Coral Gables Magazine March 2019

BUILDING ART

DEVELOPERS WHO FUND PUBLIC SCULPTURE

IGLESIAS’ MASTER PLAN

UPCOMING ELECTIONS

OUR GRAMMY WINNER

THE GABLES KITCHEN TOUR

Alirio Torrealba, CEO, MG Developer

Beautiful homes deserve beautiful storage solutions. That’s why we’ve been collaborating with homeowners for over 40 years to design, build, and install custom storage solutions for every room in the home. With a wide selection of carefully-curated premium finishes, accents, and accessories, we’re confident we can create a solution that matches your needs, taste, and style.

MG Developer presents Althea Row and Biltmore Row, the compelling next half of Coral Gables’ newest luxury enclave known as Biltmore Square. Named after the mother of Coral Gables visionary George Merrick, Althea Row is an ode to Building Beautiful, bringing a refined European charm with a dash of urban panache to the city’s core. Designed by De La Guardia Victoria Architecture, Althea Row and Biltmore Row provide a grandeur of exclusive living throughout each 3-story residence, complementing the Square after the latest delivered projects of Beatrice Row and Biltmore Parc.

Focused on building more than just developments, MG Developer is committed to building a lifestyle, characterized by living in The City Beautiful, Coral Gables. From its first development at 444 Valencia to its following projects known as The Ponce and Villa Blanc, Building Beautiful never meant so much while looking so good.

For more information on any of MG’s projects, call (305) 460-6719 or visit: www.mgdevelopermiami.com, or 718 Valencia Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134 #BuildingBeautiful

ALTHEA ROW & BILTMORE ROW

Coral Gables, FL

This [closing] is a major blow to the street and should bring an awareness about what is going on...

Venny Torre, chairman of the downtown Business Improvement District.

Features

59

Interview: Peter Iglesias

We recently sat down with the City Manager to get an idea of his priorities and vision for Coral Gables: infrastructure and technology

62

If You Can Take the Heat

The Coral Gables Community Foundation’s 10th Annual Tour of Kitchens fires up with a visit inside an array of well-designed homes

Building Art

68 72

Gables Business Banking

Boutique business banking for small and medium sized firms is trending in the Gables, where local decision making is what counts

For us, it is being proactive about the redecoration of the city...

Alirio Torrealba, CEO of MG Developer

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

Editor’s Note

The Price of Success.

Or is it Just Greed?

It is with great sorrow that we bid farewell to Tarpon Bend, the legendary raw bar and grill that has for 15 years anchored the 100 block of Miracle Mile. It was, among other things, the definitive Friday night happy hour hangout, where singles (and marrieds, too, ok) congregated by the hundreds, spilling onto the sidewalk and side courtyard. It was also a fine place to have lunch or dinner, with its vast, split level space that opened to the outside. It was good for jazz on Saturday nights and brunch on Sundays.

What happened to Tarpon Bend? Rising rents, plain and simple. According to city officials, the asking rents on Miracle Mile have basically doubled over the last four years – from $40 to $75-$80 a square foot – as landlords anticipated the increased sales the StreetScape project would bring.

In the case of Tarpon Bend, however, the landlord played his cards too soon. And he paid too much, too soon, $7 million more for the building that housed Tarpon Bend than the previous owner paid just two years earlier. The result was a rent hike that was unsustainable for Tarpon.

The fear here is not that Miracle Mile will lose a slew of

tenants and return to its former lackluster retail years. The momentum is already too great in the direction of the new Coral Gables, and reinforcements –in the form of new downtown residents – are on their way.

The fear is rather that the hometown, artisanal, local flavor and content of Miracle Mile will disappear. This is just what happened to Lincoln Road Mall. When it blossomed in the 1990s and 2000s, after years of neglect, it was full of local pubs, art galleries, bookstores, owner-run restaurants, inexpensive cafes, unique clothing shops, theaters, music venues, etc. All of that’s been replaced with Nike, Victoria’s Secret, Forever 21, GNC, the GAP, Banana Republic, H&M, etc. The landlords raised the prices so that only national chains could afford them, and in the process erased what made Lincoln Road special.

So, what is

to be done?

The good news is that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Gables continues to morph and evolve. In this issue we celebrate the opening of Ad Lib, John Krunka’s latest culinary innovation on Ponce just south of the Mile. He is on the edge of the trend toward smaller, chef-driven restaurants that can survive in smaller spaces.

Another approach is where the building owner cuts special deals with restaurateurs (or other retailers) to attract them to their buildings, either through partnerships, incentives in exchange for a share of the upside, or simply through offering sensible rents, knowing that a good restaurant brings life to a building. This is clearly the case for Bachour, the just-opened breakfast-lunchbrunch-pastry restaurant in the new mixed-use Codina Partners’ 2020 Salzedo building.

Bachour was lured to the building by Chairman Armando Codina (thank you, Armando) partly because he loved the handiwork of Chef Antonio Bachour, but also because he understands how it will energize the building –and that part of the downtown – by attracting out-oftowners as well as locals. It is also just what the city wants and needs: original, unique, owner-concept establishments that give the Gables a local flavor.

Cover: Alirio Torrealba, CEO of

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

Andrew Gayle

Kylie Wang

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jonathan Dann

Robert Sullivan

Donna Victor

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dennis Nason

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

J.P.Faber Editor-in-Chief

thecoralgablesmagazine.com

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

MG Developer, and the stone couch

Photography by Jon Braeley

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

The Full Title

First, thank you for a lovely magazine regarding the City of Coral Gables.  I read it cover-to-cover.

Secondly, on page 19 of the latest issue of your magazine, under the headline The City Electric please correct the name of pioneer Fred B. Hartnett in the naming of the parks as Fred B. Hartnett Ponce Circle Park – much like your writer described the William H. Kerdyk & Family Park. A plaque honoring the history of Mr. Hartnett is located in the park.

Mrs. A. L. Fulks/Resident

Editor’s Note: Thank you for your kind comments and pointing out the correct name. For the record, we did not print Mr. Hartnett’s name incorrectly, we simply used the more generic name for the park. But let us indeed honor Fred B. Hartnett, a former commissioner and mayor of Coral Gables (195557) who helped shape the city.

Further Kudos for Sharp

Bravo to Nick & Teresa Sharp in your article “Up from Down Under.” They have proven that greatness can be accomplished with determination and planning. As a fellow business owner in Coral Gables, it is refreshing to see Nick being such a proactive neighbor. What the article left out, is how Nick also works tirelessly as the Giralda Committee Chair on the local Business Improvement District Board. His volunteer efforts are benefitting all the downtown businesses. Thank you, Nick.

Jillian Hornik/Managing Partner, Jae’s Jewelers Historical Tweak

Thank you for the attention given to the history of Coral Gables in your lovely publication. I offer some corrections to the Time Machine piece that was featured in your last issue wherein our founder›s house was listed as the “Merrick Residence.”

Reverend and Mrs. Merrick, the parents

of founder George Merrick, did not build their house in 1899. They purchased the rustic Gregory homestead that was already on the site in 1899, and lived in it until the house we know and love today was completed and named Coral Gables in 1910. It was named after the “coral rock” that was quarried to build its gables. “Gables” had become a popular word used in the naming of houses at the time, as President Grover Cleveland named his house Gray Gables, and the ever popular children’s novel Anne of Green Gables was published. The name they gave their house and plantation became the perfect name for the development (and eventually the city)…

I think we owe it to George Merrick and his family to call their house by the name they gave it – Coral Gables – even if the names “Merrick House,” “Merrick Manor,” or “Merrick Residence” might be easier).

Brett Gillis/Resident

Editor’s Note: Thank you for your insight. How the house is called depends on the source. The city calls it Coral Gables Merrick House, Wikipedia as The Coral Gables House, etc. The problem with calling it Coral Gables is because it’s also the name of the city. Calling it the Merrick House or Merrick Residence is shorthand to avoid confusion.

Streetwise p19

Election Time!

Requiem for a Heavyweight

The Hungarian Games Take Out Your Check Book Celtic Cred

Election Time!

CORAL GABLES VOTERS WILL HEAD TO THE POLLS APRIL 9 TO CHOOSE A MAYOR AND TWO CITY COMMISSIONERS

The Contests: The mayor is up for re-election to a two-year term. Two of the four commission seats are up for election to four-year terms.

The Salaries: The office of mayor pays an annual salary of $38,870. City commissioners are paid $31,585 a year.

Registration: The same way you normally register to vote for national or state elections, in person or online. The deadline for registering for this election is March 11.

Voting: At any one of your normal voting precinct locations (there are 21); locations available from the MiamiDade County Elections Department.

GROUP 1 (Mayor)

The mayor’s race pits incumbent Raúl Valdes-Fauli against Jeannett Slesnick in a rematch of a hard-fought election battle he narrowly won two years ago. Slesnick, a former commissioner, lost the 2017 contest by a 51-49 percent margin, a difference of fewer than 200 votes.

to 2001. Under his leadership, the city has earned top bond ratings (AAA), dramatically reduced crime, and encouraged innovation and growth.

and “insuring we develop in the right way.” Cabrera, owner of a commercial insurance consulting firm, cites past efforts to lower property taxes, reduce insurance costs and protect historic homes.

ning “to ensure that my daughter gets to grow up in the same Coral Gables I grew up in, with that neighborhood community feel.” Fors says the city needs to make sure development is controlled and responsible. “The number one responsibility is to do what residents want us to do,” he says.

Valdés-Fauli

“We’ve had a great two years and the city is better than ever,” says Valdés-Fauli, 75, an attorney who served as a city commissioner and vice mayor from 1985 to 1988, and as mayor from 1993

Jeannett Slesnick

“I think the city needs and deserves leadership that is courteous and accessible,” says Slesnick, 71, a real estate broker who waited until the last minute to join the race. She says she will address the need for downtown parking garages and provide a check on what she calls the “in your face” high-rise development currently underway along U.S. 1.

GROUP 4

(Commissioner)

Four candidates are vying for the Group 4 commission seat being vacated by incumbent Frank Quesada, who chose not to seek reelection. Former commissioner Ralph Cabrera faces opposition from two first-time office seekers, attorney Jorge L. Fors, Jr., and former Assistant City Manager Carmen Olazabal, and downtown property owner Jackson Rip Holmes, who has previously run for office.

Ralph Cabrera

Cabrera, 60, who sat on the city commission for three terms between 2001-2013, says he wants to return to office because “I understand the importance of maintaining quality of life”

Olazabal, 42, is a structural engineer who runs a consulting firm. She has served as city Building Department Director, Assistant City Manager and Interim City Manager. “I am running because I love the community and want to continue to enhance the quality of life,” she says. Olazabal lists police and fire safety, traffic calming and preserving public spaces among her top priorities.

Holmes, 67, a Coral Gables native, says he would work to bring an anchor department store to Miracle Mile as a way to increase the city’s tax base while preserving the low-rise nature of downtown. Holmes also supports the expansion of mass transportation to reduce traffic congestion, and wants to install misting machines in some downtown areas.

In Group 5, incumbent Michael Mena, 38, an attorney, is unopposed. He was elected in April 2017 to serve the remaining two years in the term that Slesnick vacated to run for mayor. Among his areas of emphasis, says Mena, are improvement of parks, traffic calming and public safety.

Jackson Rip Holmes

GROUP 5 (Commissioner)

Michael Mena

Carmen Olazabal

Jorge L. Fors, Jr Fors, 35, an attorney and past president of the Coral Gables Bar Association, says he is run-

Requiem for a Heavyweight

For the past 15 years, Miracle Mile’s eastern block has been anchored by Tarpon Bend, the massive, sprawling home to great seafood, burgers and yes, even fried chicken. It had also become the happy hour place to be, where hundreds of smartly dressed young men and women would crowd in to drink, eat and be merry. With the new Streetscape in place, they could spill onto the now widened sidewalk.

All of that came to an abrupt end four days before Valentine’s Day, when proprietor Wayne Eldred announced to a standing-room-only crowd – many with tears in their eyes – that Tarpon Bend was closing. “We did not go out of business. We just decided to close, to depart this location,” says Eldred. “Due to an unsustainable rent, it no longer made economic sense for us to stay.”

Eldred declines to comment further on what transpired with his landlord, New York-based CF Miracle Mile Holding Company. But those familiar with the situation say the landlord, who purchased the building in 2013 for $21.5 million (up from $14.6 million in 2011) say they paid too much and had to pass the expense on to their tenants. (Another restaurant in the same building, Bocas, also shut down earlier in February).

“I’m going to call it the Lincoln Road Mall syndrome,” says Leonard Roberts, the city’s assistant manager for economic development who oversees

its real estate portfolio. “The value of the properties tends to increase before the retail improves… People have been buying [properties] in anticipation of the new traffic. The taxes went up so much, it was like doubling the rent.” Whereas rents on Miracle Mile were about $40 per square foot two years ago, they are now moving north of $75 per square foot, says Roberts. “We believe Tarpon Bend and Bocas were paying a lot.”

The closing of Tarpon Bend also reflects other changes, says Roberts. Among these is that the number of restaurants in the Gables has grown faster than its population. Another is that the smaller, chef-driven concept is replacing big-footprint spaces like Tarpon.

“This [closing] is a major blow to the street and should bring an awareness about what is going on,” says Venny

WAYNE ELDRED, OWNER OF TARPON BEND ON MIRACLE MILE, HAS SHUTTERED ITS DOORS. IS IT A SIGN OF TIMES TO COME?

We did not go out of business. We just decided to close, to depart this location, due to an unsustainable rent...

Wayne

Eldred, Tarpon Bend proprietor

Top: The Tarpon Bend proprietor Wayne Eldred, who oversaw one of Miracle Mile’s most popular spots for casual dining.

Below:Tarpon Bend reigned supreme as a favorite location for happy hour among Coral Gables young men and women.

Torre, chairman of the downtown Business Improvement District. “I don’t think there is a shortage of people coming to the Mile… [But] we need to see what success looks like, who is doing well and why they are doing well. The question is whether this is a trend or the outlier.” Regardless of the metrics of Tarpon Bend, says Torre, “I think we lost a great operator and a great person, and we will definitely miss him.”

That may be an understatement. Eldred was, and remains, a beloved local leader committed to the community. He is past chair of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, the current chair of the Doctors Hospital Foundation, and on the board of directors for Camillus House, the Coral Gables Community Foundation, and the Baptist Health Foundation.

Eldred says he has no plans to abandon Coral Gables – having just relocated to a home within blocks of Tarpon Bend. He will continue to run the Gables-based events and entertainment company Brown Label, and has every intention of reopening – just not this year.

“This is my first break in 23 years. I’m going to refine the business model at home and relaunch something that is sharper,” says Eldred. “There was never a doubt in my mind that I will go back into business, but probably not until 2020.” And while he prefers the Gables, that depends on an affordable location; already Eldred has been approached by property owners in Coconut Grove. In the meantime, the fallout from Tarpon Bend’s closing is anybody’s guess.

Eldred calculates that the loss of payroll for 50 local employees, plus the loss of Tarpon as a draw for clients who then spent money in other places in the Gables, could exceed $3 million a year. And where will those Happy Hour revelers now go?

“There is a predatory landlord mentality that is gouging some of the tenants,” says John Kunkel, the CEO of 50 Eggs who has just launched Ad Lib on Ponce de Leon. “We’ve had a lot of new seats arrive and some of the highest rents. It’s not sustainable… We are looking at the evolution of the Gables, what they have and what they are looking for. I think for right now what the Gables needs are the smaller, chef-driven places that are somewhat unique.”

Stay tuned.

There was never a doubt in my mind that I will go back into business, but probably not until 2020.

Wayne Eldred, Tarpon Bend proprietor

Drew Kern Closes a Sale EVERY 4 DAYS

CORAL GABLES

CORAL GABLES

PALMETTO BAY CORAL GABLES MIAMI

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One of a kind contemporary 4 bdrm/4 bath home. High ceilings. Large open living spaces. Corner lot. ——————————————

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Spacious 4 bdrm/ 3 bath home on corner lot. Open living area with access to covered patio/pool.

PALMETTO BAY

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Lovely 4 bdrm/ 2 bath (+ office) on a friendly, peaceful cul de sac, blocks from Coral Reef Park. Pool.

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Spacious 4 bdrm 3 bth home ready for your updates. Two master suites & newer roof.

14590 SW 81 Ave $578,000

Vintage 4 bdrm 2 bth home awaits your touch. Fabulous Palmetto Bay location, in A school district.

7455 SW 170 Ter, Old Cutler Palms

7620 SW 168 St $564,999

Lovely 4 bdrm/ 2 bth home w/ updated kitchen & baths. Screened in pool.

Stately, 2 story home in gated enclave. First floor master suite, grand formal spaces, lovely eat in kitchen. Wonderful pool area for outdoor living, landscaped lot. 2 car garage.

4/3.5 | 4,201 sf | 15,074 sf lot | $1,050,000

3800 Granada Blvd $3,300,000

Historical style, modern comforts, 7 bdrm/5.5 bath, 1924-built, on nearly an acre

1317 Obispo Ave $1,960,000

Completely remodeled historic, old Spanish 5 bdrm 4 bth home. Spectacular 2nd floor master. Impact windows & doors.

5901 Maynada St $1,400,000

Contemporary meets modern in this 4 bdrm 3 bath home w/ many updates. Lagoon style pool & 2 car garage.

CORAL GABLES COCONUT GROVE

215 Grant Drive $340,000

3 bdrm 2 bth home ready for your touch! Newer roof. Close to A schools.

CUTLER BAY

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Wonderful 2 story lakefront home. 3 bdrm, 2 1/2 bth w/ high ceilings & lots of natural light.

19650 Old Cutler Rd $240,000 Vacant, buildable 25,432 sq ft lot in booming residential family neighborhood.

PINECREST

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Beautiful views of Sailboat Bay displayed throughout this professionally designed corner unit.

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3350 SW 27 Ave #1002 $1,150,000

3 bdrm/3.5 bath professionally designed, corner unit at Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove.

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3 bdrm/3.5

13450 SW 104 Ave $585,000

Exclusive waterfront community of Marina 2.5 bath with incredible

Lovingly maintained 5 bdrm 3 bath home by The Triple split floor plan. Fully fenced & spacious backyard.

1551 NW 1 St $575,000

3350 SW 27 Ave #1002 3 bdrm/3.5 bath professionally corner unit at Ritz-Carlton ——————————————

Investment opportunity near Marlins Stadium. structures, 7500 sq ft lot, needs extensive renovation.

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Investment opportunity near structures, 7500 sq ft lot, needs ——————————————

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7370 SW 170 Ter, Old Cutler Palms

Lovely and well kept 3 bdrm 2 bath home in the Village of Pinecrest. Screened in pool/patio.

1 assigned parking space along with

1 complimentary valet parking space.

3/3.5 | 2,032 sf | $1,150,000

Wonderful 2 story home in this prestigious gated community. Soaring ceilings and an abundance of natural light. Elegant kitchen, spacious master suite with balcony overlooking the pool and patio.

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445 SW 11 St #401 $199,000

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The Hungarian Games Take Out Your Check Book

It’s official: The most expensive property ever listed in Coral Gables is now set for auction. The 14,000-sqaure-foot mansion at 41 Arvida Parkway in Gables Estates is set for global online bidding March 19-22, with a listed price of $68 million. The 1.24-

acre property has water on three sides, 9 bedrooms, 9 full baths, 3 half baths, a five-car garage, and a protected dock that can moor a yacht over 200 feet. Bids below $68 million will be accepted, according to listing agent Engel & Völkers.

The setting was the Hyatt Hotel on Alhambra. A lone violinist played while the room filled. Then came the Hungarian national anthem, followed by the U.S. national anthem. At the podium – with a bouquet of lilies for the violinist – the new Hungarian consul for Miami, Petra Katalin Schmitt, welcomed the audience. The event marked the opening of the Vice-Consulate of Hungary on Ponce de Leon Blvd., a ceremony important enough to lure Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. “Thinking about Florida as a state with sunshine, beach and holiday helped make the decision to open a consular representation [here],” he quipped to the audience. “But we have some oth-

er arguments as well.” Among these is the large Hungarian population in Florida – about 100,000 strong – and the burgeoning trade between the U.S. and Hungary (where some 1,700 U.S. companies operate). And then there is the Gables itself. “ This is a very attractive place to conduct business,” said Burton Landy, the attorney and Gables resident who is also honorary consul for South Korea. “You have all of the advantages of a big city, but not a lot of the downside. Plus, there’s the Latin connection.” Mayor Raul Valdez Fauli was on hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon with Minister Szijjarto. The addition of Hungary brings the number of consular offices in Coral Gables to 19.

Celtic Cred

If there is one bragging right that can’t be denied for JohnMartin’s Irish Pub on Miracle Mile, it’s that, well, they are clearly the most Irish place in town. Just to make sure you agree, they are flying

in the Irish band Luna for St. Patrick’s Day. They be playing traditional Irish folk songs in the pub for three nights over the Patty’s Day weekend. Pass the Guinness, please, and find us a Galway Girl.

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MARK PECK+ MARK@PECKYACHTS.COM + 954-224-1351 www.peckyachts.com

85' Pacific Mariner 2005 "Livy Lou" Great Lakes Ready! Call:Mark Peck (954)224-1351

80' Burger 1995 "No Name" Great Lakes Boat/ Always fresh water! Call:Mark Peck (954)224-1351 or Helen Wozunk (954)552-0114

62' Azimut 2006 "Yo que si" Call:Vinny Pyle (954)235-2832

Merrick Style

THIS MONTH MERRICK STYLE VISITS

THE SHOWROOM OF SILVIA TCHERASSI, THE CORAL GABLES-BASED COLOMBIAN DESIGNER WHO HAS TAKEN THE FASHION WORLD BY STORM, WITH SELECTIONS FROM HER SPRING AND SUMMER COLLECTIONS. OUR MODEL: ANABELLA SMITH, GABLES RESIDENT – AND PARTNER OF THE AWARD-WINNING FIRM ZYSCOVICH ARCHITECTS.

By James Broida

Photography by Jon Braeley

Anabella Smith just celebrated her 25th year with Zyscovich Architects, where, as Director of Interior Architecture she is responsible for the final appearance of the space, and how it affects the user experience. “I’m very curious about what makes people happy. And I think that architecture and design is an amazing tool to make people feel differently, to affect their moods… the colors, textures, lighting and flow of the spaces, this is what people experience.”

Smith attributes her amazing shape to, among other things, four decades of avoiding meat and limiting her intake of alcohol. “I just try to take care of myself,” she says. “Every human being is beautiful, so do what you can to look good. Don’t change with plastic surgery, just take care of yourself and doing the best with what you are given… Fashion has a lot to do with it. If you don’t feel right with your fashion, you can’t be confident, even at work.”

Born in Venezuela, Smith came to Florida in 1979. She has served on the board of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce for nearly a decade, where she created the Chamber’s first Green Task force. She was honored as the first ever Queen Awardee at the Chamber’s 2017 Green Means Green Awards for her lifetime commitment to green practice.

RADIANT TANGERINE (Cover)

This is the Felicity dress, in tangerine silk ($1,800). It is part of Tcherassi’s Spring 19 Collection, made to look fresh in any type of warm weather. It is complemented by a Ferdi belt and Luriza bag ($490), handwoven by the Mocaná tribe of Colombia from native fibers.

FORMALITY WITH ATTITUDE (Above)

This is the Lycka dress, an evening gown in a golden floral print ($1,800). It is made from silk, and brings life to any formal occasion. Part of Tcherassi’s Spring 19 Collection.

DEEP BLUE ELEGANCE (Opposite)

This is the navy blue Miosotis dress, made from natural cotton fiber ($980). With its puffy sleeves and signature bow, it is designed to breathe. Part of Tcherassi’s Summer 19 Collection, it is complemented by a magenta Taparitas handbag ($320) and a mustard Curi bag ($230), both handcrafted from natural fiber by the Mocaná tribe.

Merrick Style

JAZZ IT UP

Here Anabella Smith has some fun with pieces from Tcherassi’s Summer 19 Collection: A Primula cotton blouse ($680); a Guzmania cotton skirt in botanical yellow print ($780); and a black Luriza bag ($490) and mustard Curi bag ($230) woven by the Mocaná tribe.

Breast Implant Trends

With implant info readily available on line, patients have become savvier in their search for their dream result.

First time patients are searching for prettier, not just bigger anymore. They want the implant to fit their body, not be overly obvious, to look GOOD, not cheap.

Patients with large implants from earlier years want to reduce or remove their implants, along with a breast lift for a younger and non-matronly look.

Moms without implants whose breasts deflated after breast feeding want to recover their lost volume. They don’t want to be big, just get back to what they had.

Big has always been easy but prettier requires aesthetic judgment and surgical finesse.

Today’s techniques allow the creation of natural looking results, when based on accurate anatomical assessment and realistic expectations.

Bigger may be ok.

Prettier is definitely better.

Fore Sight

EDWARD BEINER’S CORAL GABLES STORE IS A FOCAL POINT FOR HIS VISION THAT GLASSES SHOULD ALWAYS BE A LEADING FASHION ITEM

By James Broida

Edward Beiner never intended to be an eyewear designer or purveyor of glasses – though he always wanted to start his own business. Retailing, he says, was also in his DNA, and being the son of a Brazilian jeweler, he was raised with a sense of both sales and fashion.

But it was not until he had an epiphany one day, when he entered an eyeglass shop in Toronto, that he saw the potential for something that everybody needed but few understood had fashion potential.

“We spend money on our shoes, and on our bags – if you’re a woman,” he says. “You meet someone for lunch and the shoes go under the table, the bag goes on the back of the chair, but you are sitting there with glasses on your face,” he says. “My big vision was that, this goes on your face. Why does it have to be a cheap item, just a medical device?”

After learning the industry by working for Four Eyes, first in Puerto Rico (where his family had moved) and then in Miami, he was ready to launch. With a $50,000 loan from friends and relatives, he opened his first shop in 1981 – Mr. Eye’s Optical, a stone’s throw from the Gables in South Miami.

“Back then, everything was $23.95. If you bought a pair of glasses for $32.95 you were overpaying,” says Beiner. “I thought, let’s turn this into luxury, let’s bring the best lenses we can to the market” – and the best design. So he went to small factories in Italy, France and Germany “to bring back something creative and unique.”

Over the next decade Beiner not only sourced from European eyeglass designers; he became a designer/manufacturer himself. His wholesale Edward Beiner brand became so successful that he renamed his now growing chain of eyeglass shops as Edward Beiner, Purveyors of Fine Eyewear. Today it is called, Edward Beiner, Eyes Forward, with 12 South Florida locations.

In the Gables, Beiner was one of the first retailers to open in the Shops at Merrick Park, in the fall of 2001. Here, designer frames begin at $150 and can climb to prices between $1,000 and $1,500 – for “nobler materials,” like handcrafted buffalo horn. The sweet spot is between $350 and $600, with $400 being the average.

“We know who are our clientele is. We don’t want to be everything to everyone. If you want things that are made differently,” says Beiner, then

You are sitting there with glasses on your face. My big vision was that, this goes on your face. Why does it have to be a cheap item, just a medical device...

Edward Beiner opened his first shop in 1981 a stone’s throw from the Gables in South Miami

his is the place.

Beiner’s shops also do eye examinations and provide contact lenses – “It’s both medical and fashion, to serve the needs of the community” – but what distinguishes them are unique selections. “I don’t carry all the brands,” he says. “Gucci is right now in extreme demand for Millenials and Baby Boomers. We carry it because we acknowledge that. But [in general] it has to be things that catch my eye. There are still small artisans around the world, and I do a lot of travelling to bring these to Miami.”

Among his recent finds are a collection by a younger California designer named Garrett Light, both rare and trending with Millenials; colorful frames by Caroline Abrams, a first in South Florida; and Eyevans

from Japan, “hand-finished frames that look like jewelry.”

From his own collection, Beiner is on the cutting edge of technology with a new line of 3D-printed glasses, designed by him and made in France. “We are the first company able to bring a 3D product from France…. They have the benefits of [light] weight, they’re fashionable, and they look great. They’re designed with luxury in mind,” says Beiner. “I like to think of ourselves as incubators of new projects. That’s what differentiates us from the rest.”

With 12 years of experience as a former Coral Gables commissioner, Ralph Cabrera has the knowledge and commitment it takes to protect the unique quality of life we enjoy in the City Beautiful. As he has in the past, Cabrera will listen to the concerns of local residents and business owners to address crucial issues like traffic, public safety, city finances and historic preservation.

Above: The Edward Beiner outlet at the Shops at Merrick Park.

Left: The new 3D glasses from France

Entrepreneurial restaurateur John Kunkel wanted to completely reinvent Swine restaurant, the popular house of pork on Ponce de Leon, which he described as “the ultimate man cave.” And, so he has, transforming the dark, woody interior into a sunny, breezy space that is more reminiscent of the L.A. foodie scene than reserved Coral Gables.

“Swine was doing well, so it made no business sense to close it. But we wanted to do something new, and we had a great team,” he says.

Having spent a few months in Los Angeles, Kunkel wanted “the light, bright simple food being showcased in L.A.” The result is Ad Lib, a modern, clean interior with a color palette of soft whites with varying shades of blue and citron yellow, with brass accents. Even cleaner and

It’s Fresh

SWINE ON PONCE IS REBORN AS AD LIB

brighter is the food.

“As the name implies, we make it up as we go. We are trying to highlight incredible ingredients with a new American menu – a nice variety with an evolving menu,” says Kunkel. The first iteration of that menu includes such innovative dishes as roasted pumpkin toast; charcoal roasted wild shiitakes with a hazelnut condiment; and dry-aged duck with crispy rice, sour cherries and black garlic. Such inventive dishes – along with safer fare like a 28-day aged New York Strip or a crispy-skin Branzino with littleneck clams – are the brain children of Executive Chef

Jamie DeRosa, formerly of the Michelin-starred Fat Duck (UK) and Wolfgang Puck restaurants. His mantra is to mix global ingredients (think Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean) with locally sourced vegetables and humanely sourced meats.

DeRosa is part of an all-star pedigreed team that Kunkel assembled for Ad Lib, including Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith (formerly of Michael’s Genuine), Director of Cocktails & Spirits Sam Ross (formerly of New York’s Attaboy), and Sommelier Daniel Toral (formerly of the Setai).

“We came loaded for bear, as they say. They are a large and

talented team, and we wanted to give them something to showcase,” says Kunkel. “I thought for right now this is what the Gables needed.”

If Kunkel’s track record is any indication, his aim should be true. Kunkel’s 50 Eggs, Inc. owns and operates some of Miami’s most popular restaurants, including Yardbird Southern Table & Bar and Spring Chicken. He is also known for founding Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, launched on Miami Beach.

While the new Ad Lib menu is definitively high-end, Kunkel says he won’t forget the loyal customers who made Swine a success over the last five years. “For lunch we will still have the old Swine Burger in all its glory,” he says, though the new food will be “a little lighter and more approachable.”

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Tap Into Sunday Funday

AT TAP 42: BEYOND A BLOODY MARY

Sunday brunch at Tap 42 is much more than its bottomless mimosas; it’s a block party. There’s a line to get into the Giralda Avenue location a mere five minutes after it opens at 11 a.m. The mimosas and Funky Buddha beer starts flowing as the DJ spins popular hits. After an hour, the champagne starts to kick in, the music gets louder and even more people crowd the bar. There must be something in the water because nearly everyone gets up from their

booths to bust a move. If not the water, then it’s definitely the breakfast shot – Jameson and Buttershots chased with orange juice and bacon, like drinking pancakes with syrup. You know they mean business about day drinking when they have a separate menu for brunch cocktails. Even the bartenders won’t hesitate to do a shot with you.

You’ll definitely want to employ the food menu to absorb the alcohol, and from appetizers to entrees, there is

A Case of the Shakes

no bad choice. One of the stars shown above: Hand-cut fresh salmon served atop guacamole and a rice patty, drizzled with eel sauce, sriracha aioli and cilantro, a light way to get the metabolism going.

Brunch was invented to cure hangovers, so it’s only appropriate that the menu includes a Hangover Sandwich: Sunnyside-up eggs, smashed avocado, hash browns, white cheddar, bacon and truffle aioli in a toasted brioche bun, it’s a bacon, egg and cheese taken

College baseball is back.

More importantly, so are the milkshakes at Mark Light Field. Thick and creamy, the Mark Light Shakes have a reputation just as good, if not better, than the four-time national champion Miami Hurricanes baseball team. The man behind the legendary drink is Mitch Freedman (left), who originally opened shop in a tent next to the stadium with his brother in 1986. Now Freedman flies solo, rotating deftly between ice cream machine, mixer and buckets of toppings.

At first, Freedman sold only ice cream as a sweet treat. Serving milkshakes was just a way to get people to buy ice

to new heights. An ode to the owner’s hometown, the Chicago Style Steak & Eggs is also recommended, paired with creamy garlic spinach and hash browns.

A long list of salivating entrees and enough drink options to quench a thirsty army, Tap 42 is a can’t-miss for your Sunday blackout, er, Sunday brunch. You’ll go to work Monday morning saying, “I’m never drinking again,” but by Monday afternoon you’ll be making a reservation for next Sunday.

–– Lizzie Wilcox

cream earlier in the evening, with their food, instead of later as an afterthought. But once introduced, Freedman’s shakes slowly grew in popularity –until his kids stepped in with social media. “It just really took off from there,” he says. Even a logo was created.

At any given game, wait time for the UM delicacy can be up to 30 minutes – though devotees say it’s worth every sip. But since the wait can be long, they deliver milkshakes to the stands to accommodate the older fans. “Students come here to not even watch the baseball game,” the shake maker says. “It’s study break central here.”

–– Lizzie Wilcox

BRUNCH

The Happiest Hour

FLEMING’S: NOT YOUR ORDINARY AFTER WORK DRINK

New Kid on the Street

ANTHONY BOURDAIN WOULD HAVE LOVED IT

Most Gables diners are familiar with Thai food – the standard Pad Thai rice noodles, the red or green curry. Malakor Thai Isaan (90 Miracle Mile) is taking things a step further with “Asian Street Food.”

“It’s street food that people sell on the streets in Bangkok – pork skewer, noodles, sticky rice, very local food, very tasty for Thai people. We try to bring that culture here,” says manager Yotin Keeriang.

So, while you can find your

Thai favorites at Malakor you’ll also find new dishes. Like laab num tok moo, grilled fatty pork neck sliced and tossed with lime juice, mint, cilantro and ground roasted rice. Or Gang Aom, a Northeastern Thai curry with fish sauce (no coconut milk), dill and Thai herb paste. “There are some strong tastes, but interesting,” says Keeriang. “American people aren’t used to it.” But they are loving it; barely a month old, Malakor is already a local favorite.

Not all happy hours are created the same. If you are looking for one that is a little more refined, Fleming’s is your place. Its happy hour is about as Coral Gables as it gets – meaning a step up from the standard two-for-one deal. Way too crass. Instead, Fleming’s has crafted a separate list of food and drink options and knocked down prices just slightly, meaning no swarming crowds that come with happy hour prices. If you’re looking for a good – like, really good – drink to unwind after a long day, in a relatively quiet, elegant atmosphere, head to Fleming’s from 5 to 7 p.m.

The first drink that caught our eye? The Blueberry Lemon Drop ($9), made with vodka and fresh blueberries and served in a martini glass with sugar on the rim. This signature drink – which is raspberry in appearance – looks as good as it tastes. If you’re one of those people who thinks about a glass of wine the entire commute home, then The Ducky ($9) is right up your alley. Sauvignon Blanc over ice with lime juice, it’s post-work vino taken to new a level. Their food items

range from bites to complete meals. The sweet chili calamari is tangy and delicious. Highly recommended is the filet mignon flatbread, perfect to share. Slices of steak, arugula, goat cheese and drizzled balsamic on top of a thin, crispy crust – we won’t judge if you eat it all yourself. Because we are big cheese people (moment of silence for the lactose intolerant), we couldn’t pass up the burrata. For $9, the ball of cheese comes with tomatoes and roasted garlic cloves, and of course crackers to pile it on. It doesn’t come with prosciutto, but we recommend splurging by adding it for $4.

Other than savory finger foods, Fleming’s happy hour menu also includes a filet mignon sandwich and prime burger. But of all the appetizing bites we chowed down, what unexpectedly won us over were the home-made potato chips. They’re light, crunchy and salty, but not super greasy like store-bought chips. Having them in front of you is, seriously, more dangerous than a basket of bread.

–– Lizzie Wilcox

This Just In:

Eat Pizza, Lose Weight

Pizza is not your typical go-to food when it comes to dieting. That’s because of the way that most pizzas are made, says Angelo Angiollieri, the new owner of Terre del Sapore (246 Giralda Avenue). “Our pizzas are a little different,” says Angiollieri. “We use natural yeast.” The result: the dough takes eight to ten hours to rise, rather than the usual two hours, so it’s more digestible.

They also use less processed flour (from Italy, of course), which has larger particles that are slower to absorb (no blood sugar spikes!) than finely-milled American flour.

And then there is the style of their pizza. “Ours is a Neopolitan pizza, from the south of Italy,” says Angiollieri, which means more tomato sauce and cheese, captured in a raised crust.

As for the dieting claims, Angiollieri has lined the windows of the restaurant with copies of “The Pizza Diet,” by Pasquale Cozzolino, about how the author lost 100 pounds eating his favorite food. “I know him. I met him in New York. He had gotten fat from eating American food, so he went back to Italian pizza.” Sounds good to us.

Living

Cooking Like a Pro Best Bets

Artist

Artist of the Gables

CARLOS GARCIA-BARBON PAINTINGS ARE AN HOMAGE TO THE CITY

By J.P. Faber

You may not have heard of Carlos Garcia-Barbon, but chances are you’ve seen one of his watercolors of Coral Gables. Several are hanging in the office of City Commissioner Patricia Keon. Others are hanging in the Biltmore Hotel, where you can also buy limited edition prints. Most likely you have seen his two-story banner celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Coral Gables Museum, hanging on the side of the main building at Aragon and Salzedo.

“I’ve watched people stop and stare at it [the banner],” says John Allen, the museum’s executive director. “This is the first time we’ve had a banner with such minimal text. But it’s been just as good as text. Maybe better. It’s right outside my window and I see cars stop to stare.”

The subject of the banner – one of the iconic, carved faces over the old entrance for firetrucks on the museum’s west side – is a favorite of Allen, who recently published a book about the sculptures. But it’s far from the only beloved image of Coral Gables that Garcia-Barbon has painted.

Formerly the art director for Avanti printers, Garcia-Barbon threw himself into painting local watercolors ten years ago, when he moved to Coral Gables. “I am essentially highlighting all these hidden gems [of the city], to shed light on the

beauty we have here in a way that hasn’t been done before.” Subjects range from the Biltmore to the Desoto Fountain, all done with Garcia-Barbon’s fluid, bright, pastel touch.

His enthusiasm for the city – he has donated paintings for years to be auctioned by the Coral Gables Community Foundation – reached its peak when the museum, at the suggestion of Board of Trustees member John Medina, commissioned him for the 80th anniversary banner.

“Those firemen were Depression-era modern, very stark and chiseled,” says Allen. “He certainly did a different take on them – a little more softly –and everybody loves it.”

One thing which makes Garcia-Barbon special is his use of watercolors, a dying and unforgiving art. With watercolors, there is only one stroke;

Top: Artist Carlos Garcia-Barbon working in watercolor, an unforgiving medium that allows no room for error

Right: Painting of an iconic carved face standing over the entrance to the Coral Gables Museum

Next page: The easily recognizable facade of Coral Gables City Hall

no corrections or paint-overs are possible, as with acrylics or oils. “It’s like playing music where you hear every single note,” says the painter, who takes his inspiration from John Singer Sargent, one of the greatest American watercolorists. Not too surprisingly, Sargent painted his watercolors of Venice, one of the Gables’ architectural inspirations. “If I’m not in the moment, [the paintings] won’t have the liveliness. If I am happy and joyful, they will fly.”

Garcia-Barbon’s paintings were on display in the museum through the end of February. If you want to see his work now, you will have to stop by the Biltmore. Or attend any Community Foundation fundraising event; you may see him there, painting live, and hopefully in a good mood.

“His paintings have become symbols of the city,” says Mary Snow, executive director of the Community Foundation.

Cooking Like a Pro

OUR VISIT TO THE GABLES’ FRENCH CULINARY ACADEMY REVEALS THAT PASSION IS THE KEY

By Karen Buchsbaum

It can be intimidating, walking into a kitchen under the command of a Michelin multi-star French chef. But it was only stressful for the five seconds it took Chef Vincent to enthusiastically welcome me.

Attending sessions at Gastronomicom French Culinary Academy was a real treat – for my eyes, stomach and intellect. Most students at the school are training to be professional chefs, but anyone with a serious passion for cooking and a desire to enhance their skills is encouraged. It was, in fact, a Coral Gables resident attending the school’s campus in southern France who convinced founder/owner Martine Lessault to open a school on LeJeune Road.

Chef Vincent Catala is a stickler for detail, and I was impressed with the constant focus on hygiene, nutrition, organization and the economics of running a kitchen. Even with all the attention to detail, Chef Vincent explained it is emotion and passion that matters most in the kitchen. “If you don’t put love into food, it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Courses are taught in either weekly, monthly or annual sessions, with some future chefs spending another three months on the French campus before undertaking a six-month internship at a restaurant in France. Morning modules are devoted to meal preparation and afternoons to pastries and desserts. While I loved every minute, I must admit I was transfixed by the

afternoon work with chocolate. The afternoon students were a real international crew – all from Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Denmark, with a mix of professional and personal aspirations. Interestingly, the school has also attracted students planning to change careers from fields like teaching and accounting.

When I joined Arielle, Prim, Justin, Dave and Amelia for the morning session, the assigned topic was fish. I could never have guessed the outcome would be the most singularly unique and incredible crab cake sandwich imaginable. Chef Vincent makes the course very personal, telling engaging stories – including one about his first encounter with the crab cake recipe, eating it without knowing it contained shellfish to which he is highly allergic. But even after a night in the hospital, he remained so enthused by the taste combinations of the dish that today he is content to

If you don’t put love into food, it just doesn’t make sense...

Chef Vincent Catala (top right)

Bottom: Prim & Miloa add finishing touches to their dish

watch others do the eating.

Gastronomicom uses locally sourced foods from within a 100-mile radius when possible, and Chef Vincent does not believe in waste. He also believes you can transform any leftover ingredients into another delicious dish such as an artistic salad or delicious soup, explaining, “You can make a Michelin star dough from what you were going to trash.”

“Food for me is everything, but not boring,” says Chef Vincent. He encourages all aspiring chefs to think about their first or best memory of food, explaining “you must be able to cook comfort food first.” Bon Appétit.

When he is not teaching at Gastronomicom, Coral Gables resident Chef Vincent offers private chef services on nights and weekends. evercookmiami.com

A Leap of Faith At Age 58

Martine Lessault started Gastronomicom in France 14 years ago at age 58, with a dream and €2,500. After a career that included managing five-star boutique hotels in Europe, she was well-prepared and the school became a success.

“You have to love people to have a school,” said Lessault. “There is much satisfaction to have been helpful and useful to students. They are my family.” She is still in touch with many former students across the globe; after Hurricane Irma, she received more than 200 messages making sure she was safe.

Food has always been part of her family. She grew up in a cooking-oriented household with a father who was a fish

wholesaler in Paris, then began working in the food industry, married a chef, and often had her baby cradle with her in the kitchen. “My sons started their lives with the smell of the kitchen,” she says. Those two men have followed in the family footsteps, one son running the school in France and the other as a pastry chef

who teaches master classes internationally.

A bout with cancer convinced Lessault to make some big changes in her life and take things to another level. Now a resident of Coral Gables, she opened the doors of her Coral Gables school in September 2016. Plans are in the works for other locations worldwide.

Best Bets

BEST BETS of WHAT TO DO THIS MONTH

MEMPHIS

The story is about Huey Calhoun, a white radio DJ who was one of the first to play black music in 1950s Memphis, and Felicia, a black club singer hoping for her big break. It’s a show packed with laughter, forbidden love and rock ‘n’ roll. Inspired by actual events, “Memphis” has won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical and has an original score with music by David Bryan, one of the founding members of Bon Jovi. Opens March 13, Miracle Theatre. Tickets: $30 - $75. 280 Miracle Mile. 305.444.9293

SPRINGTIME IN ALTHEA’S NEIGHBORHOOD

Join the Coral Gables Garden Club for their Spring Garden and House Tour. Starting at the Butterfly Garden at the Coral Gables Library, the first 75 people to check in will be able to release a butterfly into the garden. The self-guided tour through six gardens and select homes includes the club’s complimentary President’s Tea, a bake sale and a plant sale. Sat., March 16, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tickets $35 in advance (Eventbrite.com), $40 at the door. 3443 Segovia St.

CASTLES IN THE SKY

“Paying tribute to the ceaseless meanderings of the human imagination,” the Coral Gables Museum’s presents “Castles in the Sky: Fantasy Architecture in Contemporary Art,” on display through April 23. The exhibit includes works by 30+ artists, including Salvador Dali, John Bowman, Thomas Cole and Gustavo Acosta. Open Tues.-Fri. 11 am to 6 pm; Sat. till 5 pm ; Sun. noon to 5 pm. $10, $8 for students or seniors. 285 Aragon Ave. 305.603.8067.

March 13 through April 7, 2019

ZOPPE, AN ITALIAN FAMILY CIRCUS

The circus is coming to town! If you’re longing for some Big Top fun, join the Zoppe family, who has been putting on this 175-year-old European circus for eight generations. This enchanting, intimate show carries on centuries-old traditions, including bareback riding and equestrian stunts, hilarious clowning, acrobats, jugglers and more. Fri. March 22 - Sun. March 24, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center. Smdcac.org. Tickets: $22.50 - $50. 10950 SW 211 St., 786.573.5316.

BEER, BOURBON, BURGERS AND BLUES

Experience the best blues in South Florida with Albert Castiglia performing live at The Biltmore’s annual festival. Enjoy four different types of tasty burgers and wash them down with bourbon and beer. Must be 21 to attend. Fri., March 29, 7-10 p.m. Tickets are $35 for members and $45 for the public. (www.bbbb2019. eventbrite.com). 1200 Anastasia Ave. 855.454.0196.

“If you want to help the theater, don't be an actress, be an audience ” - Tallulah Bankhead

People p54 John Daversa

REKNOWNED JAZZ MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, PRODUCER, EDUCATOR; CHAIR OF STUDIO MUSIC AND JAZZ AT UM’S FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Carolina Rendeiro

CHIEF MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, CONNECT2GLOBAL SENIOR, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL

Daniel Gonzalez

John Daversa’s celebrated career as a jazz trumpeter has included recording gigs with artists ranging from Herbie Hancock to Sheryl Crow; appearances on “The Today Show,” “Late Night with David Letterman” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show”; performances in top jazz clubs nationwide (New York’s Blue Note, Chicago’s Green Mill, LA’s Catalina); and appearances at the Monterey, Montreal, and Montreux jazz festivals, among others. He has released six jazz albums; his 2016 big band release, “Kaleidoscope Eyes: Music of the Beatles,” received three Grammy nominations.

John Daversa

LATEST ACHIEVEMENT WHAT HE SAYS

Last year he released “American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom,” which recorded 53 “Dreamer” musicians in 17 states. This year it won the 2019 Grammys for Best Large Jazz Ensemble, Best Instrumental Arrangement, and Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

Of “American Dreamers,” he says, “It’s been brewing in me for a while that I wanted to make music that serves a higher purpose and has a deeper meaning and intention behind it, and makes the world a better place… This project was so much larger than any one individual, to serve [the cause of] raising awareness for the Dreamers [children of illegal immigrants who grew up in America]. I felt such a responsibility to represent them

well … I am so proud of them and so proud that the Recording Academy has recognized us.” As for his own roots, “I am the great grandchild of Italian immigrants, who came over through Ellis Island. Through my grand-parents I heard about what America meant to them and why they came.” As for his night at the Grammy Awards, “The red carpet stuff was kind of a surreal experience… So many musicians who are my heroes were there.”

I am so proud of [the Dreamers] and so proud that the Recording Academy has recognized us.

RENOWNED JAZZ MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, PRODUCER, EDUCATOR; CHAIR OF STUDIO MUSIC AND JAZZ AT UM’S FROST SCHOOL OF MUSIC

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Carolina Rendeiro

Carolina Rendeiro has been involved in workplace innovation, international trade, and Coral Gables for more than three decades. Most recently she was president of the World Strategic Forum (2016-2018) and VP of International Development for eMerge Americas (2013-2016). She previously founded the first co-working space and incubator program in Coral Gables, and was president of the Global Workspace Association. She sits on the boards of BB&T, Sister Cities International, the Coral Gables Economic Development Department, and the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce (she was chairman 20072008). Rendeiro is also executive director of Sister Cities of Florida, the incoming president of the Miami Chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade, and lives in downtown Coral Gables.

LATEST ACHIEVEMENT WHAT SHE SAYS

Rendeiro recently returned from her native Portugal, where she is working to establish a sister city for Coral Gables, and to encourage investment in both directions. She is also consulting on technology for schools and government services in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and working to attract a fashion institute from London.

“People are so close to what we have here, that they don’t actually understand what we have here,” says Rendeiro. “The EU uses us as a launch point for businesses [in the U.S. and Latin America] because we have the diversity, the melting pot of cultures. We also have the people with knowledge, that have been in this market a

very long time and know how to interconnect it.”

Rendeiro wants to see more U.S. investment in Europe because it will come back to us. “This is how we differ [from Europeans]. We want everything as direct investments into us. The EU looks at it as a two-way street that will benefit us all in the long run.”

People are so close to what we have here, that they don’t understand what we actually have here...

CHIEF MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, CONNECT2GLOBAL

Daniel Gonzalez

Then in middle school, Christopher Columbus High School senior Daniel Gonzalez created a nonprofit charity with his brother in 2013. The nonprofit, PlayerToPlayer, sends soccer uniforms and equipment to those in need, both locally and abroad. The idea was born when Gonzalez – a player for the school’s varsity soccer team – realized he had many old cleats he’d grown out of laying around the house. Through PlayerToPlayer, he has been able to collect old gear from local schools and teams. They also have a box at the Soccer Locker of Miami where people can donate equipment. He has even partnered with uniform distributors, so that if a jersey is misprinted it can be donated as well. Gonzalez also works with the nonprofit organization Hope for Kasai to send cleats and uniforms to Africa.

LATEST ACHIEVEMENT WHAT HE SAYS

With a perfect ACT score of 36, Gonzalez is a finalist for both a National Merit Scholarship and the Morehead-Cain scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill. He is also waiting to hear back from colleges like Stanford and Yale.

“When you see kids playing soccer barefoot, it puts it into perspective,” says Gonzalez, who was recognized at a City Commission meeting in January for his work at PlayerToPlayer. “That was an experience I never really thought I’d have,” he said. “It really showed me

that what I’m doing does matter.” Though most of his donations go abroad, he is currently working with a former soccer coach to bring equipment to kids in Liberty City.

When you see kids playing soccer barefoot, it puts it into perspective...

SENIOR, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL

Infrastructure and Technology:

An Interview with Peter Iglesias

Interview by JP Faber

Peter Iglesias became the City Manager of Coral Gables last September after serving two years as Assistant City Manager in charge of public works and economic development. Among other accomplishments in that role, Iglesias honchoed the StreetScape project on Giralda and Miracle Mile. Having worked previously for two decades in construction management, he brings to the city a deep understanding of how the private sector works and the importance of quality infrastructure. We recently sat down with the City Manager to get an idea of his priorities and vision for Coral Gables.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN TRANSITIONING TO CITY MANAGER?

I have been living in this city for 40 years. I have been assistant city manager handling operations and infrastructure [for two years]. So, I have really had a very smooth transition. I know all the directors, and all the players. It’s really been seamless. If I had come from a different city and had no historical knowledge of this city, it would have been another story.”

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE?

I was in charge [as Assistant City Manager] of development services, which is building, planning, code enforcement, and zoning. I was also in charge of public works – which includes public service, engineering, and sanitation – and of historical [preservation], economic development and parks…. I’ve structured it so that now police, fire, HR, and finance report directly to me. And I have a very good assistant city manager in Ed Santamaria, who has most

of [my previous roles] except zoning, code enforcement and IT.

WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES NOW?

Infrastructure and technology. We have for infrastructure the [new] public safety building. We also have fire station number two, the trolley building, parking garage number seven, and we are remodeling 427 [Biltmore Way, city offices], a building that is very old. We are turning it into a development services one-stop shop, with the board of architects, planning, zoning, building and code enforcement. And then we will remodel this building [City Hall].

YOU ADVOCATE HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION. WHAT IS THAT?

One of the other things I’d like to do is bring in more technology. We’ve already done quite a bit of that… For instance, the parks department is now completely computerized, so that instead of having to bring your kids in and stand in line to play tennis at Kerdyk Center, you can book it

We’ve revitalized the downtown. We are getting more cultural events. I think people are appreciating the city for what it is - a well-run, excellent community to live in… and I think the next few years are going to be very interesting…

Peter Iglesias, City Manager of Coral Gables

online…. We have a new program we just purchased that’s going to integrate all our inspection services [building, fire, historic, etc.] under that one program, and it can integrate with our parks program. We are also looking at a brand new financial program, which will also integrate into that platform…. This is horizontal integration, making sure that everything talks to everything else. So now you [the citizen] with one dashboard will have the ability to look at anything in the city.

HOW CAN THIS HELP?

Let’s say there is a fire in a two-story building, and the fire chief wants to know if the second story floor is wood or concrete? It makes a big difference to them. So, he clicks on that, and our chief can find out…

ANY OTHER I.T. PRIORITIES?

Part of IT is also smart parking, because we need to use our parking as effectively as possible. Parking costs $25,000 to $30,000 a space to build. So, the more efficiently we can use our parking, the better... For instance, if you have a condominium, you may have 60 or 70 percent of that parking open from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. If you are an office building you probably have 70 percent of that parking open from 6 p.m. on... So, we can [develop] a shared parking concept. But, to do that, we have to have a way of accessing that information, and that is part of the horizontal integration… We also want to get 90 years of paper scanned. We’d like to see a paperless system.

IS THE CITY MANAGER A PROACTIVE OR REACTIVE ROLE?

I am a proactive city manager. I’m going to bring ideas. They [the city commissioners] are ultimately my bosses, but I like to work proactively. I did it in the private sector successfully, and I think you can do it in government. I think that if you are reactive you’re always behind the curve.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CITY AND CITY MANAGER IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION?

As a city, we have a vital role in preserving our history, and we are certainly doing that. Look at the Biltmore, look at this building [City Hall], look at Merrick House, which we just spent $1.5 million rehabbing. And we purchased the 2506 Ponce Building, a very important building that was [Gables architect] Fink’s studio. We can be smart about historical preservation and keep those important aspects of our city.

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER PRIORITIES?

We will be adding infrastructure where needed, but we will [also] be maintaining our infrastructure in a proper way, and need to address that. When you don’t maintain [buildings] they deteriorate at a much faster level… Maintenance has to happen or you will end up paying the piper. Right now, we have a lot of deferred maintenance, and I will be looking at that to make sure we address it in the upcoming [annual] budget.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS?

The template of what I’d like to do in the next two to three years is to create the [needed] infrastructure and bring on computerization and technology. When you couple that with our historical knowledge, it’s just going to make us better and better. I call these the “IT” years, for infrastructure and technology. It will be a two-to-three-year program.

ARE WE ENTERING A GOLDEN AGE FOR CORAL GABLES?

We have a wonderful city. Traffic has become a major issue [across the county] and we are very centrally located. I think people out in the suburbs are looking more to cities like this one. The fact that we have a streetscape, the fact that we have excellent police and fire departments – people feel safe. We’ve revitalized the downtown. We are getting more cultural events. I think people are appreciating the city for what it is – a well-run, excellent community to live in...  and I think the next few years are going to be very interesting… When you add the technology factor, and you add the infrastructure, it really takes us to an even higher level. We are looking at functioning at an extremely high level after the next few years.

Top: Eager kitchen tourists arrive at 7120 Mira Flores and helped to make this year’s ‘Tour of Kitchens’ a blockbuster.

Bottom: The house on South Greenway Drive was finished after six years of renovation; the kitchen alone took two and a half years.

If You Can Take the Heat

THE CORAL GABLES COMMUNITY FOUNDATION’S 10TH ANNUAL TOUR OF KITCHENS FIRES UP

By Lizzie Wilcox

Do you ever drive past a house and wonder what it looks like inside? In particular, did you ever wonder what the kitchen looks like? If your response is no, you’re lying. The kitchen is the heart of every home, where the family comes together and enjoys many of its happiest moments. So why not peek at another kitchen besides your own, just to take notes? And in a city like Coral Gables, where home decorating is as much an obsession as it is an art, what other people’s kitchens look like is a major curiosity.

With that in mind, the Coral Gables Community Foundation puts on an annual Tour of Kitchens. It is a signature fundraising event for the foundation, and this year’s Tour was a blockbuster. “This year was amazing,” says Venny Torre, the chairman of the Tour this year. “We increased revenue by 30

to 40 percent, and we broke $100,000. More than 700 tickets were sold.” Compare that to the first tour in 2004, which sold 150 tickets. “This year’s was the most successful tour to date, and obviously the most fun.”

Beginning at the Infiniti showroom on South Le Jeune, where bagels, fruit, coffee and mimosas were served, the tour passed through nine kitchens, from Gables Estates to Granada Boulevard. Ticket holders moved from house to house in their own cars, by bicycle or by limo – if you paid for the VIP passes – from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Besides the homes, you could also stop at the Miele appliance store on Ponce de Leon; the event ended at Ferguson’s Appliances, also on Ponce.

Here is your peek at four of the kitchens, with their owners.

The home at 7120 Mira Flores is inside the Cocoplum neighborhood. Owner Patricia de Anda (on the left), an interior designer, played a big role in the renovation. The entire house took two years to be reconstructed, with the kitchen taking six months.

“The kitchen is all wrapped in molding,” de Anda says. “All the moldings, everything, was custom made.”

One of the first things you notice when you walk into the kitchen is the massive doubledoor refrigerator and freezer. “It

7120 Mira Flores

looks bigger than what it really is, but I cannot complain,” de Anda laughs.

The fridge, however, isn’t her favorite aspect of the room. What captures her heart?

“The island, for sure,” she says. What makes it stand out is the built-in stove. Though worth it in the end, it turned out to be a bigger project than de Anda expected, as they had to make sure it could be ventilated. This was accomplished by a built-in panel vent that rises from the island surface when cooking commences.

The kitchen is all wrapped in molding. All the moldings, everything, was custom made...

6857-6847 Granada Boulevard

Mary Snow walked in and said, ‘Oh my gosh I want this kitchen.’ I thought she was teasing me...

For this home, two addresses joined forces to create one property on the Gables Waterway. The bigger home is the main house; the smaller one serves as guest house – or party house, depending. “It was meant to bring the kids back from college,” says owner Stacy Bolduc. “We have lots of spring breakers every year.”

Bolduc never considered being a part of the Tour of Kitchens until last December when she hosted an event. Among the attendees was Mary Snow, the Community Foundation’s executive director. “Mary

Snow walked in and said, ‘Oh my gosh I want this kitchen.’ I thought she was teasing me,” Bolduc says.

Snow’s envy is understood once you enter the vintage-feeling room. With an electric blue stove and matching oven, complimented by a blue tile backsplash, you’re transported to a time before interior design focused on being sleek, modern and white.

“It just makes me happy,” says Bolduc of her kitchen. “A lot of fun memories have gone on in that room.”

1822 Country Club Prado

Ray Corral’s home is also a party house of sorts. With a sound system throughout, and a kitchen island that was turned into a bar, he created “a home that we don’t want to leave.”

Corral (on the left) bought the Country Club Prado address in July and moved in at the end of October. While most of the house was still under construction upon move-in, the kitchen was left intact, with minor adjustments to her liking.

“If you look at the kitchen, it’s very detailed and it’s very well done, not only to feel com-

fortable, but also to entertain people,” Corral said. “It’s about music, it’s about family and it’s about friends.”

It’s apparent that the bar is the focal point of the room. Equipped with adjustable stools, the bar steals the show from the circular kitchen table.

“That’s where all the people sit, stand, drink, and eat,” Corral says. “Everyone eventually ends up in the pool, but [the night] starts in the kitchen.”

If you look at the kitchen, it’s very detailed and it’s very well done, not only to feel comfortable, but also to entertain people...

1400 S. Greenway Drive

This residence felt more like a European castle than a private home, with fountains at the front entrance and courtyards with ponds of colorful fish.

“In our free time we love to travel the world and not only our kitchen, but our entire home, is a curated collection of our travels,” says Matthew Meehan, one of the homeowners.

Meehan (right) and boyfriend Rod Hildenbrandt are both Francophiles, reflected by the French elements in the kitchen. The French oak for the kitchen floors was imported

from France, for example, every piece hewn by hand on site.

“It was a painstaking labor of love,” says Meehan, a long-standing board of directors member of the Community Foundation.

“For me, there are two important things in life,” Meehan says. “And that’s food and education,” referring to how Tour proceeds provide scholarships to the Culinary Arts Program at Coral Gables High School. “This covers both right there.”

In our free time we love to travel the world and not only our kitchen, but our entire home, is a curated collection of our travels...

A CITY PROGRAM THAT REQUIRES DEVELOPERS TO CONTRIBUTE PUBLIC ART TO CORAL GABLES IS BEGINNING TO BEAR FRUIT

By Sabina Covo

Photo by Jon Braeley

Alirio Torrealba, CEO of MG Developer, on the stone couch his company financed in Balboa Plaza

BUILDING ART

It was a fairytale night. Families, friends, and city officials gathered at dusk in Balboa Plaza, a triangular park just south of the Granada Golf Course at the intersection of Andalusia Avenue and De Soto Boulevard. A string of glimmering lights overhead lit the scene, while a small chamber orchestra of violins and cellos played classical music. At the base of a huge banyan tree sat the reason the crowd had gathered: A 30-foot oolitic stone sofa named “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” being dedicated to the public. Three women dressed as fairies with pointy ears sat on the stone couch, evoking the elfin magic of the evening.

At the December ceremony, City of Coral Gables officials accepted the transfer of ownership of the stone sculpture from MG Developer, the first donation of its kind under the Gables’ Public Art in Private Development program. A part of the city’s Art in Public Places efforts, the development program requires that any project with over one million dollars in construction cost contribute one percent of its investment to public art. The one percent donation is deposited in an art acquisition fund for public projects initiated by the city. Developers may also commission artwork and incorporate it into their projects, or donate art to the city’s public spaces, pending approval by the city’s volunteer Arts and Advisory Panel and the city commission.

“It is a fairly new program [created in 2007] which has been seeing more and more artwork now as part of recent new construction,” says Catherine Cathers, Arts & Culture Specialist for the city. “Sometimes the one percent donation from smaller projects is not enough to donate a piece of art or create one, so it goes to a fund that helps us put in place events like Basel in the Gables.” In other cases, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the developer can go beyond the basic requirement to create and install iconic public art.

“For us, it is being proactive about the redecoration of the city. Our contribution at Balboa Plaza was much more expensive but we were able to revive an area that has a rich history,” says Alirio Torrealba, CEO of MG Developer. The area around the park is known as Biltmore Square, and is the setting for a series of townhouses and low-rise luxury condominiums that MG Developer is completing. The result is a European-feeling neighborhood, consis-

tent with the Gables aesthetic.

“I have learned that art humanizes spaces and is a way of enjoyment for people,” says Torrealba. “At this point, we are also planning a new piece of public art that will look like a big elegant carpet in the center of Balboa, with artists Behar and Marquardt.” Those artists – Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt – were the creators of the giant Midsummer Night’s Dream stone bench, which they describe as “an outdoor room” that “promotes a sense of personal ownership of the public realm.” Precisely the intent of public art. While Torrealba is the leading edge of the new development-driven program, he is being followed by other large, mixeduse projects rising in the city. The biggest of these is The Plaza Coral Gables, a $550+ million development on seven acres adjacent to Ponce Circle. The multi-building design will surround George Merrick’s historic design-studio building along with public art in the open plaza. “The current plan – which is still under development – includes a monumental sculpture at the Ponce de Leon entrance to the project, surrounded by benches and shade trees, and a signature sculpture by the North Entrance fountain area,” said Carlos Beckmann, operations director for Agave Ponce, LLC, developers of The Plaza Coral Gables. The public art installation is set to be completed in late 2021; Beckmann says that, in the end, Agave Ponce will commit another $2.7 million to public art, in addition to the required one percent contribution, “putting this location on the artistic and cultural world map.”

Not far behind is the $300 million Gables Station project and the $172 million Paseo de la Riviera development, both on U.S. 1 and both being built by NP International (NPI). Brent Reynolds, CEO of NPI, has commissioned artist Blessing Hancock for one of the firm’s public art

There are two ways to get approval and one is to tie in the art with the community...

Brent Reynolds, CEO

of NPI

contributions. “There are two ways to get approval and one is to tie in the art with the community,” says Reynolds. “Gables Station artist Blessing Hancock actually interviewed the residents to get to know how they felt about the space. The interviews were integrated into the art pieces.” Reynolds says that at Paseo they want to find a piece that will create a conversational place for residents – as well as to draw people to the center courtyard of the project.

“It is the intention of the public art program to preserve the City’s artistic heritage, enhance its character and identity, and contribute to its economic development and tourism,” says Cathers. With more than $1.5 billion in new development now rising in the City Beautiful, there should be a substantial pool of funds to articulate that vision.

“The Balboa Plaza project was a perfect communion between what the city wanted and what I believe, that art is an essential part of life that makes you more sensitive to your surroundings,” says Torrealba, who has become a major supporter of the arts in Coral Gables. “To combine business and art is a beautiful thing.”

Above left: Brent Reynolds, CEO of NPI

Above right: Catherine Cathers, Arts & Culture Specialist, city of Coral Gables

Far left and below left: Concept art for the $172 million Paseo de la Riviera development

Below: Sculpture for the $300 million Gables Station project, by artist Blessing Hancock

Photos of Reynolds and Cathers by Jonathan Dann

BUSINESS BANKING GABLES STYLE

Boutique business banking for small and medium sized enterprises is trending in the Gables, where local decision making is the power that counts

By J.P Faber

If it’s a weekend morning, the most likely place you will find banker Abel Iglesias is on his bike. For three or four hours each day, he and his biking comrades will pedal for scores of miles through the back roads of Miami-Dade.

“What I find is that it builds perseverance,” says the President and CEO of Professional Bank. “I kind of extrapolate that over to banking. It makes you mentally tough.” It’s also reflective of how Professional and other local banks succeed in the world of business banking in the Gables: by being on the ground here, and keeping it local.

Professional is one of a handful of locally based banks that succeed in business lending because they are local – or take a very local approach. Larger banks, while able to lend larger amounts, frequently concentrate the decision making elsewhere.

“The founders of the bank based it on filling the void left by [large] banks when it came to catering to the professional community – attorneys, physicians, dentists, accountants. We initially targeted them and provided their business banking needs,” says Iglesias. Launched in 2008, Coral Gables-based Professional Bank has grown organically – and locally – to $760 million, and in the process has expanded its client base. “We’ve grown into the business of pure commercial banking for small to medium sized businesses.”

The target of small-to-medium-sized busineses, aka SMEs, is one that has attracted the commercial lending teams of numerous smaller banks, ones that are either true community institutions or ones that act like locals.

First American Bank, for example, is a $4.9 billion privately held bank based in Chicago. It entered the local market by purchasing the Bank of Coral Gables, along with its local roots. With offices now on Galiano Street, they came to the Gables because they were a bank focusing on the needs of middle market manufacturers and exporters.

“We first came here to service exporters, and in South Florida and Coral Gables there are many exporters who need a lot of services,” says Brian Hagan, the Florida Market President for First American who handles commercial lending. “We deal with the smaller end of the middle market, companies with sales of a couple of million up to $50 million or $60 million, who need loans of between $1 million and $25 million.”

Hagan says his firm has lent to local firms that include a graphics company, an international distributor of wire and cable, an international distributor of paper products, and a plastics manufacturer. “The Gables has a strong business community and that strength is diversity. There are lots of international businesses, a tremen-

Abel Iglesias (shown

President and CEO of Professional Bank

We take care of the needs of businesses that are run by indivduals, and they live here…

left)

dous entrepreneurial spirit in the smaller businesses, and a lot of brokers selling and buying goods… and that’s why we are here.”

While Coral Gables has the cachet of being the home to nearly 150 international headquarters for multi-national corporations, these are typically served by massive global banks with ties to the parent companies. What local financial institutions target are smaller firms, which can fall below the radar of bigger banks like Chase or Bank of America.

That is precisely the reason that Center State Bank landed in South Florida, and established a branch on Alhambra Circle. An Atlanta-based bank, its initial mission was to set up banks in rural communities that were traditionally underserved. Having grown to $17 billion in assets – including acquiring the two largest community banks in rural Homestead –“we have run out of rural communities to serve,” says David Pruna, area president for the bank. “We are now growing into the urban areas.”

Pruna, a Miami native, says that Coral Gables was chosen as the entry point into urban South Florida because of its array of small businesses that were potentially underserved. “That’s why we chose it first, as our beach head into the northern part of the county… Many people see Brickell as the financial district, but I think that Coral Gables is the epicenter of South Florida,” he says. “It has a tremendous amount of professionals and small businesses and industries, that lend themselves to growth. To partner with [them] is a great opportunity… With our suite of solutions we can grow with them.”

The idea of working with small businesses to help them grow, and then retain them as clients, is a central part of the philosophy of Grove Bank and Trust, formerly Coconut Grove Bank, which has always seen Coral Gables as part of its local territory. Among their claims to local cred is saving the University of Miami in 1931; the bank bought the then-insolvent university’s assets and structured a loan that allowed it to buy its assets back. Otherwise, UM would have been absorbed by the University of Florida and now be called Pan American University.

“Some of the companies we work with end up growing their businesses to $30 or $40 million, after a loan of a

Continued on page 91

Many people see Brickell as the financial district, but I think that Coral Gables is the epicenter of South Florida

The key, is working with the individuals and understanding their track records.

David Pruna (right) area president of Center State

Bank

Jose Vazquez (right) president and chief lending officer for Grove Bank and Trust

Fine Dining

AT BELLMÓNT, A LOYAL CLIENTELE COMES FOR THE STUNNINGLY AUTHENTIC SPANISH CUISINE

By Andrew Gayle

The first thing you notice at Bellmónt is the appetizing scent of a red oak wood fire, quietly glowing in a 14,700-pound iron oven that owner Sergio Bellmónt imported from Pereruela, Spain, when he first opened five years ago. It is just one of the many authentic Spainish elements that Bellmónt fastidiously maintains at his elegant, yet neighborly, restaurant on Miracle Mile.

“I source all the food myself, and it’s the best of its kind in the world,” says Bellmónt, who acts as maître-d and executive chef. “All of the fish is from Spain, as is the ham.” Their cured ham, Jamón de Jabugo from Huelva in southwest Spain, may indeed be the best in the world, and is reason alone to dine here; it is dark and deeply flavorful, having been aged 5 years from acornraised pigs. It is an expensive delicacy, but when balanced in the Table Mixta with Manchego cheese and Ibérico sausage ($37), it is exquisite.

As much of the menu as possible comes from Spain, where Bellmónt was raised in a large family in Madrid. While all of his relatives have remained in Spain, Bellmónt settled here with his Peruvian wife Claudia and their five children. “I tell my mother that, at the very least, I am bringing some part of Spain to America,” he says. The food provides a culinary map of

Spain. The piquillo red peppers, for example, come from Asturias on the north Atlantic coast. You can enjoy them in a wonderful light tapas dish where they are stuffed with goat cheese from La Mancha in the central part of Spain ($15). (The anchovies, likewise, come from the cold waters off Navarra in northern Spain, while the octopus hails from the waters off Galicia, on the Portuguese border.)

Also on their tapas menu are Spanish croquetas, a distinct upgrade from the type you find in Cuban cafes around Miami. Those at Bellmónt are round, with a lighter breading, and filled with pastes of either north Atlantic cod, Ibérico ham, or spinach with Manchego cheese ($11). They are savory and creamy and melt in your mouth, a soft warm filling with a delicate crust.

Among the entrees are a number of standouts. One is the Cantabric sea bass, again from the cold Atlantic waters off the coast of Asturias (the Cantabrian sea is also known as the Bay of Biscay). These grilled fillets, served with a bed of fresh sautéed vegetables, are perfectly browned on top with a thin but crunchy skin on the bottom. If you love seafood, this will win your palate ($32).

Another standout dish – which does not come from Spain – is the Solomillo a la Piedra, a nine-ounce tenderloin of Iowa aged beef that

is served with a “hot rock,” a small hot slab of volcanic stone from Granada ($39). The idea is to cook the meat on the rock as you slice it, sprinkling it with a bit of sea salt that is provided. It is a fine and fun way to eat a superb cut of meat. And you can use the slab to heat your baby lamb chops; from New Zealand, they are about the only other dish that doesn’t come from España.

Returning to the motherland, we also tried Bellmónt’s Paella de Mariscos, filled with

Top: Authentic Paella de Mariscos cooked in a cast iron skillet

Above: Owner Sergio Bellmónt slicing the 5-year-aged cured ham, “the best in the world ”

Opposite Top: The ambience is a mix of formal, fine dining and a family-run neighborhood restaurant

Opposite Left: Cured hams hung on display in the restaurant

Opposite Right: Cured ham from Huelva in southwest Spain atop bruschetta

calamari, mussels and clams from Spain’s northern coast, and shrimp and lobster from its southern coast ($25). It has a rich tomato broth but uses pasta instead of rice, which makes it lighter and less pasty. You will have to wait 25 minutes for this tasty dish, but that is brief compared to the four to five hours you will need to order Bellmónt’s signature dish, its suckling pig roasted in the wood-fired oven. A whole pig will set you back $230 for four or $260 for six (so bring two more friends), but it is a unique dining experience that regularly attracts large tables of diners; to date, Bellmónt has served more than 2,500 of them.

The wine list at Bellmónt is, as you’d expect, all Spanish, most ranging from $30 to $60 a bottle. We were very happy with a 2013 red 12 Linajes Roble ($46), comprised of tempranillo wine from the Ribera del Duero growing region in north central Spain. Desserts are likewise from the panoply of Spanish flavors (flan, almond ice cream, hazelnut paste). We tried the torrijas, a log-shaped Spanish-style French toast with cinnamon, honey and wine ($9). Easily enough to feed four of us, and deliciously decadent.

In terms of interior, Bellmónt combines the feeling of a family-run neighborhood restaurant with formal, fine dining. There is a large forward bar with hanging hams, and another smaller one backed by two TV screens broadcasting Spanish soccer. This is combined with white table clothes and warm, drop-down lighting. Somehow it works, creating a pleasant space where the food is clearly the focal point of the experience – and one that you will not regret. Bellmónt is a shrine to Spanish food, a place for your taste buds to travel. It is a unique, memorable and – for its clientele – a dining adventure worth repeating.

THE TOP RESTAURANTS IN CORAL GABLES

CoralGables 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.

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

AMERICAN 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 Eating House

Groovy place with inventive ever-changing menu, with dishes like nutmeg risotto, pumpkin tiradito, and fried Brussels 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 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

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 Brussels 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

Yard House

A cavernous space with huge screens for sports fans, oversized paintings, classic rock in the background and large booths, all making for a comfortable space in which to pick and choose from an immense and reliable menu of American classics with Asian dishes interspersed. Literally something for everyone.

320 San Lorenzo Ave. 305.447.9273

$$ American and more

2019

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.

ASIAN

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

Izkaya

Located across the street from the Colonnade building, this tiny, bustling Japanese restaurant serves a great bento box – along with an impressive array of daily specials that are posted on the wall in chalk. Super popular lunch spot, for good reason.

159 Aragon Ave. 305.445.2584

$$ Japanese

Kao Sushi & Grill

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? Yes, to all three. 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

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

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

Sawa

Delicious take on Japanese flavors served in parallel with Lebanese Mediterranean, Sawa offers seating inside or outside at Merrick Park. A vast selection of sushi rolls and tapas that range from chicken yatkitori to octopus ceviche, along with super fresh Middle Eastern comfort food. Some nice “samplers” let you check out the menu’s range, plus great naan flatbreads. World’s best lamb chops. Also has a doggy menu.

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

$$$ Japanese and Mediterranean

FRENCH

Brasserie Central

Secretly owned by Pascal of Ponce fame, the restaurant is half inside 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, though not cheap.

Shops at Merrick Park 786.536.9388

$$-$$$ French

Adam I. Bregman | West Palm Beach, 561-650-8560, ABregman@shutts.com

Brittany Bustillo | Tampa, 813-227-8180, BBustillo@shutts.com

Manuel Negron | Miami, 305-379-9130, MNegron@shutts.com

Kristin Drecktrah Paz | Miami, 305-379-9138, KPaz@shutts.com

Michael J. Quinn | Orlando, 407-835-6773, MQuinn@shutts.com

Sarah Donini Rodriguez | Orlando, 407-835-6904, SRodriguez@shutts.com

Andrew E. Schwartz | Fort Lauderdale, 954-847-3878, ASchwartz@shutts.com

Kyle A. Stevens | Orlando, 407-835-6760, KStevens@shutts.com

Lauren L. Stricker | Tampa, 813-227-8154, LStricker@shutts.com

Lauren A. Taylor | Tampa, 813-227-8164, LTaylor@shutts.com

Greta E.M. Trotman | Miami, 305-415-9044, GTrotman@shutts.com

Amy M. Wessel | Fort Lauderdale, 954-847-3889, AWessel@shutts.com

Dining Guide

Frenchie’s Diner

It looks like an all-American diner (which it once was) but this is pure French cooking in a small but comfy setting. Frenchie himself is usually there. Some items on the menu can get pricey (filet mignon, $34) but the onion soup ($9) and escargots ($11) are great values, and the croque monsieur ($14) for lunch is a meal unto itself.

2618 Galiano St. 305.442.4554

$$-$$$ French

Le Provençal

This Gables mainstay (30 years in the same location) is under new ownership, so expect some intriguing innovations. But what they do extremely well is classic French cuisine, with such crowd-pleasing favorites as duck a l’orange, Coquille St. Jacques, escargot and steak au poivre. New sidewalk seating for the Parisian café experience, perfect pre-theater location.

266 Miracle Mile 305.448.8984

$$$ French

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

Zucca

ITALIAN

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

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

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

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

$$-$$$ Italian

Zucca

A worthy heir to the hallowed grounds of the old St. Michel restaurant, this one-year-old is a new star in the galaxy 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, sophisticated, with haute comfort food and great service.

162 Alcazar Ave. 786.580.3731

$$$-$$$$ Northern Italian

LATIN & SOUTH AMERICAN

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

Caffe Vialetto

Two brothers, managing to keep sibling rivalry at bay, have concocted a menu of upscale Latin food that is consistently changing and interesting. Yuca, mofongo (garlic flavored mashed plantains), and other Caribbean and Latin flavors make for an out of the ordinary experience. Reservations required, always full.

4019 LeJuene Rd. 305.446.5659

$$$ Cuban/Latin

Graziano’s

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

Cuban place – some nice dinner salads. 4612 S. LeJeune Rd. 305.661.2622

$$ Cuban

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

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 homesick 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

SEAFOOD

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 a baked whole fish crusted in sea salt, but don’t miss the traditional Mediterranean seafood stews or the shellfish prepared Galician style.

177 Giralda Ave. 305.446.2002

$$$$ Spanish Seafood

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

$$$ European coastal cuisine, seafood

MesaMar

Pascal’s On Ponce

Elegant, quaint and delicious, Pacal’s is the home and culinary canvas of owner-chef Pascal Oudin, who brings authentic French cuisine to the heart of the city. Oudin excels in seafood, soufflés and desserts. Try the leeks & hearts of palm salad.

2611 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.444.2024

$$$ French

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 the fettuccine with prosciutto, mushrooms and green peas is to die for.

264 Miracle Mile 786.452.0068

$$$ Italian

394 Giralda Ave. 305.774.3599

$$$ Argentine

Havana Harry’s

It’s big, it’s easy, it’s comfortable, and it’s where the shredded onion/garlic chicken dinner (pollo vaca frita) with rice, beans and plantains is still just $12.95. The same with the fried pork chunks (massas de Puerco). Large menu with all your Cuban favorite dishes along with – surprising for a

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

SPANISH

Bellmónt

Modern décor meets traditional Spanish dishes. Their house specialty

Since I became mayor of Coral Gables, I have been privileged to be a part of the city’s most ambitious improvement plans in years. Here are some of the many successes we have achieved over the past two years:

Crime in the city is now at its lowest rate in 15 years.

Broke ground on new state-of-the-art Public Safety building.

No new property taxes in 2017-18 — 12th lowest tax rate in the county.

City AAA bond rating affirmed by the top three rating agencies.

New standards and improvements to better manage traffic.

Downtown improvements that resulted in record non-holiday retail sales.

Smart City technology to streamline local services.

Online tools that allow residents to access city financial information.

New environmental and sustainability initiatives.

Opened Betsy Adams Garden Club Park and an Adult Activity Center.

$10 million in facilities and infrastructure repairs.

Together we can keep making Coral Gables better than ever!

Dining Guide

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

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

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, orange walls, string lights and live flamenco on the weekends ($5 cover), so reservations are a must.

254 Giralda Avenue 786.362.5677

$$ Spanish

STEAK

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

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 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

Morton’s Coral Gables

Morton’s in the Gables is not just another Morton’s. Its setting in the Colonnades 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

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

PUBS, CAFES & MISC.

John Martin’s Irish Pub

Where else in the Gables can you find a relaxed Irish pub with excellent 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 American staples as well, from hot pastrami on rye to their signature Pub Burger. Jazz every Wednesday night.

253 Miracle Mile 305.445.3777

$ Pub Food

The Seven Dials

Calling itself an “eclectic American gastropub,” Seven Dials is a fusion of American recipes with British culinary standards, with nice twists like a chicken breast cooked with curry sauce. There is also a tasty Welsh Rarebit snack and a beer-battered Indian-inspired cauliflower with mint aioli and tamarind. Relaxed, pub-like interior.

2030 S. Douglas Rd. 786.542.1603

$$ British American

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. 141 Giralda Ave. 305.704.8007

$$ American

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

Coral Gables is proud of its Art in Public Places Program

Over the last two years, eight installations have come to Coral Gables with art enhancing both residential and business areas. Eight more projects have been approved, reinforcing the City’s focus on art.

Be on the lookout for future projects!

www.CoralGables.com/publicart

What Condo Will $1.5 Million Buy in Coral Gables?

Coral Gables has some of the most valuable real estate in South Florida, dominated by single family homes. With more mid-rise and mixed-use buildings rising in key corridors and the downtown, the complexion of residency is beginning to shift.

To see what sort of mid-rise condominium less than $1.5 million would buy today, we asked three local real estate agents to submit one of their homes for sale in that price range – give or take a few thousand dollars. Here is what they came up with in different Gables locations.

At the Tree Tops

Enjoy a laugh with friends in a charming atmosphere

Listing Price

$1.449m

Golf Course Classic

600 CORAL WAY

3 bed/3.5 bath/3,949 sq. ft. On the third floor of the iconic Segovia Tower, overlooking the historic Granada Golf Course and Coral Gables Downtown. This spacious condominium is the only unit on the floor and has its own private foyer. Walkable to downtown. Huge master suite, over-sized kitchen and covered terrace. Listing Agent: Ilana Levitt (Shelton and Stewart Realtors), 305.992.7914

130’ Westport Tri-deck Motoryacht 2012 “ANGEL WINGS”

Westport RPHMY 2017 “BLACK GOLD”

Westport RPHMY 2010 “BOXER”

Pacific Mariner 2011 “SUNQUEST”

Home on the Bay

few hundred thousand dollars,” says Jose Vazquez, president and chief lending officer for Grove Bank and Trust, who describes his firm as “a small, boutique community bank” with $275 million in assets. But precisely because it is a small, local institution, Grove Bank strives to develop personal relationships with its clients, which have ranged from a clothing retailer on Miracle Mile to a restaurateur on Giralda.

“We look at any business that could be a viable lending candidate,” says Vazquez. “Entrepreneurial startups are more difficult to back in general, though we do have SBA products we can offer.” The key, he says, is working with the individuals and understanding their track records. “We like to get to know our customers, and not just because the government asks you to know who they are… We’ve got some clients that could be a small one man, one women law operation, and others that do eight figures in revenue, 50, 60, or 70 million in revenue,” he says. “There are plenty of those in the Gables, neatly housed in the offices of the city beautiful.”

Indeed, regardless of size, Coral Gables is viewed as a lucrative market for business banking. “Coral Gables has always been a great market for doing business at all levels, from business banking to commercial real estate to retail banking. It’s one of the epicenters for business in the area,” says Nick Bustle, the Miami market president for Valley Bank in charge of commercial lending.

While Valley’s parent company Valley National Bancorp is one of the nation’s top 50 banks, with $30 billion in assets, it is “set up to deal with the smaller businesses,” and can lend amounts as little as $100,000. They are keen to work with both entrepreneurs and large businesses, especially when they can “increase our share of wallet” by serving the individual who runs the business. “Crossover is a big focal point for our bank,” says Bustle. “A lot of companies are located in Coral Gables, and the individual and professionals associated with those companies are located here.”

Despite Valley’s size, says Bustle, “we have a lot of folks on the ground, and a lot of local decision making… for someone looking for a real relationship with their

banker.” The idea of a strong personal relationship is, of course, the mantra of any community bank. “Banking has changed and evolved over the years, but we have maintained our niche by catering to the special financial needs of the community,” says Iglesias of Professional. Like their name implies, they have continued to focus on the needs of local professionals. “Someone that wants to buy into a law firm, or a law firm that wants to acquire another law firm, or a doctor or dentist that wants to expand or buyout a partner – those are the sorts of needs we can accommodate, in a niche of being able to understand these businesses and underwrite them with an appropriate financial package.”

It’s not that Iglesias avoids playing on a larger stage as well. He was recently appointed to the board of the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve, for example, and the loans that his bank makes to companies such as flower importers, housewares distributors, or equipment vendors to petroleum and mining companies range from $3 million to $15 million. But, he says, “We take care of the needs of businesses that are run by individuals, and they live here.”

Rodney Barreto Rich Barbara Bradley Barreto

From Main Street By Mark Trowbridge

More People Needed on the Mile

TARPON BEND’S EXIT IS ANOTHER SIGN THAT WE NEED MORE RESIDENTS DOWNTOWN

I

t is hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since we celebrated the grand re-opening of Miracle Mile following a nearly $20 million facelift. And yet, it has not been an easy journey to rebuild the consumer base along the Mile and Giralda Plaza and get the crowds to return to our downtown to dine, shop and experience Coral Gables at its finest.

This also translates into a greater need for residents to live in the downtown core year-round in both existing developments and future ones. Our Chamber has recently endorsed two magnificent opportunities to grow our consumer base – 100 Miracle Mile and Coral Gables City Center. Our leadership does not take these endorsements lightly and sure, some have elicited controversy from the local neighbors. But, we always seek to strike a balance as arbiters of these future projects. All must have a consumer base that will add to our downtown economy, as well as be thoughtful and integrated architecturally into the look and feel of the surrounding neighborhood.

Most importantly, these projects must bring customers – whether they be residents, office dwellers or visitors. Both these latest projects offer special opportunities to grow our consumer base and support our restaurants and retailers. Never has this been more critical than with the loss of Tarpon Bend Raw Bar & Grill just a few weeks ago. A staple in our community and a shining star along the Mile for more than 15 years, its shuttering sent a shiver down the spine of every other business – and restaurant

– along Miracle Mile.

I was lucky enough to be there for the last hurrah and to celebrate Wayne Eldred, owner/operator of Tarpon Bend, on his final night. The mood was upbeat and full of positivity and warm embraces. Yet, the long and arduous Streetscape project continues to impact local businesses and Tarpon Bend is just the latest to succumb to the loss of revenues and inflexible landlords and leases. There is a great hope that Wayne will find a new location and take his (and our) beloved Tarpon elsewhere, most hopefully in The City Beautiful.

Some have accused me – and our organization – of being too personally invested in the realities of the ebb and flow of businesses. I would suggest it is part of our authentic leadership. We are a champion for our members and proud of our relentless work.

I have had the opportunity to lead this organization through the worst recession anyone can remember. We helped our businesses recover and thrive then, as we do now. And, we were omnipresent during the Streetscape project, never losing sight of the bigger picture and our core mission of service and advocacy. The loss of Tarpon Bend is not only painful – it is indeed personal. This is what makes us the best in our business.

And like our friend Wayne extolled on his final night, “Save your chips – we’ll be back!” to thunderous applause of hope and approval, I promise we will be right here waiting for the next chapter.

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

The loss of Tarpon Bend is not only painful – it is personal…

Your Money By Isabela Sanchez

Stay Calm and Carry On

This past December was one for the books — and not in a good way. On Christmas Eve, the S&P 500 index fell by 2.71 percent, the biggest plunge ever on the last trading day before Christmas. Did Santa Claus skip town?

Now, talks of volatility in the stock market, federal interest rate hikes, U.S.-China trade negotiations and the U.S. government partial shutdown mark every headline. With all this noise, how is it possible to stay calm and carry on?

If you are a long-term investor, the solution is exactly that. Market swings, or “corrections,” are normal. If you don’t need to utilize your investment funds for an immediate goal, then experts agree that you should still invest in stocks and avoid trying to “time” the market. Instead of poring over headlines, you should focus on your long-term financial plan. Here’s a few planning tips to help:

(1) Determine your financial goals and the purpose behind your investment portfolio: This is the time to really focus on what you want. Do you plan to retire early? Do you dream of a second home or paying off your student debt? Make a list of your financial goals and prioritize them.

(2) Make sure your portfolio allocation is appropriate for your desired goals: If you are setting aside funds to purchase a home in the next two to three years, then you should be more conservative. However, if these funds are for your retirement and you have 40+ years before then, it’s appropriate to take on more risk.

(3) Review your risk tolerance and investment policy statement: Accepting some risk is how you earn returns, but are you taking on too much? A typical 70 percent stock to 30 percent bond portfolio ratio would have taken a roughly 24 percent hit during the financial crisis in 2008. If that kind of drawdown makes your stomach churn, then maybe it’s time to dial back your equity exposure.

(4) Start reducing your debt: As tempting as it is to funnel your money into the stock market, debt repayment should be a priority. The cost of carrying debt can far outweigh your investment returns, especially in a bear market. List your debts and create a plan to tackle them, paying off your higher-interest-rate debt first.

(5) Look at your 2018 spending: Call your credit card company and obtain a yearly statement or download one. Look at your spending as a percentage of income. Are you spending too much on superfluous items? The general rule is to save 10 to 20 percent of your income to grow your net worth and reach your financial goals. Another tip is to have 3 to 6 months’ worth of immediate expenses saved in a liquid “emergency fund” for unforeseen financial binds. Curtailing spending gets you closer to having that emergency fund. A new year is a great time to get a 30,000-foot view on your long-term financial plan. If you focus on this rather than the short-term volatility in the market, then you will be in the driver’s seat with regards to your life goals.

2019 IS THE YEAR TO FOCUS ON YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN (AND NOT THE STOCK MARKET)

Isabela Sanchez, CFP, is a Trust Officer and Assistant Vice President at Coral Gables Trust Company.

Instead of poring over headlines, you should focus on your long-term…

Reviving your senses with every ingredient

Indulge in your passion for gastronomy at The Biltmore’s Culinary Academy where we are committed to excellence in the culinary arts. Offering a variety of classes in our dedicated learning area and fully equipped professional kitchen inclduing workshops and team building events, for both adults and children. Fun and educational, for aspiring chefs of all levels.

To view a schedule of cooking classes visit www.biltmorehotel.com/bca

For more infomation call 305.913.3131 or email culinaryacademy@biltmorehotel.com

Time Machine

PONCE AND MIRACLE MILE, 1952

The Intersection of Ponce de Leon Blvd and Miracle Mile in 1952 (looking here toward the southwest corner) had come under the influence of urban designers who wanted to give it a sleek, clean, modern

look to compete with places like Lincoln Road Mall. Today, the roofs and window awnings have been retro-fitted with red tiles in keeping with the Mediterranean image the city has come to embrace.

The average price for a new car is $1,700

Elizabeth the II becomes the Queen of England

Albert Schweitzer wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The first hydrogen bomb is detonated

The first Mr. Potato Head is sold

Photo courtesy of City of Coral Gables Historical Resources & Cultural Arts Department. New photo by Lizzie Wilcox

What Would You Do With An Extra 58 Days?

The old adage less is more is highly prized when referring to how many days it takes to sell your home.

In 2018, I sold Coral Gables homes within 58 days, on average, versus the market average of 103 days. That’s 50%+ faster! This often equals saved cost on home overhead and reduced stress.

If increased profit and reduced time on market are desired results you want from your Realtor, don’t hesitate to contact me.