosphere warms and glaciers melt. Now he champions the national Seawall Coalition, launched this May and comprised of more than a dozen municipal govern-

If you look at scientific predictions, there are projections for the sea to rise six feet by the end of the century...

Jim Cason, former Coral Gables mayor

Looking at a scary future: Jim Cason, Coral Gables mayor (right) and Gables resident Greg Hamra (left) at a sea rise conference

Photo courtesty of Greg Hamra

Turning to the Sun

FACING THE CHALLENGE: SOLAR MICRO-GRIDS FOR EMERGENCY POWER

Coral Gables is proposing a new way to keep the power flowing at its emergency operations center during hurricanes: Solar panels to make electricity during the day and batteries to store it for later use.

The proposal for solar microgrids earned Coral Gables a spot this spring among 35 finalists in the U.S. Mayors Challenge to find innovative solutions to urban woes. More than 320 cities offered ideas for the challenge, organized by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s nonprofit Bloomberg Philanthropies.

As a finalist, Coral Gables is receiving up to $100,000 to develop a proto-

type and submit plans for the next round of competition. This month, one city will be selected for a $5 million top prize and four others for $1 million each to create models for other cities to follow. To design the prototype, the city is working with University of Miami Associate Professor Nurcin Celik, (above) who runs the simulation and optimization research lab at UM’s College of Engineering.

“We want to see how microgrids can manage on their own in ‘island mode,’ not just how they operate while hooked up to the main grid,” she says. “Disasters happen, but the goal is that once they do happen, we should be able to take action immediately.”

ments, as well as ports, military leaders and business groups – including, of course, the city of Coral Gables and the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce.

“There’s no reason whatsoever this should be a partisan issue,” says Cason, pointing to growing incidents of coastal flooding nationwide. “If you look at scientific predictions, there are projections for the sea to rise six feet by the end of the century.”

Cason, Lago and other city leaders were also supporters of the most basic approach to being green: The so-called tree succession plan for maintaining the city’s vaunted canopy of tree-lined streets. Nothing says green like trees, from providing the heat relief of shade to absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.

Not only has the city planted thousands of trees along streets and in public parks, it maintains a unique data base of all 38,175 public trees – their location, species and height. Try to cut one down without permission and you bring down the wrath of the city – along with fines. “From the city’s inception [the] vision was to have a community of tree-lined streets,” says Brook Dannemiller, the city’s public service director for tree maintenance. “That vision has not wavered.”

On the private side, the city is also peopled with green volunteers. When it comes to sustainability it’s hard, for example, to miss Gables resident Greg Hamra. The self-described “climate solutionist” attends virtually every green event, serves on the Coral Gables sustainability advisory board, and works with many nonprofits. Hamra often speaks out on a core issue he finds overlooked: We’ve put too low a price on the carbon in fossil fuels, thereby promoting the use of oil, natural gas and coal, and not reflecting their real cost to the planet.

“It’s not enough to change our light bulbs,” says Hamra. “We have to make the price of fossil fuels more honest.” Hamra volunteers with the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby, one of many groups worldwide that propose fees on carbon. On gasoline, his group’s plan would add roughly 15 cents per gallon, rising yearly. Those fees would be returned to households as “dividend” checks.

“This is not just another solution in

the toolbox. It’s a solution multiplier,” says Hamra of a steeper price on carbon. “If all the other solutions are ingredients in a pizza, this is the oven. You don’t get a decent pizza without the oven.”

While Coral Gables cannot change the policies of the federal government to regulate fossil fuel consumption, it can act locally – and intends to do so. Hamra’s sustainability advisory board is now considering new initiatives, including a program that would recognize and reward businesses that take “green” measures such as switching to energy-efficient lights, using low-flow fixtures, and cleaning with less toxic products. The city is also continuing work on a pioneering study of the legal implications of sea level rise.

Yet hurdles abound, starting with a legal battle over the city’s ban on polystyrene and plastic bags.

THE PLASTIC BAN BATTLE

Coral Gables began full enforcement of its ban on single-use, carry-out plastic bag ban May 10, after giving local retailers a year to use up existing supplies and stock up on authorized bags. But some retailers are contesting the move in a much-watched case that could end up in Florida’s Supreme Court.

The legal challenge has its roots in the city’s ban on polystyrene, usually called by brand name Styrofoam. Coral Gables banned restaurants and other retailers from handing out food containers made from the petroleum product in February 2016. But Tallahassee in March 2016 passed a law halting new Styrofoam bans, retroactive to Jan. 1 that year. Coral Gables decided to move ahead with implementation of its ban anyway, arguing the state

could not preempt its ordinance.

The city claimed it had been singled out by the state, because it was the only municipality not allowed to keep its ban when the law was passed. It cited the Miami-Dade Home Rule Charter, which gives cities in the county special authority to create their own rules for governing. City Commissioner Lago, who had pushed for the ban, even asked fellow Republican and Florida Gov. Rick Scott to reconsider the state’s bill to halt bans, saying that local businesses understand “the important of being sustainable and protecting the environment.”

That did not stop the Florida Retail Federation from suing to stop the city on behalf of its members – including Super Progreso, which owns a 7-Eleven convenience store in Coral Gables – in the summer of 2016. In their lawsuit, the retailers argued that Tallahassee had ultimate authority over packaging, including “auxiliary containers, wrappings and disposable plastic bags.” They cited a state statute requiring Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a study of all containers and requiring the legislature to make recommendations before cities could act on use of the containers.

But Judge Jorge E. Cueto of the 11th Judicial Circuit for Miami-Dade County sided with Coral Gables. In an opinion issued in February of 2017, Judge Cueto noted that though the legislature received the study in 2010 it never made recommendations, “leaving local governments … in a state of indefinite limbo” that required municipal action.

Coral Gables not only enforced its Styrofoam ban, but seized on Cueto’s words to act on disposable plastic bags and ban them, too. No other Florida city

The Plastic Bag Ban

WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE CITY’S BAN ON DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BAGS COVER?

The city’s ordinance, in effect since May, prohibits stores and restaurants from providing customers single-use, carry-out plastic bags. It applies to all retailers in Coral Gables, including supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, shops, service stations, restaurants and other outlets where customers can buy merchandise.

Exempted from the ban are: produce bags that protect food or merchandise from being damaged or contaminated by other items when placed together in a reusable or recyclable bag; bags that hold prescription medicines dispensed from a pharmacy or veterinary office; bags designed to be placed over articles of clothing on a hanger; door hanger bags; newspaper bags; garbage bags; pet waste bags; yard waste bags; bags a customer previously owned.

Violators face fines that start at $50 and escalate to $500. For more information, check www.coralgables.com/plastic bags

It’s not enough to change our light bulbs. We have to make the price of fossil fuels more honest...

Coral Gables resident Greg Hamra

Building to “Green” Standards

Jesse Rittenhouse helps clients develop buildings that are healthy for occupants and operate more efficiently in Coral Gables. The city has some of the strictest standards in Florida, requiring all new private buildings over 20,000 square feet – and all new public ones – to be certified under the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council’s program known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED.

Rittenhouse, of sustainability consultants The Spinnaker Group in Weston, is currently helping plan the Merrick Park Hotel at 4241 Aurora Street. He’s focusing on everything from the materials used and health conditions for workers during construction, to how much electricity and water will be consumed by tenants.

Among specific suggestions: Use concrete made with recycled content,

plus carpets and paints without toxic chemicals. Buy locally-made goods when possible to cut down on emissions from long-distance transport. And make sure that construction workers are not exposed to paint fumes or ground stone.

“Green buildings provide a huge return on investment,” says Rittenhouse. “At the end of the day, you’re focusing on the health of people who work and live in the buildings, and health is expensive. In green buildings, we see lower turnover, high retention rates and fewer sick days.”

In Coral Gables, major building projects pay three percent of their construction cost as a “Green Building Bond” and then have two years after project completion to obtain required “green” certification. If the project fails certification, the bond money is forfeited.

had that specific language as legal grounds to act. The City Commission approved its plastic bag ban in May 2017, becoming the first city in Florida to do so.

Opponents to the ban appealed Cueto’s ruling, however, and the case is now pending in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Depending on its ruling, the case could reach the state Supreme Court. Other Florida cities are watching the outcome to see if they will follow Coral Gables’ lead and ban plastic bags.

“We feel very confident in our position, but we won’t know until the court rules,” says City Attorney Miriam Soler Ramos. Should the Appeals Court reject the city’s arguments, “I’d have to take it to the City Commission for direction on whether to continue the fight,” says Ramos.

OBSTACLES TO THE SEA LEVEL FIGHT

Actions on sea level rise face challenges too, from costs to legal responsibilities. Cason’s administration commissioned a detailed report on the legal implications of sea level rise, looking at such issues as a city’s responsibility to provide services to residents of properties that repeatedly flood. Other cities in Florida and nationwide have requested copies of the report to study it.

Cason recognizes that in the shortterm, Coral Gables will probably need to raise some bridges, because boats will not be able to cruise under existing ones as waters rise. It also will need to elevate some pumping stations and other critical infrastructure – projects that will cost millions of dollars.

Fortunately, action may be precipitated by insurance companies and other financial players. Rating agencies are starting to give credit to cities for efforts on sea level rise when they grade their municipal bond issues. Plus, insurance companies are beginning to raise premiums on properties in areas likely to flood – unless they see local governments acting to mitigate rising seas.

“Like cancer, people don’t want to think about sea level rise or talk about it,” says Cason. “But it’s a fact, and so much of our future is at stake. What are we going

to do about it?”

The answer to this question and all others that effect the city’s sustainability? The proverbial cliché to think globally, but act locally.

While the city cannot reduce the level of carbon emissions from cars nationwide, for example, its trolley system has more than 1 million riders annually and has taken at least 750 cars off the street that would otherwise have parked downtown each day. While the city cannot eliminate the use of non-recyclable plastic nationwide, it can set the example that it is possible to ban their use as a municipality and still thrive in a retail environment.

“We take a lot of pride in being sustainable and we take a lot of pride in just not being wasteful,” says Lago. “We take a lot of pride in not only saying that we’re green, but in being as green as possible.”

“When we talk about our electric fleet, it’s a small amount [relative to the world],” says sustainability advisor Anderson. “But if we can be an example for other communities and start a chain reaction – that it makes not just environmental but economic sense to be more efficient – then we want to position ourselves to become the lead. We are a small city, but if we are the most water and power efficient we can be, it can have a big impact in our community. We have been able to position ourselves to begin the process, and to help others get there.”

It’s Official: Gables Goes Electric

DRIVING TO MEETINGS WITHOUT GAS

Matt Anderson likes to drive to city meetings without using gasoline. He hops into one of the city’s electric vehicles, which runs on batteries. The electric cars save the city money on fuel and have none of the emissions of gasoline-powered cars.

Coral Gables now has 35 electric vehicles for administrative purposes, like driving to meetings. “We have the largest electric vehicle fleet of any city in the state,” says Anderson, the city’s senior sustainability analyst.

So far, Coral Gables has purchased only Nissan Leafs. Each cost about

$32,000, but by leasing first, the city brought the price down to $18,000. Nissan also has donated two charging stations to the city, which can power up a battery to 80 percent of capacity in 30 minutes. The city now has nine charging stations in parking garages, all available for free public use.

This year, Coral Gables aims to buy eight extended-range Chevrolet Volts, and by 2022, the city plans to boost its EV tally to 78, or roughly 60 percent of its administrative fleet. By then, it plans to double the number of charging stations in the city, says Anderson.

In green buildings, we see lower turnover, high retention rates and fewer sick days...

Jesse Rittenhouse

of The Spinnaker Group

Photo by Lizzie Wilcox

Director and Choreographer Maria Torres goes through the paces with the dancers in the rehearsal rooms at the Actors’ Playhouse

Broadway Bound

THE MAKING OF HAVANA MUSIC HALL

By J.P. Faber Photography by Jon Braeley

As opening night approaches, there is a sense of energetic anticipation at Actors’ Playhouse. It’s not exactly anxiety, although a great deal depends on how well the musical is executed. It’s more like a fever pitch as the entire production crew and cast careen towards opening night. Literally everything is being tweaked – the dance numbers, the songs, the music, the lighting, the set, the sound systems.

Downstairs on the mainstage there is a crew screwing boards together and painting walls, banging and drilling and hoisting parts of the set aboard me-

chanical lifts. There is a general clanking and buzzing on the stage, while in the control booth technicians fiddle with banks of switches, knobs and screens, all tied into the lighting and sound systems by a medusa of cables.

Upstairs the dancers and singers are rehearsing, stretching themselves after doing vocal exercises and then going through the paces with a dance director who is wearing an “Artistic Gangster” T-shirt. They are in a rectangular practice room, with rubber-mat flooring and a wall of mirrors. Two Cuban flags bookend the space. Maria Torres, the director of the musical as well

as its choreographer, comes in to check timing and goes through the paces with the dancers, showing them how to gyrate their hips and shimmy their shoulders at the same time. “Mambo ti ca, mambo ti ca,” she chants as they follow her lead.

Across the hallway, in the more intimate upstairs stage, a 10-piece band is playing the score written by Richard Kagan, the author of the musical and the creative force behind the production. He is watching as three-time Grammy award winning dance arranger and dance orchestrator Oscar Hernandez goes onto the stage to proffer advice on how to make the music brighter, and more in sync with the dance numbers. The melody is crisp, bright, and full of the kind of energy that only Cuban rhythms can percolate.

Welcome to Havana Music Hall, the largest and most significant production ever put on at Actors’Playhouse. It is a fullblown $2 million Broadway-caliber musical being staged in Coral Gables as a prelude to an expected run in New York’s famed theater district. It could not have chosen a better venue, or even a better time to launch.

Havana Music Hall is the story of a Cuban song-anddance duo about to make it big in Havana, at the height of their performing talents and at the height of the casino-fueled days of big stage, Tropicana-style nightclub performances. The year is 1958. Unfortunately for them, it is eve of the Cuban Revolution coming to power, with Fidel Castro’s columns taking control of the city on New Year’s Day, 1959.

For the couple, the advent of the Revolution is a disaster. The Havana Music Hall – a mythical place, by the way – is shut down by the revolutionaries, with the protesting couple jailed and separated from their child forever. What happens to them, and how they are ultimately redeemed by love and hope, is the story that Kagan has brought to life. And while the story is a fictional tale, it is based on a true story.

BIRTH OF A MUSICAL

Flash back four years. Kagan, a former Broadway producer (Goodbye Girl, Smile, Leader of the Pack) now living in L.A., has been thinking about the movie “Buena Vista Social Club,” and wondering if he can turn it into a musical about Cuba. He’s already tried to get the rights to the name, but the owners want full artistic control. His wife, actress Julie Hagerty (of Airplane fame), suggests he just create his own story, like Dream Girls. That movie was based on the Supremes, but without the rights was a fictional tale.

Kagan and Julie have just seen the movie Chef. In the movie, Sophia Vergara’s father is a Cuban musician. Kagan tells his wife, “I’ve got to find this guy. I want to find out who he is in real life.”

Amazingly enough Kagan finds the man, Jose Perico Hernandez, now 80 and living in Los Angeles. He has dinner with Hernandez listens to his story. It was the year 1958 and Hernandez, 23, is performing at the Capri, the hotel built by mobster-cum-casino owner Meyer Lanksy. Hernandez is at the top of his game as a young performer. The revolutionaries assemble the 200 employees on the Capri staff and tell them they no longer work for the hotel, but for the new regime. Any questions?

Hernandez is the only person who raises his hand. A father of three, he says that one of his children has a birth defect will

need medical attention in the United States. Would that be possible? Hernandez is told to report to a ministry building the following day at 9 a.m., where he is arrested and sentenced to three yers of hard labor without contact with his family, and then forced to cut sugarcane for five years before being allowed to leave with his family to go to America.

“Then he asks me, ‘So you want to tell my story?’” recalls Kagan. “‘I’d like you to do that, he says, but you don’t look like a Cuban musician.’ I say, ‘No, I don’t. I’m a 68-year-old white Jewish guy who has never written music, not for 50 years. But I’ve started writing with a show in my mind.’ So, I sent him a song. The next thing I know he shows up with 12 Cuban musicians. And for the last four years, Enrico Hernandez has been my inspiration.”

Since that encounter, Kagan has doggedly pursued the creation of Havana Music Hall, hiring playwrights and musicians and choreographers, and along the way writing 40 songs – of which 22 will be performed in the final production. In its own way, Havana Music Hall is Kagan’s Hamilton – except that it took only four years instead of seven to bring it to the stage.

How, you may ask, can a Jewish boy from New Jersey write a musical about Cuba that is filled with a lively, lovely score written in the vernacular?

Part of the answer is that Kagan is not exactly a stranger to music. As a young man, he became best friends with Marvin Hamlisch, composer of the Broadway hit A Chorus Line, along with a huge list of pop hits (“The Way We Were,” “Nobody Does It Better,” “The Entertainer”). They met at a summer music camp in the Pocono Mountains, where they wrote some songs together. But when Kagan heard Hamilsch play the piano, “I knew I had to do something else. His talent was overwhelming.”

So each went their ways creatively, with the occasional re-uniting. After his stint as a Broadway producer (“I never made any money at it,” he says), Kagan went into the insurance business, launching a successful career selling life policies to Hollywood stars (his first sale was, ironically enough, to Karen Carpenter, who later became his first policy to cash-in). And every so often, when Kagan would speak before audiences in the

I’ve always been involved in the theater and had ideas for musicals... but this was never a dream of mine, to create a show and write a score for it.”

Richard Kagan former Broadway producer

Barbara Stein, executive director of Actors’ Playhouse, and composer/creator Richard Kagan in front of the Havana Music Hall set being constructed at the Actors’ Playhouse.

insurance industry, Hamlisch would come on stage with him for a piano duet.

Hamlisch has since passed away (2012). But when asked how he has managed to pen such an outstanding musical score for Havana Music Hall, Kagan says first that he has always loved Latin music and second, that he has no idea. “Somehow it feels like I am channeling Marvin from heaven. It just comes to me and I am amazed.”

THE CORAL GABLES CONNECTION

How Havana Music Hall made it to the stage in Coral Gables is the next piece of the puzzle, and that has as much to do with our musical heritage as a community as anything else.

In Los Angeles and New York, Kagan conducted an intense search for the talent he needed to realize his project. About three years ago he reached out to Maria Torres, a veteran dancer and choreographer with a long list of credits under her belt. One of these was On Your Feet, the Gloria Estefan musical, which Torres co-choreographed. (The Estefans had hired Torres based on her reputation as one of the pioneers in Latin Jazz dance.)

“I was in the middle of On Your Feet. Richard called me and sent me a CD with this music, and said he wanted me to be involved from the beginning,” recalls Torres. “I thought it was strange at the time because normally the choreographer comes in at a much later date, when there is a stage reading. I found it fascinating that he wanted me in that early.” The reason was that Kagan wanted Torres to be not just the choreographer, but also the director of the musical.

“I was suddenly taking on both hats,” says Torres. “It was an enormous responsibility. The director is also responsible for the language, the music and visuals. I was assembling my team for the choreography, but now I had to make sure the pulse of the production was designed for the dance movements. It needed a pace different from the norm, because it’s a dramatic musical that takes you into some heavy scenes. But we wanted a pulse and a pace that would keep it moving.”

Says Kagan, “I wanted someone who could meld the dancing with the dramatic arch of the story. So, she was perfect.”

As for the perfect place to launch the musical, that was Torres’ inspiration. In addition to working with the Estefans in Miami, she had worked 15 years earlier at the Actors’Playhouse on a production of Four Guys Named Jose.

“We thought about where it should be tested, and I thought it would be great to do that in a playhouse 90 miles away from Cuba, in a setting [South Florida] that was truthful to the kind of story this is,” she says. So, Torres approached Actors’Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco, who presented it to the board.

For Barbara Stein, the executive director of Actors’Playhouse, the timing could not have been better. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the company. Born in a humble venue in Kendall, it expanded and eventually found a home in Coral Gables at the Miracle Theater, which they helped restore with community donations and funds from the city.

This is not the Playhouse’s first bound-for-Broadway production – in 2001 they worked with Richard Frankel on Little Shop of Horrors, which was vetted at the Miracle Theater for six weeks and then ran on Broadway for 9 months. But Havana

We thought about where it should be tested, and I thought it would be great to do that in a playhouse 90 miles away from Cuba, in a setting [South Florida] that was truthful to the kind of story this is...

Maria Torres, director and choreographer

Maria Torres at the sound stage where a band of world-class musicians are in rehearsal

Music Hall is a much larger production.

“This is the biggest one we have ever done. It’s a very complex project for our organization,” says Stein. “It’s a large team down here for this. There are music arrangers, a musical director, a set designer, a lighting director, a sound director, all from New York, with assistants. It’s a Broadway production in all its creative aspects and development.”

Normally, the fall showcase at the Playhouse would have a maximum budget of $400,000, says Stein. The budget for Havana Music Hall will come in at more than five times that, the difference coming from Kagan and his investors.

“But, where else but Miami would you do this?” asks Stein. “It’s a Cuban story, but it’s also a story about immigration, which is profound for our community. And even though it has a Latin ring in this case, it’s a universal theme now. People are trying to get here [the U.S.] like never before because of world conditions.”

Stein says that when Torres presented the idea to Arisco, “He thought it had a lot of worthiness, and was cutting edge. We agreed that it would serve a purpose for our community and for the theater,” she says, including financial rewards should it succeed. And, as the biggest production in playhouse history –another $25,000 for just sound equipment will be added to the theater’s existing gear – “it has such high production values that

it gives us a chance to really punch up what we do. We do great stuff with our funding and our resources, but what people will see with this is phenomenal.” It will also enhance the reputation of Actors’Playhouse – and hopefully develop a new audience. While it is an exemplary theater (garnishing local and national grants in Miami-Dade County second only to the New World Symphony) Actors’Playhouse faces what all live theaters outside of New York face: a shrinking audience.

“Theater supporters are passing on, and empty nesters are leaving. The millenials have no idea about live theater. And then there is the diversity of the community – live theater is not

It has such high production values that it gives us a chance to punch up what we [normally] do... What people will see is phenomenal.

Barbara Stein, executive director, Actors’ Playhouse

Kagan looks on as Tony Seepersad (right) conducts the band while dance arranger Larry Blank (center) reviews the musical score.

necessarily their priority. This is an opportunity to increase our audience base. As an area public institution, we have an obligation to grow ourselves.”

If the stakes are high for Stein and the Actors’Playhouse, they are even higher for Kagan. For him, it is “all in” and the fulfillment of a dream – albeit one late in the life of an insurance agent for Hollywood stars. Not only did he compose the music, he had to advance the entire process, including intense pre-production workshops in New York’s theater district this summer.

“I’ve always been involved in theater, and I’ve had ideas for musicals, like one I tried to do for I Love Lucy,” says Kagan, who has served on numerous theatrical boards, including L.A.’s Center Theater Group, the largest non-profit theater company in the U.S. (Children of a Lesser God, Angels in America). “But this was never a dream of mine, to create a show and write the score for it.”

Having committed to the idea, however, Kagan has spared no expense in bringing talent to cast and crew. He already had a huge Rolodex of contacts from his early years producing Broadway shows (he was twice nominated for Tony’s as a producer), compounded by decades of hobnobbing with the Hollywood elite as an insurance salesman.

In addition to the technical directors for sound, light, dance, set design and lyrics, the band itself is laden with talent; one worked with Celia Cruz, one with Tito Puente, another with Gloria Estefan. “This will be the hottest band to ever play a Broadway show,” says Kagan. To help with the orchestration, Kagan called on Larry Blank, the famed composer, arranger and conductor who received three Tony nominations for his orchestrations of Catch Me if You Can, White Christmas and The Drowsy Chaperone.

“I met him in the Hamlisch days,” says Kagan. “I called him and said, ‘I’ve written a score.’ He said, ‘But, you’re an insurance salesman!’” He humored me by listening to one song and in the middle of it said, ‘That’s it. I’m in.” Blank’s orchestrations (and the script) were reviewed by Miami music legend Luis Serrano, a music historian in his own right who Kagan calls his “Cuban music authenticator.” Then there is Tony Seepersad, the band’s director, who is also a concert violinist and member of the Miami Symphony and Florida Grand Opera.

“In addition to them, we have 19 actors and dancers in the cast, and another 30 people from our production side, and the Actors’Playhouse has about ten. And that doesn’t include theater staff, like ushers. It’s a big production.”

The real question, says Kagan, is whether enough people will come to the show. “I just have to get people to know about it, and to fill the seats,” he says. If they do, they will be exposed to a musical performance that is lyrical, melodic, beautiful and moving – and, to an authentic event. One of the elements that Torres added to the production was the idea that the Miracle Theater will become the Havana Music Hall.

“Our pre-show and after-show is something to come and experience,” says Torres. “It is an immersive element that I created for people to take in as part of the Havana Music Hall, from the moment they arrive in the front of the marque.” For those who go inside and see the show, she says, “It is a story of love, hope and redemption. The love of Havana, the hope that you can express yourself through music, and the redemption for those who had to stay and endure in Cuba. But I can’t give that part away. That is part of the discovery of going to see it.”

WEALTH MANAGEMENT IN CORAL GABLES

By J.P. Faber

Few cities in Florida are more suited to the presence of wealth management firms than Coral Gables; in Miami-Dade County it stands alone. And for good reason. In terms of residential real estate value, two of the top three zip codes are in Coral Gables, as are four of the top 10 – no mean feat when you consider the competition includes Fisher Island, Pinecrest and Key Biscayne. When you combine income levels with home values, Coral Gables takes five of the top 10 slots.

There is also a certain refinement to the wealth of Coral Gables. It feels, for lack of a better word, generational. It is not the sudden wealth of Miami Beach’s hotel and club owners, nor the real estate fortunes of Miami’s high-rise kings. It is a subtler, more refined kind of wealth, one that has grown over time. And as such, it is the perfect milieu for the artistry of private wealth management.

Discretely located around the city are the offices of national banking and investment firms such as Morgan Stanley and The Northern Trust Company, as well as those of powerful regional banks such as Sun Trust and City National. Banks from neighboring cities, such as Miami’s Brickell Bank and Coconut Grove Bank, also serve the residents of Coral Gables.

And then there are those banks specializing in wealth management that are based in the City Beautiful itself,

such as the Coral Gables Trust Company, Firestone Capital Management, Evensky & Katz/Foldes, and Singer Xenos. To call these boutique banks may reflect their sense of community focus, but with assets under management of between $.5 and $1.5 billion each, they are hardly boutique in terms of their size. And what they all share is a conservative philosophy, that it is more important to preserve wealth than rapidly expand it.

“We don’t try to make people rich,” says Jim Davidson, Chairman and CEO of the Coral Gables Trust Company. “To do that you are going to have to take excessive risk.” The goal, he says, is to grow wealth in a steady, safe way. “In an upmarket we do better than average. And in a down market they [our clients] don’t go down as much as the general market.”

“If you make a higher return it’s not a life changing event,” says Faith Xenos, a founder partner of Singer Xenos. “But if you lose your capital that is a life changing event. The money cannot be replaced, and once it is lost on a [risky] venture, it’s gone.” What most wealth managers strive for is an annual return of somewhere between six and eight percent, averaged over time. Some clients are in a position to invest more aggressively, knowing that such investments are precarious. Others want to move in a safer direction. Knowing what your clients want, say wealth managers, is perhaps the most important aspect of their jobs.

We don’t try to make people rich. To do that you are going to have to take excessive risk. The goal is to grow wealth in a steady, safe way...

Jim Davidson (Right) Chairman and CEO of the Coral Gables Trust Company

Photo by Jonathan Dann

“Returns? That is a common question and a hard question,” says Carlos Carbonell, a partner in Firestone Capital Management. “We are not an institutional fund, so we don’t have standard returns.” Rather, says Carbonell, the mission is to understand the financial goals of each client, and whether those have been achieved. “Success for us is not measured by performance on a given year. It is, instead, ‘Did our client retire on time with the monthly income they wanted? Or did they get their kids’ college costs financed?’”

How banks acquire clients in Coral Gables and the neighboring communities of South Florida is another part of each wealth management firm’s strategy.

Brickell Bank, for example, operates from a glass tower on Brickell Avenue, long considered the banking capital of Miami. But it pays particular attention to Coral Gables, providing financial support for the Actor’s Playhouse, the Coral Gables Art Cinema and the Coral Gables Garden Club. “We don’t have a physical presence in Coral Gables, but we do have a lot of customers there,” says Frederick Reinhardt, Chairman and CEO. Reinhardt also lives in the Gables.

Formally known as Espiritos Santos bank, Brickell specializes not only in wealth management, but in trade finance and residential mortgages for foreigners. The majority of its clients are from Latin America, followed by Europe – an astute advantage for serving an international community like Coral Gables. By handling commercial transactions for clients, they are able to win their confidence for wealth management as well.

Coconut Grove Bank is another area player with a focus on Coral Gables, where it maintains a branch. Like other banks with a strong wealth management component, it is all about finding the right balance for each client, says bank president Charles Porter. “The key to investing [for clients] is asset allocation, between stocks, bonds and other types of assets,” says Porter. “That is the biggest challenge.”

What determines allocation between the more volatile stocks and the safer bonds “is really governed by the client’s risk tolerance. If they are comfortable tilting toward equities, the returns can be higher. If they are tilting toward fixed income, the returns are lower. You have to live within that risk-return spectrum and be reasonable

about the outcomes,” says Porter.

As a full service bank that offers a variety of commercial services, Coconut Grove Bank derives much of its wealth management clientele by helping them grow their businesses. “As the big brand-name wealth managers have gone higher and higher on the minimal scale [required], we are still very comfortable with the millionaire next door,” he says, because these are the future men and women of great wealth.

For some asset managers, the targeting of potential clients is even more focused. Xenos, for example, specializes in wealth management for women.

“A few years ago, I started with an overview of wealth management for women, including women having sudden equity events. Now it’s [also] protecting women with inheritances,” she says. “The daughter may be left with a large amount of assets that they have never managed. A lot of women come to me with [such situations]… They are not going to their husband’s person. They want to find their own person and have their own relationships.”

The resources that each firm brings

We don’t have a physical presence in Coral Gables, but we do have a lot of customers there...

Frederick Reinhardt (Above) Chairman and CEO of Brickell Bank

to the table also vary considerably. Some wealth managers use largely their own in-house teams to decide where and when to invest their client’s assets; others use outside specialists who focus on where to invest, so that they can pay closer, individual attention to their clients.

Among the trends for wealth management today is to go beyond purely investment advice, moving the arrow to a more holistic approach, with consultation about things like business succession, estate and charitable planning, and life insurance planning.

Frank Dolph of Dolph & Associates is a member of The Nautilus Group, a service of New York Life, one of the top-rated mutual life insurers. He regularly works with wealth management advisors to help them provide a full spectrum of insights, a differentiator compared to more traditional wealth management firms.

“We are not giving investment advice and we are not trying to accumulate assets under management. Our goal is to review the client’s current plan and make suggestions so that their local advisors can make the client’s plan better. We work with the advisor as a team and do not step on the

Photo by Jonathan Dann

Faith Xenos Founder partner of Singer Xenos

advisor’s toes,” says Dolph. While some wealth management firms have insurance specialists on their in-house team, they typically seek the help of firms like Dolph’s because many do not have access to the highest-rated insurers, like New York Life.

Regardless of where the expertise is sourced, focusing on other services beside purely the return on assets will be an increasingly important part of the wealth manager’s job, says Harold Evensky. As the founder of Evensky & Katz/Folde (now managed by his son), Evensky is considered the grand old man of wealth management services in Coral Gables. “We don’t sell performance,” he says. “We have an expensive crystal ball and a ouija board, but they don’t work. Our focus [is now] on tax efficiency and expense reduction, because we are looking toward a decade of low returns. So the management of costs is a bigger focus.”

Beyond bringing in outside professionals to help with tax and estate planning, as well as insurance needs, some wealth management firms turn to outside pros for even investment advice.

Davidson of Coral Gables Trust, for example, says his firm screens investment fund managers from across the country, and from 25,000 such managers ultimately picks the dozen best. “Starting out we decided to do [investment fund management] in-house, but found out we couldn’t do it as effectively if we wanted to spend time with clients,” he says. “There are many outside firms that do these advisory services.” Using these, “we can design a portfolio that perfectly fits the risk tolerance of the client.”

Regardless of their different approaches to clientele, all of Coral Gables wealth managers agree on one thing: That Coral Gables is an excellent place to do business. “It’s where our clients are,” says Carbonell of Firestone. “It’s a convenient location for clients. They don’t have to deal with the traffic and hustle and bustle of downtown. It’s easy to get here and a pleasant place to visit.”

Midwest-based First American Bank, for example, purchased the Bank of Coral Gables four years ago. Previously it had operated only in Illinois and Wisconsin. Here they hired Gables resident and business owner John O’Rourke, a former wealth management banker for Northern Trust. “First American had been coming down to South Florida for the import and export business, doing a lot of commercial

lending,” says O’Rourke. “Wealth management came about from our clients, where it was a time in their lives when they were selling their business, or inheriting money. They’d had good experience with the bank but it wasn’t offering any wealth management or fiduciary service.”

First American focuses on fostering relationships with small business owners, taking clients starting with just $500,000 in their portfolios. “The real key is what defines you as an organization. In our case it’s the banking side, expertise in commercial and industrial lending. We are a certified SBA [Small Business Administration] lender.”

Almost all of the wealth managers of Coral Gables charge only a single fee, based on the amount of assets under management. It typically starts at one percent annually for the first million dollars, and drops as the assets grow. This frees the investment advisor from the approach of brokerages, for example, so that clients are not placed into stock and bonds just to generate commissions.

“We are considered a fee-only firm, and that fee is determined by assets under

Success for us is not measured by performance on a given year. It is, instead, ‘Did our client retire on time with the monthly income they wanted?

Carlos Carbonell (above) Firestone Capital Management

management,” says Carbonell. “There is one fee and that is disclosed. It is a clean, simple, up-front model, and it removes the conflict of interest, in terms of a commission. I want what is best for the client… Our dollars collected only increase if the value of the account grows.”

That intense focus on client needs and client relations, along with a long-term, steady growth approach to asset management, is ultimately what defines the locally based firms that advise and manage the wealthy of Coral Gables.

“We focus a lot on client relations, differentiating our bank from the big wire firms, like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, the big trust houses, like Bessemer and Northern Trust, and the big banks,” says Brickell Bank’s Reinhardt. “We are focused on the hand holding of our clients and keep in close, close touch… It’s an experience our clients don’t get in New York.”

“The whole concept is to be locally owned and operated with decisions made here, not in New York or Charlotte,” says Davidson of Coral Gables Trust. “We have people with experience in the big firms and we bring that experience to bear. But we provide it on local, personal basis.”

Photo by Lizzie Wilcox

John O’Rourke First American Bank

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Hummus, Sushi and Sharing

SAWA IS A UNIQUE AND DELIGHTFUL DUAL CONCEPT DINING EXPERIENCE

by Andrew Gayle

He comes from Beirut and she comes from Osaka. On weekends they both get homesick for their mom’s cooking. So where do they go?

To Sawa, of course, a restaurant somewhere on the Lebanese/ Japanese border in Coral Gables, where they serve food from both nations.

Sawa is not fusion dining, but dual dining, with a menu split between traditional Lebanese food and modern Japanese tastes. It is also a dual dining in the physical sense, where you can sit inside or out. While the interior is elegantly appointed, if it’s not summer you should sit outside; the central courtyard of the Shops of Merrick Park is a cross between a village green and a college campus quad. At night it is decided lovely, with tall Royal Palms lit from below. Sawa adds a special touch with flaming torches.

The ambiance is both romantic and exotic. It is a fine setting for a large selection of interesting dishes that range from naan flatbreads, vegetarian tapas and kebabs to sushi rolls, sashimi, and seafood tapas. The menu is vast.

“There is literally something for everyone here, for meat eaters, vegans or sushi lovers. That’s why we get a lot of families,” says Melissa Bolieu, general manager at Sawa

since it opened in 2010. “It’s also a culinary love story, where East meets Middle East.”

During a recent visit, we tried dishes from both sides of the aisle. On the Middle Eastern end, we sampled their hummus and baba ganough. Both made fresh daily by Lebanese chef Roger Zakkour. Delightfully savory, enough to turn you into a vegan. Our waiter, Scott, also recommended the kibbe, a Lebanese national dish that’s like a dumpling made of bulgar, minced onions, and finely ground beef and lamb. Very tasty, and a worthy part of their Lebanese Sampler.

From the same region –and from the entrée column –we tried their moussaka. This is like a Middle Eastern lasagna, except with a creamy potato béchamel on top instead of pasta, and with spiced angus ground beef and eggplant underneath, suffused with a tomato basil sauce. If this is Lebanese comfort food, give us more.

What really knocked our socks off, however, were the lamb lollipops, lamb chops dressed in a jalapeño mint demi glaze, one of their “meat tapas.” Several of our party swore it was the best lamb dish they’d ever eaten.

On the Japanese side (and for these dishes they have a second chef, who goes only by the name ‘Iqbal’) we tried a

Melissa Bolieu, general manager

Photo by Lizzie Wilcox

Opposite: If it’s not summer you should sit outside in the central courtyard of the Shops of Merrick Park

Top: A Sawa strong suit: Their artisanal cocktails

Bottom: Sushi of lobster tempura, cream cheese, avocado, scallions and eel sauce

couple of their signature rolls. I am by nature not a sushi fan, but these changed my mind. We tried the Merrick Park, consisting of lobster tempura, cream cheese, avocado, scallions and eel sauce. Superb, and only topped by a second roll called the Atlantic, with combined blue crab tempura with Norwegian smoked salmon, scallions, cream cheese and wasabi mayo. Just outstanding.

Not to be understated are two other Sawa strong suits: Their artisanal cocktails and their desserts. We tried their Miami Cooler, a blend of Meyers rum, tropical juices and orange bitters. Like drinking a summer afternoon. And we tried their chocolate nutellantini cocktail, a ‘dessert martini’ that was, well, like drinking dessert. Delicious. Speaking of which, nobody does baklava like Sawa, that traditional Middle East pastry stuffed with honey soaked pistachios. And from the other side of the aisle we tried the Thai donuts, with condensed milk and shredded pastry. Amazing.

In addition to the food is another treat – a belly dancer who appears at 8 pm and 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. A crowd favorite. “It’s been wildly popular since day one, an ‘eatertainment’ concept. It’s like dinner and a show,” says Bolieu. Dance on, Sawa.

THE TOP RESTAURANTS IN CORAL GABLES

Gables is a moveable feast, a veritable mecca of fine dining. It has the highest density of quality restaurants for any city in South Florida – close to 100 good dining establishments. The restaurants do cluster near the main street of Miracle Mile, but are also spread throughout the Gables. This is not the sort of town where one wanders about in large shopping malls, but nonetheless there are some hidden gems to be found there and even in out-of-the way strip malls.

Coral

Dining hours in the Gables stretch from the early evening – when It is common to see people at restaurants close to where they work – until late at night, when it’s not unusual go

$ Under $25 $$ $25-$40 $$$ $35-$75

$$$$ $70-$100+

Prices are per person for appetizer and entrée, no tax, tip or drinks. Prices are approximate

Aromas del Peru

The shrine for ceviche, with a wide range of choices – 18 ceviches at last count – for great prices. Haute Peruvian appetizers and good fish dishes, right up to the whole fried snapper. And don’t miss the pisco sour soup. Comfortable leather seats, too. 1930 Ponce de León Blvd. 305.476.5886

$$ Peruvian Bellmónt

Modern décor meets traditional Spanish dishes. Their house specialty is the roast suckling pig. If you want the whole pig ($230 for 4) you need to order 4 hours in advance. If it’s just you ($49) you’ll need to wait just 50 minutes. As for the rest: authentic Spanish cuisine, with great seafood dishes, fantastic paella. 339 Miracle Mile. 786.502.4684

$$$ Spanish Bocas House

Interesting take on traditional Latin food, fused with Asian and American tastes. The Arroz al Wok specials (shrimp, beef, or chicken/mixed) consist of Latin style rice cooked in a wok with a reduction of soy, sesame oil and oyster sauce. The signature dish is fried green plantains with ‘wok-smoked’ pork steak covered with shredded

white cheese. Big selection of arepas, great (albeit pricey) milkshakes.

2 Aragon Ave. 786.631.3703

$$ Latin American fusion

Bulla Gastro

As valued for its cocktails as for its tapas, Bulla’s is also something Coral Gables needs – an informal, smart neighborhood hangout with a young, boisterous vibe. Great ‘small plates’ and refreshing sangria. Yes, it is a national chain, but it still feels local.

2500 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

305.441.0107

$$ Spanish

Brasserie Central

Secretly owned by Pascal of Ponce fame, the restaurant is half in side half in the courtyard of the Shops. A typical French bistro with wonderful onion soup, fresh bread, and a superb paté. Everything on the menu is fresh, French, and all you would expect from Pascal. Lots of little French touches.

Shops at Merrick Park // 786.536.9388

$$-$$$ French

Caffe Abbracci

A Gables icon, Nino Pernetti’s Italian restaurant is both a power lunch favorite for the business elite and a cozy evening gathering place for families and couples. Closely shepherded by the welcoming Pernetti, Abbracci is quiet, elegant and flavorful. The food is so consistently good that Pernetti had to publish his own cookbook.

318 Aragon Ave. 305.441.0700

$$$ Italian

Caffe Vialetto

Two brothers, managing to keep sibling rivalry at bay, have concocted a menu of upscale Latin food that is

to a restaurant at 10 pm and find the place packed, even with children.

Many of the restaurants in Coral Gables are world-class. But the culinary scene is also changing. Where once the topflight, traditional dining spots catered to lawyers, bankers, businessmen and diplomats, there is a new crop of edgier places, with young chefs and new tastes, catering to a younger clientele.

What follows is our list of the tried and true, and the innovative and new. We dine at all locations anonymously, and we list only the places where we love to eat.

Caffe Abbracci

consistently changing and interesting. Yuca, mofongo (garlic flavored mashed plantains), and other Caribbean and Latin flavors make for a delightful evening and an out of the ordinary experience. Reservations required, always full.

4019 LeJuene Rd. 305.446.5659

$$$ Cuban/Latin

California Pizza Kitchen

A local favorite, the home of “California-style” pizza, this national chain that started in Beverly Hills is both casual and polished, with a truly inventive array of non-traditional pizzas. Things like cauliflower crust, spicy chipotle chicken, carne asada. And then there are the patrons who come only for the butter cake, which they consider one of the best things on earth.

300 Miracle Mile 305.774.9940

$$ Pizza/American

Christy’s

Touted as Coral Gables oldest steakhouse, Christy’s was long the power lunch go to – until it stopped serving lunch except on Fridays. Still, its aged steaks are consistently excellent, as are the seafood entrees. And their classic Caesar salad is still the best in town. 3101 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.446.1400

$$$ Steakhouse

Cibo Wine Bar

Cibo has two locations in South Florida, one on South Beach and the other here, on Miracle Mile. Rustic Italian food in a warm interior with exposed brick, wood finishes, butcher block tables and a wall of wine selections. Extensive traditional Italian menu, with lots of pizza options cooked in a brick oven.

45 Miracle Mile. 305.442.4925

$$-$$$ Italian

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Dining Guide

Eating House

Groovy place with inventive ever-changing menu, with dishes like nutmeg risotto, pumpkin tiradito, and fried Brussel sprouts. Dynamite freerange fried chicken. Simple artsy décor but superb food, excellent presentation, great value.

804 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

305.448.6524

$$ Innovative American

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse

Fantastic aged steaks, a seafood tower that won’t quit, and a wine cellar that appears to have no end of its depth. A place for special celebrations. Recently

Frenchie’s

Diner

It looks like an all-American diner (which it once was) but this pure French cooking. Frenchie himself is usually there. Some items on the menu can get pricey (duck confit, $32) but the onion soup ($9) and escargots ($11) are great values, and the croquet-monsieur ($12) for lunch is a meal unto itself.

2618 Galiano St. 305.442.4554

$$ French

Graziano’s

This large, bustling Gables mainstay is true Argentine. A deep selection of Argentina wines (which line every

music on weekends.

253 Miracle Mile. 305.445.3777

$ Pub Food

Kao Sushi & Grill by Sushi Club

A fresh and interesting take on Sushi, as it is blended with the flavors of Peru. Steamed gyoza dumplings with chorizo? Tuna tataki with traditional Peruvian sauce? Cooked white rice over chipotle seasoned furikake? They also do some interesting things with steak, since the creators of the Sushi Club come from Buenos Aires. Outdoor seating on the Mile.

127 Miracle Mile. 786.864.1212

$$ Peruvian Japanese

La Dorada

Regarded by many to be the finest restaurant devoted to seafood in the Gables, La Dorada is traditional Spanish cooking with a deep-sea focus (and a pleasant, ocean-deco décor). The house specialty is baked whole fish crusted in sea salt, but don’t miss the traditional Mediterranean seafood stews or the shellfish prepared Galician style.

177 Giralda. 305.446.2002

$$$$ Spanish Seafood

so expect some innovations along with French standards such duck l’orange and steak au poivre – like a Mediterranean grill with octopus, mussels, scallops, black rice and saffron garlic aioli. New sidewalk seating for the café experience, perfect pre-theater location. 266 Miracle Mile. 305.448.8984

$$$ French Mediterranean

La Taberna Giralda

Routinely rated among the top tapas places in South Florida, La Taberna brings the added twist of a chef from Galicia, who puts his own regional spin the dishes. It’s a small place with a neighborhood vibe, orang walls, string lights and live flamenco on the weekends ($5 cover), so reservations are a must.

254 Giralda Avenue. 786.362.5677

$$ Spanish

M House

New restaurant on the ground floor of the Aloft Hotel, M House has soaring ceilings and clever plant hangings that create a great space. Fantastic seafood and new tastes abound, as Chef Abraham Silva uses a Josper Oven to bake in flavors at high heats. Great new takes on octopus, scallops and mussels, along with a masterful whole fish.

redecorated, but the open kitchen with its copper ‘sash’ across the top still gives the main dining room a glow. Good menu at the bar.

2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

305.569.7995

$$$-$$$$ Steak & Seafood

Fontana

The setting is as elegant as the service and food: The Biltmore’s famed fountain courtyard. You can sit under the stars, in a covered archway or inside to enjoy Italian classics. Fresh ingredients, from the salads to the pasta that is made daily. Great octopus, pastas cooked perfectly. One of the most romantic restaurants in the Gables.

1200 Anastasia Ave. (Biltmore Hotel)

305.913.3200

$$$ Italian

Fratellino

Small, family run, with a fanatically loyal fan base, brilliant Italian comfort food. The long narrow set up with tile floors, wooden chairs and tablecloths makes it feel like New York’s Little Italy. Their calamari, in any variation, is superb, and fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms and green peas? To die for.

264 Miracle Mile. 786.452.0068

$$$ Italian

wall) to go with churrasco meats slowly roasted over a quebracho wood fire, old school style. They have seafood and pasta, empanadas and salads, but come here for the meat, the selection of which will stun even hardcore carnivores.

394 Giralda. 305.774.3599

$$$ Argentine

Ichimi

This off-Mile eatery has developed a cult following, with diners content to wait and stand and stare, just for the opportunity to eat Ichimi’s Japanese noodles and rice bowls. And the wait is worth it. Delicious, rich and faraway flavors in dishes you can’t find just anywhere, in a raw, cool space.

2330 Salzedo St. 305.960.7016

$-$$ Japanese

John Martin’s Irish Pub

Where else in the Gables can you find a relaxed Irish pub with excellent pub comfort food like shepherd’s pie, bangers & mash, and fish & chips?

Answer: nowhere. Which is why this long-established eatery and bar is so beloved by its clientele. Lots of America staples as well, from hot pastrami on rye to their signature Pub Burger,

La Palma

Exquisite setting in a historic building with lovely courtyard dining. For years, La Palma was known for its incredible lunch buffet. At $13.95 it’s still a bargain, but now served only on Tuesdays. For other weekdays, they have an executive lunch for $17.95. And good to know they always have pasta fagioli, the Tuscan white bean soup.

116 Alhambra Circle. 305.445.8777

S$-$$$ Italian

La Provencal

This Gables mainstay (30 years in the same location) is under new ownership,

Delicious Josper-cooked lamb chops. 2524 S. Le Jeune Rd. 786.369.5155

$$$ European coastal cuisine, seafood

Mariposa

Mariposa floats like a butterfly in a far-off corner overlooking the garden courtyard of the Park. The food is light fare, as one might expect at a Neiman Marcus, with prices not so light. Salads, soups, cocktails – a casual place to rest after having spent far more than you planned.

Shops at Merrick Park. 786.999.1018

$$$ New American

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse

M House

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Coral Gables is the ideal place for commuting on an e-bike as well as sport cycling and racing. Let Suncycling get you started. We are a family-owned bicycle shop dedicated to offering you only the best products that our team uses and trusts. Stop by the showroom at 2710 Ponce de Leon Blvd and see our fine collection of e-bikes from Riese & Muller, Bulls, Tern and Marin. We want to share the joy of cycling with you.

Contact Oliver de Abreu, owner of Suncycling at odeabreu@suncycling.com or 786.493.3872

2710 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Coral Gables, FL

Coconut Grove • 786.409.2663

Hialeah Outlet Store • 786.615.4733

www.suncycling.com

Open daily 10 to 7 • Sunday 10 - 5

Dining Guide

Matsuri

Just over the city line at Bird and Red roads, Matsuri is tucked humbly away in non-descript Red Bird Shopping Center. Yet it serves the world-class sushi, the finest anywhere in South Florida, and has an enormous menu of traditional Japanese food as well. You will need reservations to snag a seat from its devoted clientele.

5759 Bird Rd. 305.663.1615

$$-$$$ Japanese

Mesa Mar

A relative newcomer, though the family has been in the restaurant business for many years. Some of the best seafood in the Gables. Try the golden-fried hogsnapper accompanied by lobster bisque with whole chunks of Florida lobster. Also serves delicious ceviches.

264 Giralda Ave. 305.640.8448

$$$ Seafood

Mikuna Peruvian

“It’s time to feel the real Peru” boasts the Mikuna web site, and they do indeed move beyond ceviche to the other dishes that make Peruvian food one of the best cuisines in Latin America. These include lobster with Peruvian yellow pepper sauce, seafood rice with

squid ink, and skewered swordfish. Other unique tastes include shrimp bisque with rice and egg.

325 Alcazar Ave. 786.420.2910

$$$ Peruvian

Morton’s Coral Gables

Morton’s in the Gables is not just another Morton’s. It’s setting in the Collonades gives it a unique elegance, with outdoor seating under the arches. Dependable quality, prime-aged beef, and excellent salads. Good place to take that important client. Great happy hour with filet mignon sandwiches or short rib tacos for $8.

2333 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.442.1662

$$$ Steakhouse

Old Lisbon

It’s just outside the Gables in South Miami, but if you want great Portuguese food this is the place. The best codfish in town (11 variations), great mussels with a special sauce, and unique dishes like grilled Portuguese sardines and traditional caldo verde (potato and sausage) soup. Good service, and Portuguese wines at good prices.

5837 Sunset Drive. 305.662.7435

$$-$$$ Portuguese

Ortanique on the Mile

A long-time favorite on Miracle Mile, Ortanique is named for a tropical citrus fruit (their sister restaurant is in Grand Cayman) and its Caribbean fine dining reflects chef Cindy Hutson’s commitment to “cuisine of the sun.” A warm and welcoming place. 278 Miracle Mile. 305.446.7710

$$ Caribbean

Palm d’Or

The award-winning Palm d’Or is a dining icon in Coral Gables. At once traditional and innovative, the French

cuisine created by Chef Gregory Pugin is a work of art, literally. Each serving in his $115 six-course meals – or his $155 chef’s tasting menu – is impeccable in taste and appearance.

1200 Anastasia Ave. (at the Biltmore Hotel) 305.913.3200

$$$$ French

Pascal’s On Ponce

Elegant, quaint and delicious, Pacal’s is the home and culinary canvas of owner-chef Pascal Oudin, who brings authentic classic French cuisine to the heart of the city. Meticulous in every

Palm d’Or

Dining Guide

detail. Oudin excels in seafood, soufflés and desserts. Try the leeks & hearts of palm salad.

2611 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

305.444.2024

$$$ French

Pincho Factory

One of the few places where you can get delicious food at a low price in the Gables, this home-grown chain (based here) combines Brazilian shish kabob (served in rice bowls or as wraps) with uniquely flavored hamburgers. A guilty pleasure for the well to do.

30 Giralda Ave. 305.446.5666

$ Latin Street Food

Red Koi Lounge

If you like Thai food, then you will love Red Koi, which takes the Asian specialty up a notch. Their Bangkok Shrimp is worth the visit alone, and their cashew curry chicken will make you come back. Hopefully they will be expanding their few outdoor tables soon.

317 Miracle Mile. 305.446.2690

$$ Thai

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

There is a reason that the tables at

Ruth’s are typically full, even on week nights. This is where the best steaks are sent and where cholesterol is sent to the devil for the sake of extraordinary taste. Lots of wood paneling, wonderful service, and huge wine selection complete the package.

2320 Salzedo St. 205.461.8360

$$$$ Steakhouse

SAWA

Delicious take on Japanese flavors fused with Europe’s Mediterranean, Sawa offers seating inside or outside at Merrick Park. A vast selection of sushi rolls, and a vaster selection of tapas that range from chicken yatkitori to octopus ceviche. Some nice ‘samplers’ let you check out the menu’s range, plus great naan flatbreads. Also has a doggy menu.

360 San Lorenzo Ave. (Shops of Merrick Park) 305.447.6555

$$$ Japanese and Mediterranean fusion

Seasons 52

The restaurant for healthy eaters who enjoy quality as well. The menu, changing four times a year with each season, is always full of inventive

treatments for fresh veggies, soups and salads. Their fish and meat dishes are great values, and the flat bread menu is really a nice touch. It’s a chain, but we forgive them.

321 Miracle Mile. 305.442.8552

$$ Healthy American

Shula’s 347 Grill

If it’s beef you are after but want to avoid the formality of a high-end steak house, Shula’s is perfect for you. Good service and pleasant décor – including lots of photos of the coach – make this

a go-to place for professionals in the area. Great use of cheeses – boursin in their mac & cheese, and gorgonzola in their cream spinach. Best Specialty Burger says Coral Gables magazine. 6915 Red Rd. 305.665.9661

$$$ Steak and seafood

Swine

Like the name says, this place is about everything porcine, from pork belly salad ($8) all the way to the suckling pig ($38). A kind of upscale-rural wood-and-brick feel, and a tad pricey

Dining Guide

for country fare, but man, do they know their way around a pig – along with other Southern things, like fried chicken.

2415 Ponce de Leon. 786.360.6533

$$$ Southern

Talavera Cocina Mexicana

High ceilings and ceramics make this a pleasant place to dine, but it’s the authentic fare that shines. The place for Mexicans home sick for cooking that’s not Tex-Mex. The chicken mole poblano is a winner at $20, and their huarache grill – masa flat breads that are really haute tacos – are great at $17.

2299 Ponce de Leon Blvd.

305.444.2955

$$ Mexican Tap 42

Winner of Best Overall Burger by Coral Gables magazine, Tap 42 is big, noisy and fun, with a huge island bar and lots of booths. Reliably good ribs, steaks, and burgers, plus shines in the sides (roasted Brussel sprouts with maple mustard, truffle mac & cheese with parmesan crust). Nice random Asian dishes (grilled salmon Zen bowl, Asian cole slaw).

301 Giralda Ave. 786.391.1566

$$-$$$ American Pub

Tarpon

Bend

Tarpon Bend is full even on off days. Why? Great, fresh fish at reasonable prices, like cedar plank salmon with veggies for $25 or Asian tuna burger for $15. Owner Wayne stays on top of quality and it shows. Their daily special features three fish prepared any way you like. Big happy hour scene, loyal followers.

65 Miracle Mile. 305.444.3210

$$ Seafood

The Seven Dials

Calling itself an ‘eclectic American gastropub,’ Seven Dials is a fusion of American recipes with British culinary standards, with nice twists.

The shepherd’s pie is made from lamb, the chicken breast is cooked with curry sauce. There are also a nice Welsh Rarebit snack and beer-battered Indian-inspired cauliflower with mint aioli and tamarind. Relaxed, pub-like interior.

2030 S. Douglas Rd. 786.542.1603

$$ British American

Tarpon Bend

ThreeFold Café

You have to love a place that is dedicated to breakfast all day long. But who needs dinner when you can get shrimp tacos for breakfast, along with salmon scrambled eggs, chicken parma, and that Millenial favorite, smashed avocado toast? The brain child of Australian Nick Sharp, ThreeFold is also popular for Sunday brunch – partly because of nice outdoor seating on Giralda Plaza. And the coffee is some of the best around.

141 Giralda Ave. 305.704.8007

$$ American

Zucca

A worthy heir to the hallowed grounds of the old St. Michel restaurant, this one-year-old is a new star in the raiment of Italian eateries in the Gables. Distinctly northern Italian, with the home-taught recipes that chef Simone Mua learned in his native Milan. Modern Italian design, with haute comfort food and great service.

162 Alcazar Ave. 786.580.3731

$$$ Northern Italian

What

Million Will Buy in Coral Gables

Coral Gables has some of the most valuable real estate in South Florida, with a median price per square foot ($423) that is almost twice that of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. Average prices over the last five years have risen 43 percent.

To see what $3 million would buy today, we asked four real estate agents to submit one of their homes for sale in that price range – give or take a few hundred thousand dollars. Here is what they came up with, in different Gables locations.

Listing Agent: Hilda Jacobson (Douglas Elliman), 786.213.4511

A Bend in the River

5343 ORDUNA DR.

Listing Price

$3.498M

6 bed/4 bath/1 half bath. 4,559 sq. ft. 16,791 sq. ft. lot

Description: Just off Dixie Hwy on a bend in the Coral Gables Waterway, near UM and Doctor’s Hospital, this is a modern 1951 two-story, with a huge covered patio, open kitchen, pool with waterfall, upstairs balconies, and really great views down the tropical waterway. Has a rare covered boat house cut into the property.

Listing Agent: Belinda Sime PA (Sime Realty Corporation) 786.344.9579

Listing Price

$3.3M

Stately Gables Gem

3800 GRANADA BLVD.

7 bed/5 bath/1 half bath. 7,627 sq. ft. One of those houses you drive by on the way to the Biltmore Hotel, and wonder who gets to live there. A 1924 Mediterranean mansion from the early days of the city, on the Biltmore golf course: Renaissance double doors to the great hall, formal dining room, library, sun porches, private wing for residents.

Listing Agent: Drew Kern (EWM Realty International), 305.282.3000

Listing Price

$3.248M

Historic Cocoplum

155 COCOPLUM RD.

5 bed/3 bath/1 half bath. 4,624 sq. ft. 15,000 sq. ft. lot A historic 1927 Mediterranean with 100 feet of deep-dockage waterfront, with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms in the main house, and one bed/one bath in the guest house. Working fireplace, wood beamed ceilings, original plaster walls, large pool, old Chicago brick driveway. Has a rare, small basement. A restoration opportunity.

Listing Agent: Magnus Jennemyr (Select Realty Group), 786.200.8857

From Main Street By Mark Trowbridge

Putting a Heart in the Arts

GET READY FOR A WORLD-CLASS MUSICAL THAT HITS HOME

Coral Gables has always been the cultural epicenter of Greater Miami – with a plethora of art galleries, four live theater companies, a revered art cinema, a renowned bookstore and, of course, public art that nearly broke the internet this summer. The City Beautiful is indeed at the forefront of the artistic community and we could not be prouder as a Chamber to help lead the effort.

In just a few days, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre will present the world premiere of a new and exciting musical, Havana Music Hall. This electrifying production will begin its highly-anticipated run with previews starting Oct. 10, an official opening Oct. 18, and concluding November 18!

Set in 1958 Cuba, Havana Music Hall tells the story of a husband and wife musical team – Rolando and Ramona Calderon – who are on the verge of breaking through to the world’s stage when the Cuban Revolution tears apart the only life they have known, performing for adoring crowds. Now, almost 60 years later, we find the couple trying to forget the past in the now devastated Havana Music Hall… but others just won’t let them.

Directed by acclaimed On Your Feet! Co-Choreographe r Maria Torres, with story and original score by Richard Kagan, this new musical captures the pain and joy of the immigrant experience like nothing before and will also have audiences dancing in the aisles with 22 musical numbers. Featuring new songs such as “Escape to Havana,” “Place of My Birth,” “Todo Es Bueno

en Cuba” and “I Have My Voice,” this fast-paced musical brings audiences inside the Havana Music Hall as hearts break and spirits fly. Personally, I cannot think of a better time in our lives than right now for the debut of this show, where we can experience the emotional range that helps us re-discover hope and happiness.

Kagan, who has set up camp here in Coral Gables, is “all in” on Havana Music Hall. His energy, enthusiasm and engaging personality will no doubt ensure that this show is a hit – ultimately finding its way to Broadway after a run here in the Gables. But, we must do our part, both as patrons of the arts and lovers of the immigrant experience. We all have that story somewhere in our family DNA and this show will help bring it back to the light of day. Our own Chamber will be hosting an evening in mid-October and I hope you and your company, co-workers, neighbors and friends will do the same in full-throated support. Havana Music Hall is the best way to kick-off a new season of the arts, right here at home.

Thank you to Actors’ Playhouse Executive Producing Director Barbara Stein and Artistic Director and Havana Music Hall Creative Consultant David Arisco for co-curating a story that captures the power of life, the joy of music and the humanity of friends and family. Coral Gables and Miami audiences will adore their time in the old Havana Music Hall and will leave the theatre with their hearts soaring.

Mark Trowbridge is the president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce

This new musical captures the pain and joy of the immigrant experience like nothing before...

“The encouraging family environment within Riviera has given my children a great sense of confidence and security. They are truly excited to go to school every day.”

Time Machine

LA PALMA BUILDING

“Our intent is to restore the style and glamour of one of Coral Gables’ original landmarks,” says Maven Principle Marc Schwarzberg. The restoration, to be completed by Torre Construction in 2019, will result in a mixed-use building of office, retail and restaurant space.

J. Edgar Hoover is appointed as the head of the FBI

Ellis Island closes as an immigration entry point to the U.S.

The Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to all Native Americans

Willem Einthoven invents the electrocardiogram, wins Nobel Prize

George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is played for the first time

Designed by George Merrick’s cousin H. George Fink and built in 1924, La Palma (116 Alhambra Circle) is considered an iconic Mediterranean Revival building. It was one of Coral Gables’ first hotels (The Solana), and today is being restored by the Maven real estate group.