Coral Gables Magazine January 2020

CORAL GABLES

The Passion of Prescott

HOW GENE PRESCOTT SAVED AND PRESERVED THE BILTMORE HOTEL, THE ICON OF CORAL GABLES PLUS: GABLES BUSINESS QUARTERLY THE GREAT BIKE LANE DEBATE PASCAL’S EXQUISITE CUISINE

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Better is being close to home and those who matter.

MG Developer - Row into 2020

Dear friends in Coral Gables,

It was an amazing 2019 and we are so proud to have made so many great memories with everyone here in The City Beautiful. We accomplished many great things with your support and we are looking forward to an even better year and a whole new decade of “Building Beautiful.” From reaching new milestones, launching new exhibitions to adding new developments, we continue working diligently at creating communities that inspire us all to rise up.

Our inspiration, in part, comes from the resurgence of art and culture in the city, which we have proudly shown to neighboring cities and global guests that Coral Gables offers a trove of creativity that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

As we enveloped 2019, we celebrated Art Week by presenting For Now: 40 Contemporary Venezuelan Artists of the Miami Diaspora and El Viaje… at the Coral Gables Museum, which will remain on display until March 15th of 2020. We are extremely proud of this exhibition as it marked the second time Coral Gables Museum was named as an official participant of the Art Basel international fair.

More notable moments for Coral Gables in 2019 include the groundbreaking of Althea Row, our latest community of five 3-story luxury town houses that boasts 7,000 square feet including garden, porch, patio, terrace and dining loggias to enjoy the magnificent lush green surroundings of Almeria Avenue. With the addition of Althea Row, Coral Gables gained another quintessential development built to serve connoisseurs of luxury that have been seeking urban amenities at a short distance, while enjoying the quaint lifestyle of a sophisticated town square.

This year, we will be introducing and breaking ground on Biltmore Row, which will join MG’s condominium development Biltmore Parc, the city’s award-winning Beatrice Row and our most recent project, Althea Row to complete Biltmore Square. Biltmore Row and Althea Row are the perfect expression of Southern European charm and urban sophistication defined by a Mediterranean style designed by the revered De La Guardia Victoria Architecture, elevating the city’s aesthetic while preserving its storied historic foundation.

Since our first projects in Coral Gables – 444 Valencia, Villa Blanc and The Ponce – we’ve stayed true to our mission of “Building Beautiful” throughout the Gables, creating a number of new developments that complement the city’s character.

With so much happening in Coral Gables, we thank you for being part of our family and helping us keep “Building Beautiful” for everyone to enjoy. Whether it’s through community events like Wellness in the Gables, supporting the arts, creating art initiatives or donating functional art for the public’s enjoyment, everything we do is meant to evoke the distinct spirit of Coral Gables. We look forward to an exciting future as we mark the journey through a new decade making storied legacies that will be unique to us only in The City Beautiful.

Our sincerest gratitude,

MG Developer

SUPPORTING PHILANTHROPY IN CORAL

MG CONTRIBUTING TO ARTS & CULTURE

PRESENTING CORAL GABLES WELLNESS

Honoring Venezuelan Artists at the Exhibitions of For Now: Contemporary Venezuelan Art of the Miami Diaspora and El Viaje…

Supporting the Coral Gables Community Foundation During the Annual Tour of Kitchens Event

An Honor to Be Recognized by the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce for Contributing Public Art

Kicking off Wellness in the Gables Initiative at Ponce Circle Park and Giralda Plaza

An Honor to Become Part of the Board of Directors at the Coral Gables Museum

Celebrating the Groundbreaking of Althea Row

Celebrating HISPA Fest and Latin American Culture at the Coral Gables Museum

Supporting FundaHigado at Gables Estate alongside Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli

MG Developer Team Honoring Venezuelan Artists at the Exhibitions of For Now: Contemporary Venezuelan Art of the Miami Diaspora and El Viaje…

GABLES

Enhancing Your LaundryRoom

Let’s be real—laundry is no one’s favorite task. Whether it’s your own clothes or your whole family’s clothes, no matter what, there’s almost always a lot of it. For homes with laundry rooms, the chore is made a little bit easier. Still, there are always better ways to approach your to-do list, so today we’re going to help you increase your laundry room’s efficiency

Many Options, Endless Variety

When it comes to the Café line, the potential is limitless. Check out a few of the different customizable appliances offered:

Storage

From cabinets to counter space, you’re going to want to maximize your workspace. Designate certain drawers for certain linens and detergents, or—if you haven’t already— consider installing creative, built-in storage spaces. For textiles that are better off washed by hand, install a hanging rack for air drying. The more space you have to sort, wash and fold, the happier you’ll be in the long run.

Environment

Finding yourself staring into a dark and dingy laundry space? Brighten things up a bit! Open the blinds, install fresh lighting or grab a can of brightly colored paint to take drab to fab. A better environment can contribute to a better mood when handling tedious tasks like laundry. Pro tip: Wallpapers and backsplashes can help keep things interesting in these spaces as well.

Technology

Of course, what better way to enhance your laundry space than the installation of a brand new washer and dryer set? The LG Ultra Large Front Load washer and dryer set feature brilliant new benefits including Wi-Fi connectivity for remote operation, a SpeedWash Cycle for cleaning smaller loads in as little as 15 minutes and high-powered steaming technology to gently—but thoroughly—eliminate odors and wrinkles. Installing this fantastic set of appliances in your laundry room is sure to cut down on the amount of laundry you have and the time you spend in your efficient new laundry room.

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Ultra Large Capacity Front Load Washer and Dryer with Steam and Wi-Fi Connectivity

CORAL GABLES, IT’S GOOD TO BE HOME.

With more than 7,000 agents, the company operates approximately 120 offices nationwide and 21 in Florida. From Miami, to Palm Beach, to St. Petersburg, let’s put the power of Elliman to work for you. For more information on Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, please visit elliman.com/florida

Read more....

PASCAL’S HAS BEEN ON PONCE FOR 19 YEARS. HERE IS WHY.…

The only problem with perfecting a dish, says Chef Pascal Oudin, is that your clients will never let you take it off the menu.

“When I took my lobster bisque off the regular menu, I practically had a riot on my hands, there was such a protest,” he says. But after a decade or so, sometimes you just have to change things up.

CURIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL GIFTS... CASA MARIA p104

Read more....

The Great Bike Debate

To accomplish its pedalpower goals, the city is banking on a 2014 commission-approved Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan that outlines the expansion of the existing 10.5-mile bicycle network with 34

that

Just Call it... Friday Night Live

The first Friday of each month in Coral Gables has been called Gallery Night for decades now, a harkening back to the days when there were dozens of galleries in the city. I recently printed out the city’s Gables Gallery Night map and went on a quest to visit what remains of these salons of fine art on a First Friday.

I found very few remaining. Yes, the godmother of Gables gallery owners, Virginia Miller, keeps her vigil up on Madeira Avenue. And the godfather of Gables gallery owners, Ramon Cernuda, had his showrooms open and brightly lit on Ponce, just south of Santander. But in the great middle – aka the downtown – only H. Benitiz Fine Art on Alcazar remains open, and then only selling the art of H. Benitiz.

Was the evening a bust? Not at all. The core of the downtown – Miracle Mile, Aragon Ave., Giralda Plaza – was bustling with activity. The Coral Gables Museum was open, with a new exhibit that drew in some 1,000 people that evening. Next door at Books & Books a band was playing in the courtyard, the tables filled with wine-sipping revelers. Across the street movie goers were streaming from the Coral Gables Art Cinema.

At the east end of Giralda Plaza there was a rock band wailing away, surrounded by a throng, part of the “Giralda Under the Stars” program by the Business Improvement District. Another part of their Stars night –free shots of a sponsor’s alcohol – attracted a long, but fast moving, line. Outdoor seating at restaurants was thick with diners.

On Miracle Mile, spirits were equally high. A trumpet player and an electric guitarist were playing on chairs outside John Martin’s Irish Pub. Down the block a DJ was spinning tunes in front of P.Pole Pizza. Across the street, happy, dancing people were spilling onto the street from Copper 29, heavy beats blaring.

All and all, it was an energetic scene. But music was the motif, not art; there was even a band playing inside the Coral Gables Museum. So, as much as we all desperately want the art gallery scene to return in full force to the Gables – and I used to go regularly, years ago – it’s time to give this special first Friday of each month a new name. We’ve got Saturday Night Live on TV, so why not Friday Night Live on the streets of Coral Gables? Just a suggestion. Happy New Year.

J.P.Faber Editor-in-Chief

PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P.Faber

EVP / PUBLISHER

Gail Scott

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amy Donner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Toni Kirkland

VP SALES

Sherry Adams

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lizzie Wilcox

SENIOR WRITER

Doreen Hemlock

WRITERS

James Broida

Grace Carricarte

Andrew Gayle

Julia Piantini

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Michael Campina

Jonathan Dann

Nicholas Faber

RESEARCH

Gloria Glantz

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dennis Nason

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

Coral Gables Magazine is published monthly by City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. Telephone: (786) 206.8254. Copyright 2019 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 2019.

coralgablesthemagazine.com

Cover: Gene Prescott of the Biltmore Hotel.

Photo by Jon Braeley

READERS LETTERS

Each month we print letters from our readers. We encourage any and all commentary, including criticism as well as compliments, and of course any commentary about our community. If you are interested in writing to us with your opinions, thoughts or suggestions, please send them to letters@thecoralgablesmagazine.com. We edit letters for brevity, grammar and clarity.

MAKE FPL PAY

I was dismayed to read your story about FP&L burying the power lines and not paying for it themselves. It ended with “reasonable payment options will be offered to property owners.”

FP&L should have started burying cables on their own impetus 20+ years ago after Andrew. As stated, they will benefit greatly from not having to deal with power losses and tree cutting. There is no reason why homeowners should pay! We already pay. WE ARE THE CUSTOMER. A business might pass on costs via increased rates, but you don’t ask the customer to pay for your infrastructure outright. Why is the City even entertaining this idea? FP&L makes billions [and] not everyone who lives in Coral Gables is rich. This is grossly unfair…  If there are «options» we «opt» not to pay for buried lines.

Helen Gynell

LET THE POLICE USE THE GUNS

The truth about the Dec. 5 jewelry store robbery in Coral Gables will be known eventually, but it is doubtful that anyone will touch on the real detonator in this matter: who fired the first shots. Would this escalation of violence, subse-

quent UPS truck hijacking and public highway shootout with police have begun if the owner or employee who decided to defend the jewelry and money – things already protected by insurance anyway – hadn’t started shooting? People need to let law enforcement take care of matters that involve guns. If the intention was to rob, not kill, it would have been just that. But now there are four dead.

Hazel Hazlett

GO HIGHER TECH, PLEASE

The City of Coral Gables Commission has approved the use of virtual appearances through WebEx. Why are we not expanding this to other Board meetings? I have sat at the Board of Architects as an item number in the 40s on the agenda and waited over 3 hours. I have also been an item number 40s and was called upon in less than an hour. Technology can be used to make us more efficient in many ways.

Brad Barreto

KUDOS REDUX

I noticed the kudos to Chip Withers in Coral Gables Magazine’s December’s News and Notes, but it was limited to Withers World-

wide’s transportation of pet supplies to the Bahamas in connection with hurricane relief efforts.  However, Withers Worldwide also transported plenty of much-needed supplies for the Bahamian people as well.  My law firm [Agentis] and the Coral Gables Museum pooled their relief efforts, and then Withers Worldwide picked it up and transported it all to the Bahamas—all for free.  A second “kudos” is in order!

Christopher Spuches

RECOGNITION WELL DESERVED

Dr. Stephen D. Nimer, director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named the inaugural holder of the Oscar de la Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. University of Miami President Julio Frenk made the announcement during an event at the Kislak Center in the Otto G. Richter Library at the University of Miami in Coral Gables in November. President Frenk noted the generosity of the legendary fashion designer and his family, especially his widow Annette, who took part in the presentation.

Diana Gonzalez

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Editor’s Note: This is one more well-deserved kudo for Dr. Nimer, under whose leadership the Sylvester Center recently received a prestigious designation from the National Cancer Institute.

Mommy Makeover?

I recently saw a pleasant mommy makeover patient. By the time she came into the office, she already had FOUR surgeries over a two year period: the first one over-augmented her breasts with a poor choice implant and left her disproportionally large.

The second surgery attempted to correct the first operation by reducing the implant size and utilizing a better choice silicone implant, with a still less than optimal result. The third operation was to address a belly button hernia, which is common after kids, but really didn’t and left her with a noticeable scar. The fourth operation was a “mini” tummy tuck done under local anesthesia, with sedation in the office which left her only with a long scar, but no aesthetic improvement at all and unnecessary CT scan studies to find out why her belly contour had not improved.

When she showed me her initial before surgery photos, she had no complicated problems – only a loose belly with a small belly button hernia and deflated breasts after two children. All she needed was ONE operation - a well performed tummy tuck, including the hernia repair, and an anatomically fitting breast augmentation, a ‘Mommy Makeover’

– a four hour procedure under general anesthesia and a two week recovery period. Her FIFTH surgery, under general anesthesia, finally provided her with the result she sought and deserved.

A tummy tuck under local anesthesia sounds good but simply doesn’t work. General anesthesia with complete muscle relaxation is needed to effectively correct the muscle laxity after kids. The belly button hernia is easily addressed at the same time and a properly chosen breast implant would have solved her breast deflation.

How could she have avoided her overly lengthy and unnecessarily costly experience? More research, more questions, more evaluation of a surgeon’s actual results and being less impressed by a doctor’s marketing claims.

Photo by Nick Garcia

A Literary Moment

GABLES HOSTS A NOBEL LAUREATE

A Measure of Prevention

THE CITY CONSIDERS AN ORDINANCE TO LIMIT FERTILIZER POLLUTION

Mario Vargas Llosa (above right), the author of such critically acclaimed novels as “The Time of the Hero” and “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter,” is a Peruvian writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2010. Last month, he was honored at a luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel.

The occasion was a meeting of the International Foundation for Freedom, which Vargas Llosa launched 10 years ago to promote the protection of democracy worldwide. Its members include thinkers and business leaders from Spain, Portugal and the nations of Latin America. No politicians are invited.

The group meets once a year and was considering Miami. Former Cisnernos Group executive Beatrice Rangel, who chairs the city’s Innovation Council – and who has a long relationship with Vargas Llosa – suggested Coral Gables as the site. “It dovetails beautifully with the Innovation Council’s mission to strengthen the schools in Coral Gables,” she says. “Part of that is to boost reading through the

Miami-Dade library system. We thought, if we bring him, we can use this opportunity to recognize and give a Christmas present to those librarians who have really promoted reading among youngsters.”

The result was a luncheon where IFF leaders were joined by South Florida librarians such as Gayle Williams from FIU’s Latin American and Caribbean Information Systems. “This is such a thrill,” said Williams. “He is one of the greats.”

The event was funded by the International Association of Librarians, and hosted by Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli, who, along with City Commissioner Pat Keon, gave Vargas Llosa a key to the city. Vargas gave a brief speech in Spanish on the vital importance of reading, to keep young minds alert to the perils facing freedom worldwide. Said the Mayor, “It is a real compliment for the city that we were allowed to host the luncheon. But why not Coral Gables? It is an international city, and progressive.”

The idea was first presented to her by environmental advocacy group Miami Waterkeeper, says City Commissioner Pat Keon. The idea: an ordinance that would ban the use of fertilizers containing phosphorus or nitrogen from June through September.

“There are a number of other Florida municipalities that have enacted this, because it’s the rainy season. The ground is so saturated that very little of the fertilizer is absorbed by the grass or plants,” says Keon. What happens is that the fertilizers end up in storm water sewers, which in turn, have “outflows” in the

Gables waterways and bayfront. Those spilloffs can lead to algae blooms and other bad things.

Keon says she ran the idea past Brook Dannemiller (in charge of maintaining the city’s green canopy) and Matt Anderson (head of sustainability for the city) as well as past several citizen advisory boards. The result: unanimous thumbs up. The ordinance was passed on first reading last month and is expected to pass a second and final reading this month.

The fines are yet to be established, says Keon, but “there will be a significant educational component before anyone gets cited.”

A New Gallery Pops Up

In our November issue we invited readers who were retailers to participate in the city’s Pop-Up contest for a storefront at 290 Miracle Mile, sandwiched between the Miracle Theatre and Starbucks. The sweet deal: Six months of reduced rent to see if your shop could gain traction. The winner: DE LA Gallery, a showroom for the award-winning work of photographer

(and Gables native) Jorge de la Torriente, who along with business partner Jeffrey Rodriguez has successful galleries in Key West and Charleston. “It’s kind of a nice story because it’s homegrown,” says Francesca Valdes, the city’s retail strategist. “While they are a gallery, they see themselves as retailers, which is great.” Also great, says Valdes, are affordable prices for the artwork.

CORAL

City Commissioner Pat Keon, Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli and novelist Mario Vargas Llosa

15 Minutes with Donna Shalala

A Q & A WITH OUR CONGRESSWOMAN

By Lizzie Wilcox

Photography by Michael Campina

Donna Shalala, the former University of Miami president, was elected in 2019 to Florida’s 27th Congressional District, which represents Coral Gables, South Miami, Pinecrest, Kendall, Miami Beach and about half of Miami. With the 2020 election now less than a year away, we took a minute (actually 15) to talk with the congresswoman about her time in office

WAS IT A BIG CHANGE GOING FROM UM TO D.C.?

Well, the difference was from being an executive to being a legislator. And it’s a more substantive job, in that all we do is policy and politics. And I’m a political scientist, so I knew the subject matter, I knew the way the House was organized, I had spent eight years in Washington the last time as a cabinet secretary [of Health and Human Services, under President Clinton]. I had spent a lot of time testifying on the Hill. I knew probably half of the Democrats in the House and Senate because they had been there when I was there. Some of them were old friends. So, I didn’t find the transition very complicated.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CURRENT ATMOSPHERE IN WASHINGTON?

It’s more partisan than I’ve experienced it before, but you still can get bipartisan things done. You can still work with Republicans on issues that we’re both concerned on. We’ve worked with Mario Diaz-Balart on Venezuelan TPS [The Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019] and other issues related to Latin America. We actually have tried in every case to get bipartisan support. I mean, that’s what people in South Florida elected me to do – to get things done.

those bills. In fact, I’m the original co-sponsor of the bill on e-cigarettes, and I’m one of the original co-sponsors of the bill on lowering drug costs.

HOW IS YOUR TIME SPLIT BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND SOUTH FLORIDA?

I’m here most of the time. I’m in Washington three days a week, sometimes four, [for] three weeks a month. And then I’m here for a whole week with two weekends. But I come back every weekend. There may have been, this whole year, only two weekends where I didn’t get back here. Both occasions I was working up in D.C. with bills that just held over.

ARE YOU STILL INVOLVED IN THE UM COMMUNITY?

Well, I’m still teaching. I don’t have responsibility for a course, but I’m still teaching in people’s classes. Mostly Health Policy, both in the graduate School of Business and the MBA program, and in the School of Nursing. Wherever someone is teaching Health Policy, I do at least one of the lectures. And I’ve done lectures on other subjects, too, in the School of Communication, and Arts and Sciences. So almost every weekend, I’m over at UM teaching a class.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOU?

Getting re-elected. I haven’t formally started the campaign. Obviously, you have to raise money all year round, but we don’t formally start it until next spring.

HOW LONG DO YOU WANT TO STAY IN OFFICE?

Oh, forever. As long as the people want me to stay in office.

AS A CONGRESSWOMAN,

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR CORAL GABLES?

We just got a big grant for the Underline, $22 million, which a number of us worked on. Again, a bipartisan effort. That affects Coral Gables directly. And I, of course, work directly with the mayor and with the commissioners in Coral Gables.

IS THERE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR ON YOUR AGENDA THAT’S A PRIORITY FOR YOU?

Probably a bill to ban e-cigarettes from young people and the flavors [vapes]. A bill to lower drug costs, which we’ll probably pass before the end of the year [2019]. Those are two big priorities for me. My name is on both of

HOW MUCH SUPPORT DO YOU FEEL FROM THE PEOPLE OF CORAL GABLES?

A lot. I live in Coral Gables, and I’ve always lived in Coral Gables – or in Pinecrest, for a short period of time. But, basically, I started out living in Coral Gables. My family came from Coral Gables – my mother’s side of the family. They were here since after World War II. My cousins went to Coral Gables High School, so I have a long history in Coral Gables. I get a lot of support out of Coral Gables. People know me. I was just in the grocery store and, you know, lots of people came up to me, mostly to say, “Do you shop for your own groceries?” And I said, “Yes, who else would do it?”

Congresswoman Donna Shalala is a Democrat who previously served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton.

Why I Love Coral Gables

CORAL GABLES TELEVISION CREATES A PODCAST

Back in October, Coral Gables Television began a podcast called “Why I Love Coral Gables.” Created by staffer Nick Saenz, the podcast interviews locals about their connection to the city and, of course, why they love it. “When I entered the job here at CGTV, I saw that podcasts were another platform for the city to reach out – and it’s one that we were missing,” says Saenz.

The inaugural episode featured Mary Snow, executive director of the Coral Gables Community Foundation. Other guests include Barbara Stein, executive director of the Miracle Theatre; Steven Krams, founder of the Coral Gables Art Cine-

ma; and Karen Buchsbaum, a Gables resident, freelance writer and member of The Villagers, Inc., an organization dedicated to the preservation of historic sites.

“It’s been pretty eclectic, who’s been coming in [to the studio]. I think that’s one of the fun parts,” says Saenz, who encourages everyone to come on the show. “It can be really anyone that has something to say about Coral Gables or has a story they want to talk about.” To share your story go to coralgables.com/cgtv. To listen to episodes, visit the same website or stream it on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, Castbox, or Podcast Addict.—Lizzie Wilcox

The Ghost of Christmas Past

The downtown Business Improvement District (BID) announced the winners of its holiday-display Storefront Contest last month. The winners were, by category: Bellmónt

Spanish Restaurant (food & beverage), Ella Bella RoZio Couture (bridal) and Razzledazzle barbershop (retail) – pictured above, showing its usual demure restraint.

Nicholas Faber

STORY OF THE MONTH: The Coral Gables story which captured the most national attention this past month was, unfortunately, the attempted armed robbery of Regent Jewelers on Miracle Mile. The attempted robbery ended in Broward, after the robbers hijacked a UPS truck; the final shootout resulted in the death of both robbers, the UPS driver and a bystander. Coral Gables City Clerk Billy Urquia also narrowly avoided injury when a bullet slammed through his window in City Hall during the initial gun battle at Regent, hitting a wall a few feet from where he sat. The windowpane with the bullet hole was removed the next morning, in time for the city’s annual tree lighting ceremony, which took place adjacent to City Hall the following evening without incident.

PACKAGE PATROL: Kudos to the Coral Gables PD for their holiday campaign to reduce the number of so-called Porch Pirates who steal packages left on doorsteps. The police made use of neighborhood safety aides to patrol the streets and move exposed packages out of sight – after knocking to see if anyone was home. Police Chief Ed Hudak said that literally thousands of packages were moved to more secure places during the holiday season. For those packages that do get nipped, the police are relying on doorbell cameras and the city’s SaferWatch app to nab them afterwards.

SHEAR FUN: Among the lesser known contests recently held in the City Beautiful was the Stylists Talent Competition, a kind of makeup-off at the Open Stage Club by the Shear Fun organization. The audience, mostly colleagues in the South Florida beauty industry, voted as winner Sheila Breit of Emiliano Briet’s uber hip salon on Ponce de Leon. A native of Barcelona, Breit moved to our area 10

years ago. Her winning entry at the pre-holidays event was based on the Spanish movie “Fausto’s Laberynth” – though she says she learned to style as a child with her Barbie dolls.

TIS THE SEASON – FOR CELEBRITY MANSION BUYS: Are we becoming the next Beverly Hills as new celebs join Elle Macpherson, J-Lo and A Rod in the City Beautiful? The lastest buy is by four-time Grammy Award winning producer Timbaland, who purchased a $7.95 million, 8,600 sq.-ft. mansion (shown above), near Matheson Hammock Park in December. Timbaland has been a songwriter and producer for Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Missy Elliott. Earlier in the month, Miami Heat point guard Justise Winslow purchased a $3.3 million home at 506 Sunset Drive. Winslow is one of the Heat’s hottest players, with a $39 million three-year contract.

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My Best Friend’s Closet Casa Maria

BFFs at MBFC

MY BEST FRIEND’S CLOSET HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT HAVING BEST FRIENDS AS CUSTOMERS

By Kim Rodriguez

My Best Friend’s Closet is a namesake inspired by owner Patty Flores’ real life experience as a teenager growing up in Miami. “My friends used to raid my closet weekly,” she says. “So, I thought, that would be my dream – owning a small, unique boutique where my friends could shop.” Flores grew up working in her family’s packing supply business starting at a very young age, so becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t such a difficult transition. With her past experience, and her love of fashion and shopping local, she made her dream a reality, opening MBFC in 2010 in the City Beautiful.

Flores never questioned where she would open her solo boutique; Coral Gables was her only choice. MBFC’s true niche is dresses, which not many stores specialize in, so opening shop next to a plethora of bridal stores along Miracle Mile was a home run. She does not sell traditional bridal gowns, yet she does market a lot of her merchandise with brides in mind. Whether it’s for the events leading up to “the big day,” or during the honeymoon, she has it covered.

Her selections also appeal to audiences from teenagers looking for unique prom choices, to women of all ages shopping for a special event dress that can’t be found in big box stores. Ladies can also find rompers, separates, gifts, sunglasses, bathing suits, and even skincare, so give yourself time to really peruse the racks.

Some of the brands Flores carries are Jovani, Donna Mizani, Rumi, Quay, Library of Flowers, and Tokyo Milk, to name a few. When asked what sets My Best Friend’s Closet apart from other specialty stores, Flores simply says, “It’s the MBFC team. Our customers are genuinely our friends and we care about them. We are so fortunate to have customers that have become our BFFs since we opened the doors.”

Flores would like to offer all Coral Gables Magazine readers a 20 percent discount in store, and, if you can’t find what you are looking for there, visit the website www. mybestfriendscloset.com and use code VIPBFF when checking out. What are you waiting for!

My Best Friend’s Closet features a wide range of evening dresses and prom gowns perfect for that special occasion. Owner Patty Flores says “our customers are genuinely our friends and we care about them. “

Casa Maria

CURIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL GIFTS FOR CURIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

By Gracie Carricarte

Walking by, you might easily miss this store. But since 2011 it has been a shopping gem for its loyal customers. It is literally packed with items, from jewelry with semi-precious stones (think agate and quartz), to strings of cultured pearls, to rare and unusual kitchen implements and carvings from Africa. It is as much a curio shop as anything else; proprietor Maria Villar, a warm and engaging presence, simply calls it a gift shop.

Most of the merchandise is on display in shelves that line each wall – including vast arrays of necklaces – but there are great selections of unusual items in drawers that line the lefthand side of the shop as you enter. Here you can find strangely shaped pear knives, an array of men’s cufflinks, unusual rings, a precious baby silver comb set – a cornucopia of unique pieces hand selected by the owner.

Born in Cuba, Villar grew up in Caracas, where she had her first store featuring clothing, handbags, and custom jewelry. She became a Coral Gables resident 30 years ago, but after a couple of decades, missed her previous life in retail. “My husband retired, and I decided I had to open something, to go work,” she says. “And so, I did.” She purchased and remodeled the storefront space where Casa Maria resides, on the first floor of a Salzedo condominium

building.

Villar’s vision was to open a gift shop with custom jewelry, impressive designers, and rare finds. She also carries lines found in Nordstrom and Bloomingdales, including Spain’s Salvatore Plata and Paris-based environmental collection Coloco. But what makes Casa Maria a fun place to shop is the array of housewares, necklaces and earthy collectables she brings from Africa, Thailand, Israel, Columbia, and elsewhere. Her choices, she says, are based on a balance of land and sea, constructed with mixed artisan materials, including wood, metals, corals, and stones. Here you can buy a necklace with a boar’s claw, or a serving platter for your next dinner party.

“Customers ask you for something special… you call them, it becomes a relationship. It’s great. I love it. I’m enjoying my time here,” says Villar. Most customers have been around for years; some stop by for a cup of coffee that Villar brews behind the desk, walking over after lunch at Villagio in the nearby Shops at Merrick Park.

They arrive to peruse Villar’s finds for themselves, to do holiday shopping, or to search for a last-minute party gift. Depending on your purchase, there is also the convenience of having it placed in a gift bag or wrapped for you on the spot. Prices range from $15 to $600.

Proprietor Maria Villar oversees an eclectic collection of custom and designer jewelry, including necklaces and earthy collectables that line the walls of what she calls her ‘gift store’

MG Developer - Row into 2020

Dear friends in Coral Gables,

It was an amazing 2019 and we are so proud to have made so many great memories with everyone here in The City Beautiful. We accomplished many great things with your support and we are looking forward to an even better year and a whole new decade of “Building Beautiful.” From reaching new milestones, launching new exhibitions to adding new developments, we continue working diligently at creating communities that inspire us all to rise up.

Our inspiration, in part, comes from the resurgence of art and culture in the city, which we have proudly shown to neighboring cities and global guests that Coral Gables offers a trove of creativity that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

As we enveloped 2019, we celebrated Art Week by presenting For Now: 40 Contemporary Venezuelan Artists of the Miami Diaspora and El Viaje… at the Coral Gables Museum, which will remain on display until March 15th of 2020. We are extremely proud of this exhibition as it marked the second time Coral Gables Museum was named as an official participant of the Art Basel international fair.

More notable moments for Coral Gables in 2019 include the groundbreaking of Althea Row, our latest community of five 3-story luxury town houses that boasts 7,000 square feet including garden, porch, patio, terrace and dining loggias to enjoy the magnificent lush green surroundings of Almeria Avenue. With the addition of Althea Row, Coral Gables gained another quintessential development built to serve connoisseurs of luxury that have been seeking urban amenities at a short distance, while enjoying the quaint lifestyle of a sophisticated town square.

This year, we will be introducing and breaking ground on Biltmore Row, which will join MG’s condominium development Biltmore Parc, the city’s award-winning Beatrice Row and our most recent project, Althea Row to complete Biltmore Square Biltmore Row and Althea Row are the perfect expression of Southern European charm and urban sophistication defined by a Mediterranean style designed by the revered De La Guardia Victoria Architecture, elevating the city’s aesthetic while preserving its storied historic foundation.

Since our first projects in Coral Gables – 444 Valencia, Villa Blanc and The Ponce – we’ve stayed true to our mission of “Building Beautiful” throughout the Gables, creating a number of new developments that complement the city’s character.

With so much happening in Coral Gables, we thank you for being part of our family and helping us keep “Building Beautiful” for everyone to enjoy. Whether it’s through community events like Wellness in the Gables, supporting the arts, creating art initiatives or donating functional art for the public’s enjoyment, everything we do is meant to evoke the distinct spirit of Coral Gables. We look forward to an exciting future as we mark the journey through a new decade making storied legacies that will be unique to us only in The City Beautiful.

Our sincerest gratitude,

MG Developer

HISPA Fest and Latin American Culture at the Coral Gables Museum

Developer Team Honoring Venezuelan Artists at the Exhibitions of For Now: Contemporary Venezuelan Art of the Miami Diaspora and El Viaje…

WHAT’S HOT: JANUARY

SO, YOU RETURNED MOST OF YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFTS? NOW IT’S TIME TO TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS. GET WHAT YOU REALLY WANTED AT THESE LOCAL RETAILERS

INTERNATIONAL ACCESSORIES

Handmade in El Salvador, these earrings are a standout statement piece you won’t be able to find anywhere else. They come in a variety of colors.

Retail: $198. Earthy Chic, 320 San Lorenzo Ave. #1235 (Shops at Merrick Park) 786.972.3235

ALL GUCCI

Match all your favorite celebrities with this flashy pair of limited-edition Gucci sunglasses. Maybe you’ll be mistaken for Bad Bunny himself. You’ll standout, regardless.

Retail: $1,240. Italian Eyewear, 204 Aragon Ave., 305.591.0770

BE A RAINBOW

Why limit yourself to one color? The latest is to be versatile and ever changing with this Mattioli Hoop earring set with interchangeable gemstone enhancers.

Retail: $2,480. Jae’s Jewelers, 237 Miracle Mile, 305.443-7724

HI, SWEETIE

Take your pancakes to the next level with this authentic, smallbatch maple syrup from a single farm in Vermont. Experience the flavors of the Northeast without having to bundle up!

Retail: $15.95 Aragon 101, 101 Aragon Ave., 305.443.7335

POUR LES MAINS

Don’t let the below 75-degree weather dry out your hands. With just a pea-sized drop of this cream made with almond milk and almond oil, your hands will be soft as a baby’s bottom.

Retail: $54. L’Occitane en Provence, 330 San Lorenzo Ave. #2325 (Shops at Merrick Park), 305.445.1040

Bites p38

Fry Me to the Moon

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE FRIED GOODIES IN THE GABLES

SPRING BREAK DUCK MOON THAI & JAPANESE

Photo by Jon Braeley

Fry Me to the Moon

NOBODY HERE IS TRYING TO SAY THAT FRIED FOOD IS GOOD FOR YOU – THOUGH WE CAN CERTAINLY SAY THAT CERTAIN FRIED FOODS ARE HEALTHIER THAN OTHERS. FRIED ASPARAGUS, FOR EXAMPLE, IS CLEARLY BETTER THAN FRIED OREOS. SO, LET’S JUST AGREE THAT FRIED FOODS ARE A GUILTY PLEASURE, AND SHOULD BE CONSUMED IN MODERATION. HAVING SAID THAT, HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE FRIED GOODIES IN THE GABLES.

BAHAMIAN CONCH FRITTERS. Owner Danny Guiteras will tell you that the secret is to avoid all that breading, just batter and fry. His decades-old recipe creates the best tasting conch fritters this side of the Caribbean. Served with cocktail and/or sour cream horseradish sauce. The Globe. 377 Alhambra. $14

CHICKEN TENDERS. Why do these fried tenders taste so good? It’s because they are soaked in butter milk, says owner Martin Lynch. He won’t say how long, but it’s bloody well long enough. Served with BBQ or honey mustard sauce. John Martin’s Irish Pub. 253 Miracle Mile. $12

SPRING BREAK DUCK. They do several duck dishes here, including a duck with wild basil and a duck noodle soup. But it’s when they roast the duck first – and then fry it up crispy – that they fly to the moon of deliciousness. Moon Thai & Japanese. 1118 S. Dixie Hwy. $12 lunch, $21 dinner.

KOREAN FRIED CAULIFLOWER. It looks like sweet and sour pork. But instead you are eating a healthy plant, from the same family as kale and broccoli, fried up crisp then tossed in a sweet tangy sauce with sesame seeds and green onions. Very tasty. Cheesecake Factory. 2418 Ponce de Leon Blvd. $6.95

FRIED SOFT SHELL CRAB. The Japanese have always been good at deep frying foods, for example their lightly battered tempura dishes. This is a slightly heavier fry, crunchy on the outside but juicy on the inside. True heaven if you like seafood. Izakaya. 159 Aragon Ave. $10

FRIED MAC + CHEESE. Probably the only healthy thing about this ultimate indulgence in comfort couch food is the tomato bisque that it is served with, for dipping purposes. Crafted as fried logs like croquetas. Yard House. Shops at Merrick Park. $12.75

“SIGNATURE” ONION RINGS. Nothing worse than soggy fried onion rings. Nothing better than when they are done right, like these crispy panko-crusted rings, with a smoked jalapeño ailoi sauce for an extra kick. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd. $10

“SIGNATURE” FRIED ASPARAGUS. Perry’s prides itself on this starter, developed by their food engineers in Texas. Lightly battered, fried asparagus somehow pairs really well with jumbo lump crabmeat. We have no idea why, but should we care? Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille. Shops at Merrick Park. $19

Top: The Globe’s Bahamian Conch Fritters, served with cocktail sauce and/or sour cream horseradish sauce.

Above: Izakaya’s Fried Soft Shell Crab is for seafood lovers who like Japanese style tempura cooking.

Gourmet All Day

VENERABLE SACHA’S CAFÉ KEEPS REINVENTING ITS DAILY FARE

By James Broida

Photos by Jon Braeley

One of the mysteries of Coral Gables is why the courtyard tables outside of Sacha’s Café are not jammed with people fighting over the seats. But that is part of Sacha’s charm. It’s like a secret garden, tucked behind Fleming’s, where you hear sounds of the fountain you pass in the colonnade entrance between Andalusia and Valencia on Ponce. And for customers who have been coming here for literally decades, they would like to keep it a secret. Our apologies to them.

Sacha’s is a breakfast and luncheon gourmet deli café, resting on the north side of a sunny courtyard, that serves inventive sandwiches, soups and salads. They do not put menus online, only the specials. But a typical day will have Mediterranean wraps with zucchini and hummus, turkey and brie baguette sandwiches with honey mustard, seared tuna with avocado, cucumbers and quinoa, and broiled salmon with greens and couscous.

“We always have salmon,” says Hans Viertl, the founder and owner of Sacha’s. “And it’s fresh every day, like everything else.” That mantra, of preparing everything from scratch each day, has propelled Viertl’s Coral Gables-based company into a thriving, multi-location business with a strong Euro Catering component. “We only make things for that day, so we run out of some of them by the end of day,” he says. But the results are worth it. Currently, there are two large Sacha’s, one in Blue Lagoon and one in Brickell, plus the cozy café in the Gables and the catering company that serves corporations, banks, airlines, etc.

for meetings and training events. Up next are more small Grab ‘n’ Go outlets, the first of which opened in Blue Lagoon two years ago.

Viertl, a native of Munich, Germany, first arrived in South Florida in 1987. Working for Club Med since the mid ‘70s, he was stationed here to run their Caribbean operations. But in 1994 Viertl decided to quit Club Med, raise a family in the Gables, and try his luck with a wine shop he purchased on Miracle Mile.

“It was Estate Wine when I bought it, and it became Estate Wine and Gourmet Food, back when there wasn’t much happening on Miracle Mile except bridal stores. At 5 p.m. you could roll up the sidewalk.”

A few years later Viertl opened his first restaurant, located in the Douglas Entrance building, which he ran for a decade then closed in 2007, when “the new landlord wanted out-of-the-sky prices for the lease.” Instead, Viertl purchased a building on Madeira Ave., which he used to house a commissary kitchen for the growing catering company he’d launched in 1995, and for his first Sacha’s Café. It opened that year in Blue Lagoon, followed three years later by the Gables location, and then Brickell in 2012.

Viertl’s spacious facility on Madeira now prepares all the daily dishes for the company’s clientele, many of whom have been loyal customers (continued)

Above: If customers arrive too late many of the most popular dishes

Top: Hans Viertl, the owner of Sacha’s Cafe, a breakfast and luncheon gourmet deli café.

are sure to be sold out.

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for decades. Frank Telders, an architect who walks to the Gables café from his office at nearby Luminaire, says he has been a follower of Viertl for more than 20 years. “The food is European, and I’m from the Netherlands” says Telders. “And it’s consistently good. But more importantly, it’s the personal service. That’s something we have in Europe.”

Indeed, like most successful long-term restaurateurs in the Gables, some of Viertl’s employees have been with him as long as 25 years, and many for 10, 15, or 20 years. “It’s not because I am a very nice guy, but because they like the hours,” Viertl says facetiously. “We close at 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, but we could only do that because I have very good employees.” Some start as early as 5 a.m., but most begin their

workday at 7 a.m. “There are a lot of food purveyors out there, but the challenge is the good service,” says Viertl, who exudes a sense of good-humored optimism. “It is very important for us because we rely on customers in the building and the surrounding area. We can’t treat them like a tourist. You have to count on them.” Those relationships are so good, says Viertl, that “customers sometimes bring gifts for the employees. I am jealous…”

As for regrets, Viertl says he has few, except that the son he raised in Coral Gables decided not to follow his footsteps into the business. And the name of the café? “Sacha is the name of my son,” he says. “When we decided the name, that was it. But now, well, maybe it wasn’t the best thing we did,” he says, laughing.

A typical day will have Mediterranean wraps; hummus, turkey and brie baguette sandwiches; seared tuna with avocado, cucumbers and quinoa; and broiled salmon with greens and couscous.

Cult of the White Lasagna

Bugatti Restaurant likes to brag about its pasta, a pride that stems from their first incarnation in the Gables as a maker of the fresh stuff, daily. That started in 1985, before they were called Bugatti. The name came later, when they morphed into a pasta restaurant.

The pasta obsession continues, especially on the first two Wednesdays of each month, aka “white lasagna” days. White lasagna? That means hold the red sauce and amp up the cheese, while keeping the beef and

noodles. “It’s an old Bolognese recipe,” says owner Klaus Frisch. “There is no secret to it. The difference is that ours is fresh when you get it.” They also layer the noodle with béchamel sauce before the meat goes on, and the Parmesan is aged two years. $22. No reservations on Lasagna days, so come early or late for lunch or dinner.

Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

The year 2020 promises a new wave of culinary openings in the Gables, with more than a dozen new restaurants scheduled to open in the first half of the year.

Among those that should open soon are TUR Kitchen (upscale Mediterranean) on Giralda, west of Ponce; Rodilla (Spanish sandwiches) on Miracle Mile; and La Sandwicherie (French sand-

wiches), on Giralda Plaza. These join the recently opened health food emporium Dr. Smood on Giralda, west of Ponce, Greenlife Organic Bistro (healthy breakfast and lunch) on Giralda Plaza, and (fleeing its normal Shopping Mall habitat) Cheesecake Factory on Ponce, south of Miracle Mile. Stay tuned for more.

SACHA’S CAFÉ 2525 PONCE DE LEON BLVD 305.569.1300

BUGATTI 2504 PONCE DE LEON BOULEVARD 305.441.2545

Wine and Food Fest, Gables Style

ITALIAN POWER LUNCH

A special lunch experience will be prepared by the executive chef of famed Lo Scoglio, Tommaso De Simone (shown right) and James Beard Award-winning chef Fabio Trabocchi, at the latter’s Fiola restaurant in the Gables. Wine pairings from Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits portfolio. Cost: $200.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 22, 12-2 p.m.

Location: Fiola Miami, 1500 San Ignacio Ave.

EAST COAST DINNER DATE

Culinary maestro (and pastry genius) Antonio Bachour hosts a celebration of East Coast cuisine at his eponymous bakery and café Bachour. He will be joined by one of Zagat’s top 30 up-and-coming chefs under 30, Cedric Vongerichten, and Bachour’s Chef de Cuisine, Herbert Schulz. Cost: $250.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 22, 7–10 p.m.

Location: Bachour, 2020 Salzedo St.

LATIN SWINE & WINE

Goya Food’s Executive Chef Fernando Desa, along with Latin radio personality Enrique Santos, will host this hyper-local affair dedicated to preserving the flavors of Latin cuisine. An elite group of popular chefs from across Miami will dish out their tastiest creations while guests dance, sip and savor. Cost: $115.

Date: Sunday, Feb. 23, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Location: Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave.

For Tickets, go to: https://sobewff.org/tickets/

Owner Lee Garipoli relaxes in his downtown barbershop, ManKind Grooming & Services

Now for Something Completely Different

BATTLE OF THE DOWNTOWN BARBERSHOPS

CONTINUES WITH THE LANDING OF MANKIND

It’s Saturday night and you have a pool stick in one hand and a cold beer in the other. Then a woman walks over and says, “Sir, your barber is ready for you now.” Your barber? That’s right, you’re not at a bar or pool hall. You’re at ManKind Grooming & Services.

The men of Coral Gables have been fortunate to have a number of barbershops from which to choose. Alchemy is open late, Rafael’s is reminiscent of the traditional three chair shop, RazzleDazzle provides a fun and lavish environment, and Hair Cuttery is affordable and reliable. Five years ago, the ante was substantially upped with the arrival of The Well Groomed Gentleman on Miracle Mile. Becoming something of a cultish club, Well Groomed offered things like a shot of espresso, a shot of booze, and hot towel shaves, along with hair cutters of such skill that patrons demand their favorites. Owner Al Maulini prides himself on the standard his shop has set. “The quality of our barbers is excellent,” he explains. “It takes time to get to that point.” ManKind Grooming, however, is determined to take men’s hair care to a whole new level. While offering traditional cuts and shaves, owner Lee Garipoli also offers an army of services that aren’t typically part of what you expect in a barbershop: shoeshines, waxing, nail grooming, facials, massages, teeth whitening, and a full-sized sauna. Yes, spa memberships are available and include a complementary steam.

ManKind is so far from your typical barbershop that it requires a double take. Located on the corner of Salzedo Street and Aragon Avenue, the first room is basically a lounge, complete with a regulation sized pool table and a full bar (the first

drink is complementary with any service; anything after that is available for purchase.) White bricks, grey walls, and exposed A.C. ducts give the shop an industrial warehouse look; cherry red barbershop chairs in the second room each come with a wide screen TV, just in case you want to watch a sporting event while being shorn.

“We want people to feel like they can come in and hang out,” says General Manager Robyn Ragone. This extends to the spa, which has a locker room with dim lighting, candles, and incense to induce relaxation; towels, slippers and a robe are included. For Garipoli, being a barber is in his DNA. As a child he was fascinated by watching his grandfather, a barber himself, cut hair, and he developed the idea for ManKind while working as general manager for a country club. He wanted to take the idea of an “old world barbershop” and fuse it with a country club atmosphere. He staged the shop precisely, from the placement of a vintage barber chair next to the entrance to the choice of the music played and the alcohol served. “Beware the man who won’t be bothered with the details,” is one of the shop’s slogans.

Garipoli feels especially proud to be occupying the old Books & Books location, which he eyed for years after starting his first ManKind shop in Fort Lauderdale. He had always wanted to be in the Gables, motivated by the charm of the downtown and the surrounding affluent community. While most people aren’t fond of change, ManKind Grooming & Services presents a stark alternative that could turn a few heads. “Getting a haircut doesn’t have to be just getting a haircut,” says Garipoli. “Getting a haircut can be an experience.” - Julia Piantini

Above: You would be forgiven if you thought you walked into a pool hall instead of a barbershop. “We want people to feel like they can come in and hang out,” says General Manager Robyn Ragone.

Bottom: Each station comes with a widescreen TV

A Cooking Class in the South Gables

Whole Foods has always been a haven for health conscious foodies. Now, thanks to Cooking Classes, you can take all your organic groceries and learn how to transform them into culinary masterpieces. Cooking Classes, owned by Ivo d’Aguiar, hosts a multitude of courses around Miami; luckily for us, they frequent the Whole Foods Lifestyle Center, right behind the market on San Remo Avenue.

We jumped at the chance to attend Pasta 101 because we are unashamed carb lovers. Chef d’Aguiar creates a warm and fun environment – not from the stove, but from his “make yourself at home, help yourself to some wine” mentality. Debunking our idea that you have to have ancestors from the Italian countryside to do it right, the chef taught us there’s not much more to making

pasta than flour and eggs – and semolina if your dough is sticky. After getting the dough to the right consistency, you crank it through a pasta machine, choosing one slot for fettuccine, another for linguine.

While he usually prepares the sauce in advance, this time Chef d’Aguiar taught us how to make Cacio e Pepe. Like the pasta, it was easier than anticipated: a simple combination of butter, pasta water, cheese and pepper. He garnished the sauced pasta with Parmesan and (who knew?) olive oil. Then came the best part: eating. The sauce was warm and cheesy, and the noodles cooked to al dente perfection. You’ll never look at boxed pasta the same.

Backgammon at Rice

At approximately 5,000 years old, backgammon originated in what is now Iraq. Fortunately, you don’t have to go overseas to play it. Rice Mediterranean on Giralda Plaza is home to a weekly contest.

On Wednesday nights, Rice is mostly empty save for players gathered in the center of the restaurant. Each kicks in $10 to make it interesting, winner takes all. One regular, Leo, started the backgammon group over 20 years ago. The players have only been at Rice for about a year, previously playing at the Biltmore, Fritz & Franz and Starbucks. All have been playing for years, some decades, with various skill levels. One member, Felipe, won third in the Sunny Florida Championship in October; another, Alec, is ranked first in South Florida.

a lot of places to play and I loved to play, so I thought, ‘Well I’ll just create them,’” she explained. Her website has a section where teams can register, which is how she found Leo’s group.

Thanks to social media, Davis has built a database of about 200 backgammon players in South Florida (500 in all of Florida). She recently started the aforementioned Sunny Florida Championship; the first was held in 2018 and brought in 66 players. Last year, the tournament attracted 111 players, 20 of which are considered giants in the backgammon world. “She has this contagious enthusiasm for the game,” said Alec.

For more information, or to book a class, visit cookingclassesmiami.com. Ticket prices vary, as do courses. —

Lizzie Wilcox

Dr. Karen Davis is a fellow champion as well. She is currently ranked 40th nationally, and this past April played on the U.S. team at the World Team Championship in Montenegro (they placed third.) Now president and executive director of the U.S. Backgammon Federation, when she first came to Florida, she wanted to create a backgammon community. “There weren’t

The night we stopped by, the first round of play ended after about 40 minutes, with Davis and a player named Bo advancing to the finals, where Bo narrowly came out as champion. Though fast-paced and often times frustrating to a novice player, the mix of probability and statistics is where the game’s appeal lies. Alec put it best: “It’s a game where skill meets luck. The dice may not be in your favor, but you got to find a way to play it to your advantage. It’s a great metaphor for life.”

—Julia Piantini

THE ANCIENT GAME THRIVES ON GIRALDA

BEST BETS

MAMMA MIA! (ABOVE)

On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the Greek island they last visited 20 years earlier. A large cast, great laughs and explosive dance numbers – a tale of love and friendship told through ABBA’s timeless songs. Opens Jan. 22 at Actors’ Playhouse. Tickets: $30 - $75.

69TH ANNUAL BEAUX ARTS FESTIVAL OF ARTS

One of the leading art shows in the country returns to the University of Miami. Featuring over 200 artists from around the U.S., fun dining options, and free children’s art projects and entertainment. All proceeds support the Lowe Art Museum. Jan. 18 and 19.

THE FARMER’S MARKET IS BACK

Looking for jams, pickles, honey, hanging plants, empanadas, macaroons, smoked fish, pies, guava bars, fresh pasta, croissants, and, yes, some fresh produce from local farms? Starting Jan. 18, the Coral Gables Farmer’s Market is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of City Hall.

GABLES CHILI FEST

Indulge in your favorite comfort foods, from the hottest food trucks in town to sizzling homemade chili, with a full bar stocked by Nightlife Brewing Company. Think your chili is the best in the Gables? Enter the cook-off for a chance to win bragging rights. Jan. 19 at Knights of Columbus, 270 Catalonia Ave. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets: $10 - $20.

MOVIES ON THE MOVE

Every third Thursday of the month there is a free movie screening at McBride Plaza, tucked next to Barnes and Noble on Miracle Mile. On Jan. 16, bring the family to see “Mary Poppins Returns” starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. 7-9 p.m. A blanket is recommended.

14TH ANNUAL CHOCOLATE GARDEN

Enjoy fine chocolate samples from artisan chocolatiers, lectures on chocolate making, and demonstrations from Miami’s master chefs and chocolatiers. Take a ChocoWalk to learn about the life cycle of cacao plants. Jan. 24–26 at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Tickets: $12 - $25; free for kids under 6.

Our Life Plan Community feels different because it is. We offer a more active, vibrant, and fulfilling future where your wellness and well-being are catered to with fine dining, recreation, and socializing. And we take care of everything including housekeeping and maintenance.

As an all-inclusive community, we offer independent living as well as assisted living, memory support, rehab and skilled nursing right here in one place.

To see how your life can be more fulfilling, and nothing short of remarkable, please call 305.256.3564, or visit eastridgeatcutlerbay.com

People

Laura L. Russo, Esq. Steven Eisenberg Paul D. Durand, MD

LAURA L. RUSSO

With her two dogs, Sydney and Lulu Giselle

Photo by Jonathan Dann

Laura L. Russo, Esq.

Laura Russo is a lifetime Gables resident (except for a few cold years in Connecticut). She graduated summa cum laude from UM with a BA, and then with a law degree (JD). After working for a title insurance company, and then as a code enforcement hearing officer for the City of Coral Gables, she set up her own firm that specializes in real estate contracts, land use. and zoning. She has served on the board of directors for the Coral Gables Bar Association, the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, the Coral Gables Museum, and the Coral Gables Community Foundation. She is the proud owner of two dogs, Sydney and Lulu Giselle.

LATEST ENDEAVORS WHAT SHE SAYS

Russo is the incoming (as of this month) chair of the Coral Gables Community Foundation.

“As incoming chair [of the Community Foundation], I am hoping to bring greater awareness to people in Coral Gables who have heard about the foundation but don’t know what we are about,” says Russo. “I want to get as many people as possible to join in… and to see about increasing our funds for scholarships.” As far as her role as a real estate attorney, “the

greatest challenge is maneuvering through a process that isn’t adversarial but can become adversarial. You have to play consensus maker and get to a place where both sides are happy.”

REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY, CIVIC ACTIVIST, DOG LOVER

It isn’t always about winning or losing, but about doing the best for everyone under the circumstances…

Steven Eisenberg received his Juris Doctorate from the UM School of Law, graduating cum laude. He started his career clerking for federal Judge Lenore Nesbitt; from there he went to Paul, Landy & Beiley, and then Feldman Gale, working on intellectual property cases. He started doing entertainment work with Hinshaw & Culbertson, on a case of copyright infringement for a song recorded in Orlando. While he continues to practice complex commercial litigation, he focuses more and more on intellectual property and entertainment law. His clients today range from songwriters, musicians and record companies like Henry Stone Music, to directors, playwrights, novelists and performance artists like Natasha Tsakos.

Steven Eisenberg

EISENBERG LEHMAN, PLLC

RECENT ENDEAVORS

In the past year, Eisenberg represented Vanessa Garcia and Victoria Collado, playwright and director respectively of the highly successful play “Amparo” (performed in Miami) in contract negotiations. He is also vice president of the board of the Coral Gables Art Cinema.

WHAT HE SAYS

On the local entertainment industry: “I see Miami growing. We are starting to become more than just a location town for movies, TV, and commercials, and more of a homegrown body of creativity. They [artists] are realizing that there is legal and banking talent here to support the industry.” On moving to

Coral Gables: “When my partner suggested we relocate, I said ‘I’m not going to the Gables.’ But he was right about the sophistication, beauty, convenience and resources of the city… It has changed the quality of our lives. Among other things, you don’t have to spend a couple of hours a day in a car…”

Coral Gables has changed the quality of our lives…

Mark Peck + Vinny Pyle + Ryan Danoff + Helen Wozunk Paul Denton + Ed Breese + Charlie Fluery + Billy Maus + Louis Dvorak

Paul D. Durand, MD

Dr. Paul Durand, who was born in Peru, earned his MD at the Indiana University School of Medicine. From there he did his residency at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, before finishing his fellowship at the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute. For the past seven years he has gone on medical missions to his native Peru (most recently with Operation Smile), where he operates on as many as 100 children each trip, pro bono, for cleft lip and palate surgery. He specializes in facial and nose surgery, and fat grafting.

LATEST ACHIEVEMENT WHAT HE SAYS

Joined Coral Gables-based Careaga Plastic Surgery in July. Before that he was part of the 10-surgeon team that performed the first face transplant in the U.S., and then a second time with the youngest woman in the world to undergo such a procedure.

“What makes me unique is my focus on the face and nose,” says Durand. “It’s all intertwined in aesthetics – what makes someone attractive and pleasing to the eye. We try to objectify and quantify all this with ratios and proportions, but you need artistry as well as training.” Durand says that while patients tend to rely on celebrities and other public figures as role models

for beauty, “within each culture there are differences. There is attractiveness that transcends culture, but there is beauty in every ethnic background.”

PLASTIC SURGEON, CAREAGA PLASTIC SURGERY

There is medical training in beauty, but there should be more. It is so arbitrary and culturally determined…

The Great Bike Debate

WILL CORAL GABLES DEVELOP INTO A BIKING COMMUNITY? THE CITIZENS ARE SPLIT

By Mike Clary

Robert Ruano, chairman of the nonprofit Bike Walk Coral Gables, cycles past two local residents walking near the landmark Alhambra water tower.

Photo by Jon Braeley

On most workdays, urban designer Kenneth Perez bicycles to the office from his home near Miracle Mile, often traveling south on Alhambra Circle. The commute is fast, mostly shaded, and “the health benefits are both mental and physical,” he says.

J.D. Collongette’s daily routine includes biking to the gym, and then to his job as a waiter in a downtown Gables restaurant. For him, not using a car “makes financial sense, and it’s a good workout.”

And concert violinist Charles Castleman rides his bike 175 miles a week, including 16-mile round trips between his home on Brickell Key to the University of Miami, where he is a professor at the Frost School of Music. “For me biking is largely a relative of meditation,” says Castleman, who is 78. “The benefit of exercise is almost incidental.”

Perez, Collongette and Castleman are just three among a growing number of riders empowering the emergence of Coral Gables as a center of bicycling culture. The movement to entice people out of their cars and into the saddle of a two-wheeler is central to the goal of making the City Beautiful “the most livable, environmentally friendly and multi-modal city in Florida,” according to the city’s website.

“Can you imagine commuting to work while having fun and de-stressing?” the city asks residents. “Can you imagine riding a bike in a safe, protected bike lane with your family without sitting in traffic? Coral Gables is working to make this mobility option a reality for all ages and abilities.”

To accomplish its pedal-power goals, the city is banking on a 2014 commission-approved Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan that outlines the expansion of the existing 10.5-mile bicycle network with 34 miles of new bikeways. The path to that happening, however, is not entirely clear.

ALHAMBRA: THE FIRST HITCH

The next step in the plan is the Alhambra Circle Traffic Calming project, which would turn the scenic roadway into a “Complete Street” by installing five-foot-wide bike paths, and some sidewalks, between Coral Way and San Amaro Drive a few blocks north of the University of Miami campus. That 4.6-mile stretch of road would then connect with existing bike paths on Alhambra Circle north of Coral Way, on Red Road, Sevilla and Anastasia Avenues, and connect downtown to the Biltmore Hotel, the Coral Gables War Memorial Youth Center, and Betsy Adams Park.

The plan calls for creating bike lanes on

BICYCLE MASTER PLAN CORAL GABLES

EXISTING BICYCLE PATHS AND ROUTES

PROPOSED BICYCLE PATHS AND ROUTES

BIKE-SHARE LOCATIONS

Alhambra Circle by reducing the northsouth vehicle traffic lanes to 10 feet in width, repaving the roadway and installing handicap-accessible sidewalk connecters. The bike lanes would also be used by riders of increasingly popular e-scooters.

But in recent months some residents of the impacted area have begun pushing back against the city’s plan, contending they were not properly advised of a project that could mean the loss of shade trees and green-space swale, bring unwanted bicycle and pedestrian traffic to their neighborhoods, and make the streets less safe for drivers. “This plan is potentially catastrophic,” says Marvin Ross Friedman, who lives in the 3400 block of Alhambra Circle and is one of dozens of residents who expressed their opposition in October when city officials conducted an on-site walk-through of the area. “There is no reason this should be done,” he says.

Also vocal in opposition was Silvia Pinera-Vazquez, who with other neighbors distributed “No bike paths on Alhambra Circle” yard signs. Other signs reading “Do not kill this tree” had been tacked to some large live oaks and black olives near the roadway that opponents said would be endangered by more paving. “What makes me most angry is the lack of resident involvement in the process going back to 2014,”

says Pinera-Vazquez, who again voiced her opposition at a Coral Gables City Commission meeting in December. “This is a plan developed by all the special interest groups who will benefit down the line.”

Assistant City Manager Ed Santamaria, who led a contingent of a dozen officials and bike plan consultants on the walk-through, disputes that, saying residents have had ample opportunity to comment on the proposal since the concept was first proposed in 2004 and the current master plan was published more than five years ago.

Nonetheless, Santamaria said the surge in opposition has led the city to push back the timeline for the start of construction until later in 2021 and schedule another walkthrough for this month. “We understand that some sensibilities are bruised, and we can’t make everyone happy,” says Santamaria.

THE BIKE PLAN IN JEOPARDY?

Neighborhood opposition has killed bike path projects before. In 2018 the city scrapped plans for a designated route along Riviera Drive after residents complained loudly about the loss of green space and an increase in traffic congestion.

Regardless, the money for the Alhambra Circle remake is there, thanks in part

During a walk-through of the proposed new bike routes, Assistant City Manager Ed Santamaria, on the left, led a contingent of about a dozen officials and bike plan consultants who were met with local opposition. Among them:

Silvia Pinera-Vazquez, center, who says, “What makes me most angry is the lack of resident involvement in the process going back to 2014. This is a plan developed by all the special interest groups who will benefit down the line.”

Marvin Ross Friedman, on the right, who lives in the 3400 block of Alhambra Circle and says, “This plan is potentially catastrophic. There is no reason this should be done.”

to a 2015 federal transportation grant of $597,670. And according to bicyclists, so too is the need. But does the political will exist?

Although the bike plan was approved by the commission more than five years ago, at least one current commission member – Vice Mayor and announced mayoral candidate Vince Lago – has his doubts. “My biggest concern is that we should have a consensus and hear from actual residents and not outside interest groups,” says Lago, who describes himself as an environmentalist, but not a bicyclist. Lago favors installing sidewalks on all collector streets “before we discuss anything further,” he says. “I want to let it play out.”

The prospect of more delays in implementing the bike plan drives proponents crazy. “More should have been done by now, absolutely,” says Tony Garcia, whose firm Street Plans wrote the master plan. “We did a similar study in Miami Beach [about the same time] and they have gone on to implement a significant amount of it, comparatively.” But, Garcia added, Coral Gables “is a conservative city.”

At a lively, earlier community meeting that drew about 100 people to the Youth Center this past fall, opponents voiced concerns about traffic, the loss of tree canopy, and the duplication of a bike path that now exists on Red Road, just a block to the west. More than one speaker said bike lanes would complicate passage along the curving roadway over a small canal bridge on Alhambra Circle, five blocks north of Bird Road. “That bridge is too narrow, too dangerous,” said one resident. “And that master plan was not approved by residents.”

Even before that meeting, bicyclist and urban planner Victor Brandon Dover warned that “a few fearful people are stirring up a ‘bikelash’” designed to thwart any measures to encourage bicycling and make it safer. “We could end up with a long-needed link in the local bike network—without taking away from the drivers’ experiences or diminishing the beauty and value of the street at all,” said Dover. “We could make the whole neighborhood safer and saner and better, for everyone, not just the people on bikes.”

Gables resident Robert Ruano, chairman of the nonprofit Bike Walk Coral Gables and one of the most vocal proponents for the plan, said the opposition to the bike path leaves him “disappointed in a lot of my neighbors, because it seems like those against it are thinking only of the way it might affect them. This is a win-win, but people are afraid of the new.” Ruano was one of the founding members of Bike Walk Coral Gables, and also argues that it’s not

just about bike paths but about sidewalks along the same streets.

Another disappointed veteran cyclist and Gables resident is John Swain, secretary of Bike Walk Coral Gables (see side bar on right). In a post-meeting letter to city commissioners and City Manager Peter Iglesias, Swain wrote, “People don’t like [any] change and will resist. Once the Alhambra complete street project is completed and residents get used to it, there will not be many, if any, complaints.”

Swain said the majority pro-bike sentiment expressed at the September community meeting “clearly shows that there is citywide demand for walking and cycling infrastructure. Your residents want this project to go forward… Citywide, the residents of Coral Gables want safer streets.”

THE QUESTION OF SAFETY

Safety is a clear concern for those who bike regularly. And almost every bicyclist has a near-miss story. Castleman said a motorist challenged him to a game of chicken at a busy intersection, and he was once knocked off his bike and thrown into a cement wall by a speeding skateboarder. “Lots of bruises, no broken bones,” he reported.

Collongette has been bumped from behind at a stop sign and knocked over. “I have seen people get hit, and seen a lot of close calls,” he says. “Without clear bike lanes, it’s mayhem. My mom tells me every day that I’m nuts.”

During his commute to work, Kenneth Garcia has so far avoided close calls. “When a car is coming, you have to have faith that people are driving correctly,” he says. “I ride defensively and am always aware of my surroundings.” Bike lanes, he said, “would make a big difference in my sense of safety, and make it so that I don’t feel like I’m in the way of anybody.”

Gables resident and bicyclist Sue Kawalerski, former president of the Everglades Bicycle Club, said designated bike lanes would cut down on collisions between cyclists, pedestrians and distracted drivers; according to the Coral Gables Police Department, there were 38 biking accidents in 2018 severe enough to warrant a police report, up from 30 the year before. “Ideally, everybody should be in their own separate lane so we’re not crashing into each other,” she said. “But residents have to be heard. Then we can come to an agreeable solution.”

Ruano says that there is simply no valid argument against installing either bike paths or sidewalks, and that fears of losing trees are highly exaggerated. “We have beautiful

BAND OF BIKERS

The seeds of Bike Walk Coral Gables began in 2011, when then-City Commissioner Ralph Cabrera suggested the city should have a Gables Bike Day. A group of biking enthusiasts embarked that year on the first of what became an annual event (this year’s will take place in April). “What we found was that there wasn’t much biking infrastructure in the Gables,” says John Swain (above, center). And so, the bikers formed a nonprofit organization with a mission “to promote safer streets in Coral Gables and healthier ways of transportation.” Part of what the small band of bikers (about a dozen) who comprise Bike Walk do – besides advocating for bike paths and sidewalks – is to lead monthly biking tours of the city that start at the Coral Gables Museum on every third Sunday. “We go only as fast as the slowest rider,” says Swain, for those who might want to join in. “We don’t’ leave any biker behind.”

Go to bikewalkcoralgables.com for info.

tree canopies over streets where there are both bike paths and sidewalks. How is it that they can thrive? The argument that we will lose trees is simply not true.”

Indeed, assistant public works director for the Sustainable Public Infrastructure Division, Jessica Keller, sent out a mass email after the Alhambra walk-through. In the email, she supplied illustrations of the city’s methodology for installing sidewalks, which would be more invasive than the bike paths. “The City has five arborists on staff, actively engaged and responsible for the health and beauty of our urban forest,” the email read. “It is the City’s intent to keep trees in their existing locations and to avoid any root pruning.”

Ruano says he is trying to remain hopeful that Coral Gables will carry out its vision of making the city a bicycling center. “It’s a big test,” he says. “If the city doesn’t go ahead and approve a bike lane on Alhambra Circle, where will they ever approve it?” Like Ruano, other members of the Gables biking community cannot understand the opposition to more bike paths that will encourage alternatives to the automobile. Oliver de Abreu opened his third SunCycling shop on Ponce Circle, for example, because of what he perceived as growing demand in Coral Gables. He says his top buyers are people who want to bike to work, navigating the

backroads on a bike rather than the bumperto-bumper of US-1. “We need to support other means of transport in the city,” he says.

Nonetheless, residents in the areas where bike paths are planned will be heard from again. In addition to the January walkthrough, the city in 2020 plans to poll by mail about 1,000 homeowners on Alhambra Circle and nearby streets. Santamaria predicted the poll would show a 50-50 split between those who support and those who oppose the plan.

“There are passionate opinions on both sides of this matter,” he says. “[But] bicycling is definitely going to be a component as to sustainability, promoting active lifestyles, traffic calming, and to make all modes of mobility safer. Will Coral Gables have an identity for its bike culture? That depends on how all this unfolds. That’s the intent. But there has to be a lot of engagement between now and then.”

ROAD WARRIORS

Every Saturday at 6 a.m. a gang of anywhere between 15 and 40 bike riders assemble on Aragon Avenue in the colonnade that fronts No Boundaries Sport, a cavernous store that sells gear for cycling, running, hiking, swimming, and “trekking,” For those brave enough to rise early, the group bicycles somewhere between 70 and 100 miles, typically to the south. “The thing is, there are not a lot of safe areas to ride in the county, or in South Florida, period,” says Israel Rodriguez (above), the store manager who leads the pack of two-wheelers. Typically, the group will ride south on Ponce, then down Le Jeune to the Cocoplum Circle (where they pick up more riders) and from there on a route to Black Point Marina, west past Homestead, and on south to the old abandoned U.S. military base at the edge of the Redland. “We get a lot of different people, from delivery boys for Jimmy Johns to CEOs who would rather bike than take a car,” says Rodriguez. “It would be nice to have a few more bike lanes.”

ABOVE: Opponents to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan say trees would be endangered, but proponents that is simply not true.

Manny Medina, Chairman, Cyxtera (and AppGate)

Business News & Notes

Commentary by Mark Trowbridge

Economic Development: Tracking business

Entrepreneur: Manny Medina’s latest venture

Private Wealth: The impact of self-worth

Commercial Real Estate: The re-selling of Offizina

Shared Workspace: The new norm in Coral Gables

Prescott Profile: The saviour of the Biltmore Hotel

International: The Consul General of Spain

The New Economic Landscape

When we decided to produce a feature on the phenomenon of shared workspace in the Gables, we had no idea how pervasive this new modus operandi of business had become. With more than a dozen spaces now open (two each for WeWork, Quest and Regus), Coral Gables now has more of these facilities, per capita, than any other city in Florida. And when you add up all the companies filling these spaces, from tiny startups to muscular corporate expansions, the impact is astonishing – more than 2,000 businesses operating in the Shared Workspace environment in downtown Gables.

This is important for a number of reasons. First, it dramatically reduces the cost of market entry for small companies, which otherwise could not afford the expense and leasing commitment of formal office space. Second, it encourages entrepreneurs to stay within the Gables, instead of fleeing to a dilapidated neighborhood or city in search of cheap space. Third, it allows the larger corporations already ensconced in the Gables to expand with ease, and to explore new ideas with entrepreneurial units of the company.

Finally, the advent of multiple shared workspaces in the downtown core encourages a spirit of innovation, where creative types can not only take root but co-mingle with other like-minded souls. This, in turn, builds a community of entrepreneurs and business startups, a pool of talent that creates its own momentum within the hierarchy of the Gables business world.

In the end, what makes one city more innovative than the next are its citizens, both those that live there and those that work there. It is one of the elements that makes Coral Gables such an exceptional metropolis. Pound for pound, the Gables is home to a stunning array of talented individuals, and its business world is no exception. For this reason, Coral Gables Magazine continues to profile (in this issue) people like Gene Prescott and Manny Medina, and the local leaders in shared workspace, like Carolina Rendeiro, Philippe Houdard, and Laura Kozelouzek. We can’t wait to see what they will do next in, and for, the City Beautiful.

J.P.Faber Editor-in-Chief

PUBLISHER

Richard Roffman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

J.P.Faber

EVP / PUBLISHER

Gail Scott

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Amy Donner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Monica Del Carpio-Raucci

ART DIRECTOR

Jon Braeley

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Toni Kirkland

VP SALES

Sherry Adams

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lizzie Wilcox

SENIOR WRITER

Doreen Hemlock

WRITERS

James Broida

Karen F. Buchsbaum

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Michael Campina

Jonathan Dann

RESEARCH

Gloria Glantz

SENIOR ADVISOR

Dennis Nason

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION

CircIntel

Coral Gables Magazine is published monthly by City Regional Media, 2051 SE Third St. Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. Telephone: (786) 206.8254. Copyright 2019 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 2019.

Cover: Manny Medina. See page 78.

Photo by Jon Braeley

ANOTHER BACARDI BRAND

Coral Gables-based Bacardi has announced its acquisition of American whiskey and bourbon producer Stillhouse Spirits for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition resolves a $100 million lawsuit that Stillhouse founder Brad Beckerman filed in March against Bacardi, alleging breach of contract and financial wrongdoing (Bacardi made a minority investment in the whiskey maker in 2014.) As part of the deal, Beckerman will leave the company. The innovative brand (their bourbon is part-aged with a batch of coffee beans, whiskey flavors include spiced cherry and coconut) joins a long list of Bacardi brands which include (beyond their rums) Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, Martini & Rossie vermouth, and Patrón tequila.

IT REALLY IS ABOUT LOCATION

The real estate mantra of location, location, location hit the high mark last month with the purchase of an empty piece of land in Gables Estates for nearly $14 million. The 1.9-acre waterfront lot at 625 Leucadendra Drive was sold to South Properties II LLC, led by Juan Carlos Correa Ballesteros, who is on the board of directors of Mexican Coca-Cola bottler Arca Continental. The property was first listed in August for nearly $16 million. Apparently Leucadendra Drive is the place to be. In November a mansion at 601 Leucadendra sold for $11.5 million; in July, the property at 555 Leucadendra sold for $23 million.

RENTAL REALITY CHECK

Are retail space rental rates high in the Gables? The answer is relative. According to a survey published by the South Florida Business Journal, the rates in the Gables are neither the highest nor the lowest. Coming in at No .1 is Brickell, with asking rents of $118.93 a square foot. Next comes Miami Beach at $83.65, followed by Downtown Miami at $75. The Gables comes in at No. 7 with $38.16 per square foot average asking price, less than Aventura or Coconut Grove. So, take heart retailers. It could be worse.

KEEPING IT LOCAL

Maven Reality, the small but rapidly growing Gables real estate investment firm run by principles Marc Schwarzberg and Jose Ortega, is sticking to its mission of keeping it local. After its acquisition of the former Scientology Building on Giralda Plaza, which is now home to Coyo Taco (and soon to be home to four other local eateries), Maven ac-

quired the historic La Palma hotel (currently being restored and renovated). Now it owns the retail spaces on Giralda that house Miss Saigon, Clutch Burger and the Local (shown right). What you probably didn’t know is that Maven turned down the Cheesecake Factory, which wanted to occupy all of the former Scientology Building. “Everything we try to do is local and community,” says Schwarzberg. “We’ve been very discerning in the tenants we lease spaces to.”

COUNT US IN

At their monthly breakfast meeting in December, the Coral Gables Chamber again pushed forward its advocacy of support for Florida Counts Census 2020, a group of seven philanthropic organizations who have joined together to raise $2 million to ensure Florida has a complete and accurate count; turns out that Florida is one of only five states in the U.S. that do not have a budget nor a Complete Count Committee to make sure everyone gets counted. The impact in Coral Gables? “If we are undercounted by even 10 percent, based on nearly 52,000 residents in our city, then it is possible that more than $92 million dollars would not come back to our community over the next decade,” says Chamber President and CEO Mark Trowbridge.

LEEDING THE WAY

The handsome granite-grey building at 1515 Sunset Drive, which vaguely resembles the New York Public Library, has become the first LEED Platinum Office Building in Coral Gables. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most recognized sustainable building certification in the world, and now a requirement for all buildings over 20,000 square feet in Coral Gables. The Platinum designation is the highest achievement level for LEED. The building is owned by a company controlled by Facundo Bacardi, and not only houses family offices but the shrine to haute cuisine known as Fiola Miami.

BUSINESS KUDOS

Each year the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce gives out its Diamond Awards for the best in local business. Among the 12 categories were awards to Threefold Café for Outstanding Restaurant, to Freebee for Outstanding Technology Company, and Caja Caliente for Outstanding Woman-Owned Business. Luis Chiappy, EVP of the Southeast Region for AXA Advisors,

was honored as Business Leader of the Year. In addition, the Diamonds paid special tribute to American Airlines on the occasion of their 30th Anniversary in Coral Gables. Miami International Airport, the Gables global gateway, is American’s second largest hub and its nexus for the Americas. Accepting the Chairman’s Vanguard Award was Juan Carlos Liscano, VP for American in charge of the Miami hub. (Shown above left with Chamber CEO Mark Trowbridge).

Diamond Awards: Juan Carlos Liscano and Mark Trowbridge

Keeping it Real: Maven Realty stays local on Giralda

BY MARK TROWBRIDGE

A Time to Plan, and to Think Big

As 2020 dawns, we stand at the precipice of opportunity, embracing a chance to re-set the clock, hone our objectives and bring our vision into sharper focus.

While I believe that we should be doing this every day of the year, we are all creatures of habit and thus, taking time out of the business to work on the business – a seeming contradiction – requires a change in thinking and point of view.

Our Chamber is no different. We are a small business with audacious goals and even loftier aspirations. The start of a new year, and a new decade, encourages us to re-prioritize and re-energize for the future, as well as prepare for the knowns and un-knowns.

That is the beauty of business – whether you work for a company or are the owner or something in between – you play an integral role as one of the many keys to achieving success. Every player has a position and a role.

We are a mere five years from our Chamber’s centennial, engaged in conversations around the upcoming Census; local, state and national elections; business growth and prosperity; and more. I suspect your business is, as well.

We have just completed both our financial audit and an HR audit, two important exercises that will help make our organization stronger, our employees more focused and our membership more engaged. And we have spent the last quarter thinking about and planning the

next four quarters.

Our over-arching theme of engagement this year has also required us to up our social media game, especially our Chamber’s Instagram account, something that has not typically been a focal point for our peer organizations. We have seen significant growth in this as our members share their own business stories and engage with timely information and opportunities.

This is an important way to keep our members, especially our younger professionals, in the know and in the mix – not for Chamber-related content, but for opportunities that position our membership, explore current issues and of course, help us devour all that we love about Coral Gables.

In 2020, we will also launch a Podcast to augment this focus on engagement. Known right now as TrowBiz, this will be a bi-weekly look at the most heralded business headlines, as well as a deeper dive into the leading voices closer to home. Of course, there will be some local flair mixed in for effect and a hearty slice of yours truly for good measure.

There is much to look forward to as the new decade begins, not only within our Chamber, but in our business landscape and in all of Coral Gables. I encourage each of you to think big, check-in on your neighbors, support one another more passionately, and continue to grow. We have the talent, the ideas, and the tenacity to make it happen.

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

We are a small business with audacious goals and even loftier aspirations...

MILESTONES ARE MEANT TO BE CELEBRATED. THEY ARE ALSO INTENDED TO BE A TIME OF REFLECTION

Strong Numbers, More to Come

CORAL GABLES IS NOW TAKING ITS MEASURE OF SUCCESS IN RETAIL AND OFFICE SPACE. AND THE NEWS IS GOOD

By J.P. Faber

Coral Gables has long prided itself as an exceptional location for businesses, with a winning combination of high-end office space, top-flight restaurants, less dense daytime traffic, and super proximity to Miami International Airport – just some of the reasons that some 150 multinationals locate their regional headquarter offices here.

Now the city’s Economic Development Department has begun to track the metrics of office and retail space occupancy, especially in comparison to the nearby competitive markets of Brickell and Coconut Grove. And the numbers look strong.

With more office and retail than either the Grove or Brickell, Coral Gables is tracking at significantly less vacancy than either – at 8.2 and 4.2 percent, respectively, for office and retail, as compared to 10.3 and 11 percent respectively for Brickell, and 14 and 6.4 percent for the Grove.

“We are clearly doing better as far as retail and office are concerned,” says Belkys Perez, (shown right) the assistant director of Economic Development, who is now tracking the comparative numbers. “We compare ourselves to them because they are our nearest neighbors with the capability of having the companies [locate and invest] that we are interested in. It’s a healthy thing to do.”

Perez says the numbers are especially welcome since they represent a vindication of the city’s Streetscape project to revitalize the downtown, a multi-year

process that tore up the tarmac and hurt traffic for retailers, some of whom closed shop. “We’ve heard from people who were sitting on the sidelines to see how Streetscape would play out,” she says. “Now we are seeing a lot of investment in the city.” Coral Gables is, in fact, undergoing an unprecedented expansion of new mixed-use construction in and around the downtown. The value of new construction currently underway is $308 million, more than double what it was just two years ago.

The new projects under construction – in particular The Plaza, a massive mix of office, hotel and residential near downtown, and Gables Station, a huge residential complex near The Shops at Merrick Park – have come under fire from citizens who are concerned with excessive building. Most city officials, however, are in favor of development, so long as it does not encroach upon existing residential areas.

“We need critical mass in the downtown at least, to keep Miracle Mile and the surrounding streets active and vibrant at all times, not just weekdays,” says Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli. “Everything we are doing is within the original master plan for the city. We haven’t changed the basic zoning, or the vision of the founding fathers.”

As for the new attention to comparative figures, Perez says this is part of an effort by Economic Development to build a better database to help

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

VALUE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION BY TAX YEAR

Assistant Director of Economic Development, Belkys Perez: “We are seeing a lot of investment in the city... We are clearly doing better.”

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

“lure people to come to Coral Gables.” Better metrics will also be a useful tool for Julian H. Perez (no relation to Belkys) who was appointed last month as the director of the department, and who expects to bring new energy and focus following the departure of former director Pamela Fuertes, who left in August.

In addition to new residents moving to multi-family housing downtown, Belkys Perez says that the city is also working to make the city’s central core more attractive to its fulltime residents.

“The goal is to not just have the street serve the professional community during the day. It’s there to serve the citizens at night as well,” says Perez. She cites the city’s investment in art installations on Giralda Plaza, as well as permitting for sidewalk dining and street music on Miracle Mile, as examples “of what the city has invested in the downtown to grow the pedestrian experience.”

DOWNTOWN CORAL GABLES

Medina’s Latest Spinoff

A CUTTING-EDGE CYBERSECURITY SOFTWARE COMPANY IS STARTING UP IN CORAL GABLES, TO BE LED BY A PRO FROM GOOGLE – WITH OVERSIGHT FROM CHAIRMAN AND GABLES MASTER ENTREPRENEUR MANNY MEDINA

By Doreen Hemlock

When Manny Medina launched Cyxtera Technologies in 2017, the idea was to create a global network of secure data centers. Today, Cyxtera owns some 60 sprawling data hubs that house computer systems and provide varied services, including cybersecurity. It has revenues topping $800 million per year and some 1,300 employees worldwide, including more than 200 in Coral Gables.

Now, Medina is splitting off the booming software side in a venture to be called AppGate, Inc., partly to appeal to investors on Wall Street.

AppGate will focus on cybersecurity software and services. Through Cyxtera, its offerings already are used by more than 1,000 organizations in some 40 countries, mainly government agencies and large corporations. Clients include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and international banks. Plans call for the spinoff by April, with AppGate employing an initial 525 people worldwide.

Medina says he and his partners hope to sell stock in Cyxtera’s data-center segment in the next year or so. They figure data centers will appeal more to investors interested in infrastructure and the longer-term play. AppGate instead could draw investors keen on tech and the shorter-term side of a potential sale.

“Our cyber business is growing really, really fast, and now, it can stand on its own,” says Medina. He estimates AppGate’s revenue growth at 35-40 percent per year, with its clientele now extending far beyond Cyxtera’s own data centers. “That’s very rewarding for us.”

Moving from New York to become AppGate’s chief executive is cyber pro Mike Aiello, who directed product management for Google Cloud Platform Security, and before that, led information security for Goldman Sachs’ consumer and commercial bank. He’s also founded tech companies and authored patents related to cybersecurity and privacy.

Aiello says he’s delighted to join AppGate’s team “to help enterprises and government agencies defend themselves in the world’s most hostile environments.” The team is known for its flexible software that secures the edge of computer networks as users enter and leave, rather than keeping a static fence around the whole network. Its AppGate Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) solution is “one of the most highly commended tools on the market,” says trade publi-

cation Data Center Knowledge.

After the split, Medina will serve both Cyxtera and AppGate as executive chairman, while Cyxtera’s current president, Nelson Fonseca, will become its CEO. Fonseca had also worked at Medina’s data center venture Terremark, which was sold to Verizon in 2011 in a $2 billion deal.

Medina says he’s excited about AppGate because the need for cybersecurity is surging. One indicator: “an epidemic of ransomware,” which can encrypt user information and then ask users to pay to get their data back. The malware has cost cities, hospitals and others millions of dollars in ransom, says Medina, who recently spoke on the issue in Tallahassee following attacks on several Florida cities. “This epidemic really hits home,” says Medina, “and we offer defenses to prevent it.”

Manny Medina has built a global networking company that focuses on cybersecurity data centers (and revenue topping $800 million per year.) Now he wants to dominate the software side.

Self-Worth and Its Impact on Net Worth

THE SUBJECT WAS WOMEN AND MONEY, WHICH QUICKLY CAME DOWN TO THE SENSE OF SELF

By Karen F. Buchsbaum

The more things change the more they stay the same. That old catchphrase came to mind during a recent luncheon, part of the Women & Wealth Seminar Series sponsored by the Coral Gables Trust Company at their Coral Gables headquarters.

The programming was developed to empower women, providing expert guest speakers on a variety of financial topics and wealth management. Businesswomen Deborah Davidson is jointly leading the initiative along with Christine Galliano on behalf of Coral Gables Trust. “Despite the unique challenges many women face, we have never been in a better position to achieve financial security for ourselves and our families,” explained Davidson.

At the quarterly invitation-only program, guest speaker Symeria T. Hudson, MBA, President and CEO of the Chapman Partnership, delivered a poignant program tailored for women about “How Self-Worth

Can Impact Net Worth.”

Research by Coral Gables Trust shows that, despite the growing economic power and influence of women, they continue to be poorly served by the financial industry. Amidst sobering facts about women’s current status in the financial world, Hudson served up specific tips and approaches for changing the pattern. She talked about how much money women leave on the table because they don’t negotiate salaries as high as their male counterparts, and that poverty levels and student loan debt are both higher for women than men.

Men, for example, are four times as likely to ask for a raise. And when they do ask, women request 30 percent less than their male counterparts, resulting in earning only 82 cents for every dollar a man earns for the same job. In fact, 68 percent of women would rather discuss death than money.

During the presentation, the group of 20 women put down their silverware and became completely silent while watching a brief video about perceptions of self-image. Among the physicians, lawyers, accountants, and executives in the room, every woman could relate to the notion that as women, we are our harshest critics and usually don’t see ourselves as favorably as others do.

Hudson urged the group to write down their dreams, make a plan, and verbalize their goals. “If you don’t believe you can get it done, you won’t,” she explained. Keeping life in balance is also important to building wealth, she said. Take breaks to recharge and find ways to continually “nourish your mind” and to focus on “clear intentions of what you want and why.” A lively discussion followed, with shared personal experiences and a lot of nodding heads and whispered affirmations. Hudson provided examples from her personal story; working her way from a poor, rural, southern background to a Harvard MBA, she set the stage and made the audience comfortable in relating their own experiences.

There were stories about not feeling totally qualified, adequate,

SYMERIA HUDSON OFFERS THESE SEVEN TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR VALUE:

1. Practice positive self esteem

2. Recognize the difference that you make (and quantify it)

3. See yourself on par with peers, worthy to be there

4. Don’t under-charge for services

5. Be clear about your values

6. Believe you are good enough

7. Engage in work that is exciting and fulfilling

or deserving of a particular task or job, feelings rarely exhibited by men in the workplace. Hudson explained that as women, we can control our destiny and build self esteem, ultimately improving our financial future. Women, she pointed out, are the members of society who do the most for others. So, the “more we help ourselves, the more we can help others.”

“As women, we should’ve been born with capes, we are so amazing,” said Hudson. It’s a message every woman should hear.

Future programs in the works at Coral Gables Trust Company include estate and retirement planning, taxation, elder care, educating children about financial matters, philanthropy, and investment strategies. For more information about the Women & Wealth Seminar Series contact Christine Galliano at Coral Gables Trust Company, 786.497.1212 ext. 131

The Re-Selling of Offizina

WHEN OFFIZINA OPENED FOR BUSINESS EARLY LAST YEAR, IT WAS MARKETING AS A STATE-OF-THE-ART OFFICE CONDOMINIUM. NOW IT IS SELLING UNITS WITH A NEW SPIN

By J.P. Faber

You would think that, with so many Latin American corporate divisions here, and so many Latin American residents, that office condominiums would be commonplace. “South Americans are used to owning their offices. They don’t like to rent,” notes Joe Abood of the commercial real estate firm Avison Young.

Abood should know – his firm handles the sales and leasing at 2020 Ponce de Leon, which was the only Class A Office Condominium project in the Gables until early last year. That’s when the ribbon was cut for Offizina, a sparkling new office tower in the north Gables, up the street at 1200 Ponce.

With 54 units, Offizina positioned itself as an office location that offered to take business “Beyond Nine to Five,” offering amenities such as a fitness center with Peloton bikes, locker rooms and showers, electric vehicle charging stations, two private rooftop lounges, a coffee bar, and a concierge. Even the water fountains promised that the H2O had extra filtering.

Only 80 percent of the units sold, however, so the remaining spaces were leased by the developers, a partnership between TSG Group and BF Group, both seasoned real estate firms. Now, those leased units are being marketed as an investment.

“Of the people who have purchased units, some have decided to use them as end users, while others have put them back on the market for rent,” says Phil Gutman, president of Brown Harris Stevens Miami, which is in charge of selling the project. “Our remaining inventory is for sale or rent.” The special spin for the remaining units that have been leased, however, is to position them as investments with solid returns.

“The remaining inventory we are delivering as a turnkey product with a tenant,” says Gutman. “We have interested parties locally or overseas that would like to invest money in Miami and not have to deal with the hassles of a residential condo, which typically has a one-year tenant. We are selling these with a tenant in place with a minimum lease of five years.”

Gutman says that three units have sold so far, just a few weeks into the new campaign, though surprisingly not to Latin Americans. “Coral Gables is known as a market for South Americans, but lately you’ll see people migrating from the Northeast for tax reasons, and from Miami Beach for the schools,” he says. With prices for the units ranging from $700,000 to $3 million, however, sales might be a little harder on the higher side. “As far as investors buying office condos with tenants in place, it is attractive,” says Abood. “But rarely over $1.5 million, because these are mostly smaller investors buying based on cap rates. It could be a tough sell for Offizina.”

Gutman, who represents developer TSG, says he is not worried. “Vacancy rates in Coral Gables are at historic lows, and Miami in general is highly sought after, especially with a push from the Northeast,” says Gutman, whose past successes includes a $1.3 billion sell out of units in what was the largest residential project in the U.S., the Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino. “We are going to replicate this in Miami, where we are planning another office condo.”

TOP: Phil Gutman of Brown Harris Stevens, who handles sales and leasing at Offizina, 1200 Ponce de Leon. He says “We are selling them with a tenant in place.”

MIDDLE AND BELOW: The lobby at Offizina and the rooftop terrace.

EMBRACING A NEW IDEA: Philippe Houdard, who founded Pipeline in 2012, is part of a new wave of entrepeneurs launching shared workspaces.

Photo by Jon Braeley

The New Work Environment

SHARED WORKSPACE, AKA CO-WORKER OR FLEX SPACE, IS BECOMING THE NEW NORM IN CORAL GABLES

By J.P. Faber

When the idea of shared workspace first emerged decades ago, the concept was called “executive suites” and the proposition was straight forward: You rented a private office, and you got an address, a floor secretary to greet visitors and answer your phone line, a shared kitchenette and mailroom (complete with a fax machine), and a conference room you paid for by the hour. If you wanted to start a company, or a place to hang your professional hat, or an address in a different city, it was instant accommodation: Just add water and voila, you had an office without hassle or upfront expenses.

Today’s shared workspace is a different animal. The new centers are labyrinths of glass walls, with offices ranging in size from a closet to a 1,000 square-feet, with common rooms that look like hotel lounges and shared kitchens that act like small convenience stores, with food and drink display cases and espresso machines.

THE SPACES

PIPELINE

95 Merrick Way, 3rd Floor

786.477.6440

Edgy, hybrid spaces for startups and corporate division

QUEST WORKSPACES

2525 Ponce #300, 305.200.8700

2000 Ponce #600, 305.271.3100

Co-shared space for professionals, undergoing a makeover

WEWORK (SHOWN ABOVE)

2222 Ponce de Leon, 305.363.4997

255 Giralda Ave. 5th Floor, 305.250.2832

Cutting edge shared space, with startups and multinationals

REGUS

2332 Galiano St. 2nd Floor, 305.728.7000

1 Alhambra Plaza, PH, 786.749.2200

Traditional executive suites for professionals

OFFICE EDGE

4000 Ponce, Suite 470 (S. of Bird Rd.)

305.777.0200

Executive suites and virtual offices with support staff

PLATINUM BUSINESS CENTER

1600 Ponce, 10th Floor

786.350.1200

Executive suites and flex space, support staff

ROCKEFELLER GROUP BUSINESS CENTERS

121 Alhambra Plaza

305.779.5600

Power executive office spaces, association with New York

NEXUS

220 Miracle Mile, Ste. 234

305.569.0311

Strictly co-working, a drop and take space, for out-of-towners

Yesterday’s dark halls with separate office silos have exploded into light-filled, high-ceiling chambers with neon art and balconies. Moreover, rather than warrens of anonymous workers, the spaces encourage interactivity and engender a kind of communal creativity that make the new shared workspaces feel like incubators for entrepreneurs.

“We are focused on the creation of a community and serving as a platform where people can express their originality and create their business,” summarizes Philippe Houdard, who launched Pipeline in 2012. Its third location (after Miami and Philadelphia) was Coral Gables, where today 235 people work in more than 50 offices in a 14,000 square-foot space on Merrick Way.

“I had started several companies, so I know how hard it is to start something on your own, in isolation. It’s tough. We thought it better to start in an office where you were sharing and engaging as your ideas were developing.”

The Pipepline space is eclectic in design, with what Houdard describes as “a feeling of green with a splash of Spanish heritage” to reflect the Gables sensibilities of a tree-lined city with Mediterranean architecture. There is a Spanish shield on one wall, and in a nearby space a multi-color picnic table on a swath of Astroturf. The offices are occupied by a wide range of companies, from programmers (Big Duck Games), to “personal branding” photographers (ImageMe), to custom travel companies (Portocolo). They range from startups like Brioche Gourmet, to divisions of

international firms, like France’s Alcatel.

“The city now has a half dozen [cowork spaces] that are pretty significant,” says Mark Trowbridge, president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. “We have the tried and true, like Regus, who have been in the landscape for many years, and we have the locally owned, like Quest and Office Edge,” he says. “Pipeline is there for startups and scaleups and entrepreneurs. And then you have a juggernaut like WeWork, which is changing how business is done.”

Despite its recent corporate travails (in which their CEO has allegedly absconded with more than $1 billion), in the Gables WeWork has done so well that this year they launched a second, much larger space adjacent to their original location on Ponce at Giralda. “Coral Gables was unique enough for them to rebrand an entire office tower, right on Ponce,” says Trowbridge. “And overnight, as they leased up, they brought down the average age of downtown Coral Gables employees by a generation.”

Indeed, what the emergence of shared office spaces has done for the corporate hierarchy in Coral Gables – a city that doesn’t allow for home-based businesses – is to offer a solution for small firms with young entrepreneurs that want to scale up, with the cachet of a Gables location.

THE STARTUP FOR STARTUPS

Carolina Rendeiro, CMO of Connect2Global, was on the ground floor of the local workspace sharing phenomena; she was

Workspaces range from a few thousand square feet to more than 80,000 square feet

GENIUS AT WORK:

The 8base team at WeWork on Ponce.

Photo by Jonathan Dann

instrumental in attracting and establishing several early, successful coworking entities in Coral Gables, beginning with the Darby Tech Center – the first in city – in 2000. Among her first tenants was the design software company Adobe.

“When we opened these spaces, we looked at various components – who was the potential member base, proximity to airports, proximity to restaurants, hotels, transportation, and so forth,” says Rendeiro. “Coral Gables is a community where one can live, work, and play, and it’s recognized in the global market as an international hub for corporations and trade offices – all of which added to the decision process [to start here].”

Rendeiro says that since her first foray into shared workspace, the Gables has become a hot spot of the industry. “Per capita we have the most shared spaces in South Florida, especially if you look at the number of centers we have that [lease] full floors” – or multiple floors, as in the case of WeWork’s expansion, which includes three full floors for the Latin American offices of telecom giant Millicon.

That phenomenon – the location of divisions of larger corporations – is another factor fueling the demand for shared workspace in Coral Gables. Rather than lease out a large space for years at a time, larger corporations can expand with new divisions in co-workspaces, limiting their financial exposure while testing innovative concepts.

Bringing in divisions of larger companies is part of what makes a successful shared workspace, says Pipeline’s Houdard. “We wanted to attract both the startups in early stages as well as the large corporations, to create an environment that was blended, with a diversity that represented the full economy,” he says. “Some of our first customers included Uber, Google and Kayak… These [larger] companies wanted an environment where they were exposed to young people and to up-and-coming companies, while tiny startups like to be around the grisly veterans. There were benefits for both.”

“In terms of the future of flexible office space, my belief is that it’s not just for startups, but for every size company,” says Laura Kozelouzek, the founder of Quest Workspaces, which has two locations in Coral Gables. “Companies today are so dynamic, they can’t project what their office needs will be and sign 10-year leases, or even five-year leases,” she says. “They all need flexibility.”

Kozelouzek started Quest in 2010, launching first in Miami and then in the Gables a year later. Last year they expanded

IN QUEST OF A SOLUTION

After a decade of conventional office space on Coral Way in Miami, Ann Nuñez, below, decided to move her company to the Quest shared office space at 2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd. In retrospect, she wished she had made the move sooner.

“It’s super convenient, but more importantly established a much higher-end image that goes with our branding,” she says. Nuñez also liked the mix of professionals in the space – lawyers, especially – many of whom become clients for her web design firm InReact. “They hired us because they know where we are, they

are literally neighbors,” she says. “Every co-working space has its own feel, and we thought the other places were too open, not enough privacy. We also like being part of the Quest events and they have a lot of them. It feels like family.”

The founder of Quest, Laura Kozelouzek, says her intention was “a boutique-style approach with critical mass for services we can offer.” Kozelouzek says she named the firm Quest” because I wanted to create the freedom to work the way you wanted to...flexible office spaces not just for startups.”

Laura Kozelouzek, CEO of Quest

Ann Nuñez, CEO of Inreact

Photos by Jon Braeley

HIGH TECH ICE CREAM

“All of our offices are located here,” says David Leonardo, CEO of Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream, located at the new WeWork space on Giralda Avenue. “We wanted to bring a certain level of professionalism to our investors as they traveled here from across the country, and we thought that WeWork, from a branding perspective, offered us a lot that would be much more expensive to pay for on our own.” These include amenities such as large and small conference rooms, kitchen facilities, and open spaces where they could allow field employees to come in and work “without feeling like they are enclosed.” Also appreciated are WeWork talks that staff attends, especially talks by founders of businesses who started at WeWork and got bigger. “And then there is the unlimited coffee,” he says. “That’s big.”

to a new location at 2000 Ponce de Leon Blvd., growing from their first spot at 2525 Ponce. Exemplary of the idea that no size or shape fits all comers, Kozelouzek geared her first location toward legal and financial entities.

“Our clientele are seasoned professionals rather than startups, like lawyers, and hedge funds and financial firms,” she says, which want separate office spaces because they need privacy. “We have created a lot of different common area spaces with amenities like phone booths, nap rooms, treadmills, board rooms, small conference rooms and chat rooms,” she says. “But we have designed many customized private spaces.” Kozelouzek does not favor the kind of open spaces where individuals can sit in a large room at a long table with their laptops. “I would rather create a smaller, private office where someone can be functional and not disrupted, and use the common areas and amenities when needed.”

Indeed, the clientele for shared workspaces is as varied as the overall business landscape of the city. A common misconception is that all co-workspace tenants are Millennials or Gen Z. In fact, the tenant demographic of each workspace is as diverse as the flexibility of the venues.

Fred Barrett, for example, is a CPA with 35-years of experience. He left a major accounting firm with 3,000 other employees to work alone in a quiet, single office at the Regus center on Galiano Street. “This concept in Coral Gables is great. You have all the resources without the extra overhead burden, and a workplace to call home,” he says. “We have reception and secretarial support, conference room, printers, faxes, mailing or delivery service and you only use them on an as-needed basis. Obviously one of the best plusses is that we are in the luxurious world renowned community of Coral Gables. Clients love to come here.”

At the other end of the spectrum is Jesse Stein, a serial entrepreneur who creates online businesses, such as his current success Dietspotlight.com. He downscaled to three spaces at WeWork for considerably less than the $15,000 per month he was paying for conventional office space on Valencia. Indeed, cost is a major inducement. Monthly prices typically start at an average of $200 for a seat at a shared table, $600 for a one-person office, $1,000 for a two-person office, and upwards to $2,000 to $4,000.

“I have become a more virtual company in general, with a lot of my staff working remotely,” says Stein, who is also developing a robotic arm that imitates human handwriting. “We thought about Regus, but that

felt very corporate. WeWork feels like Silicone Valley kitsch, there they are trying to replicate a tech company vibe. It’s younger and feels more dynamic.”

Albert Santalo, a South Florida entrepreneur who started two successful tech companies, also chose WeWork to launch his startup 8base in 2017. The firm offers a platform for people with limited tech skills to build and host enterprise software, working with developers, contributors and users “in a decentralized ecosystem that makes software development fast and easy,” says Santalo. “We really thrive in entrepreneurial settings. We had looked at several spaces, but loved the new WeWork location – plus Coral Gables is great for meetings and it’s near the airport.”

THE NEXT GENERATION

What is next for shared workspaces is already on the drawing board for a building at 299 Alhambra, in a project by the Forum division of Location Ventures. “We want to take co-working to another level,” says Location CEO Rishi Kapoor, whose firm is also working on creating co-living spaces on Alhambra (and the environmentally controlled Villa Valencia). “It’s not just about real estate over someone’s head, but that it also supports the entrepreneur within.”

In addition to providing office gear, kitchen space, meeting areas, and learning events for tenants, Kapoor envisions a coterie of support services for small companies, including accounting, administration, marketing, legal referrals and an onsite business coach. “The idea is that the entrepreneur is not alone, and that incubation services will add extra power to their efforts.” Being on the ground floor, Kapoor also wants to help retailers launch from mini spaces.

Kapoor hopes to open his first 9,000 square-feet this quarter and expand upward to five floors to meet demand. “We study our submarkets very thoroughly, and we have seen the other co-working spaces in the Gables and understand the high levels of occupancy in each of these locations,” he says. “You can see the large businesses moving into the Gables. That is corporate. But on a small business level as well, the Gables has done a great job of rejuvenating itself.”

And for that, co-shared spaces can take a bow. “These spaces have created a totally different environment for businesses here,” says the Chamber’s Trowbridge. “They tend to attract more ‘new-to-market’ kinds of companies, either entering wholly or just starting with a couple of offices, to do something larger along the line.”

A PLACE FOR IDEAS TO GROW: A one-person office at WeWork

The Passion of Prescott

HOW GENE PRESCOTT SAVED THE BILTMORE HOTEL, MAINTAINING THE CITY’S MOST IMPORTANT LANDMARK

By J.P Faber

It is Saturday night and Gene Prescott is having dinner at the Biltmore Hotel. He is at his favorite table, in the courtyard of the Fontana Restaurant. It is the table that faces the glass doors where the help enters and leaves with the food. It is the perfect place to watch the restaurant operate. A few minutes after he is seated, the chef comes out. While Gene Prescott, owner of the Biltmore, no longer micromanages this vast, elegant hotel, he stays in close touch with his team of lieutenants, one of whom is the Fontana chef. Prescott wants to know what the specials are this evening; he orders several to taste.

Technically speaking, Gene Prescott is not the owner of the Biltmore Hotel. It is actually owned by the City of Coral Gables and leased to Prescott’s Seaway Corporation. But that is really a technicality, when you consider that the lease is for 99 years. Prescott is, de facto, the man who possesses what is arguably the most important building in Coral Gables, as iconic to the city as the Empire State Building is to New York.

The stewardship of the Biltmore Hotel has not been a light task. It is a classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for’ writ large. Others before him

failed at the job of making it work as a hotel. But not Prescott. From the moment he laid eyes on the building that Gables founding father George Merrick considered his greatest achievement, Prescott was in love. Since the Idaho native took over the reins nearly 28 years ago, the Biltmore has become such an absorbing passion that even his son – heir apparent Tom Prescott – says he can’t help feeling jealous at times over the attention his father pays to the grand dame of South Florida hotels.

“From the moment I first saw the hotel I realized there was nothing like it anywhere in the world,” says Prescott. “I knew that it was the opportunity of a lifetime; the promise that it held, what could be, all of the opportunities that we have since realized.” What he did not know was how quickly his skills as a successful entrepreneur in real estate and hospitality services would be put to the test.

The Biltmore is such an integral part of the social fabric of Coral Gables today that it is hard to imagine the city without it. It is where the civic

organizations hold their meetings. It is a coveted location for weddings, even if you are not a member of Coral Gables society. It is where international dignitaries are feted. It is where the area’s most powerful politicians hold their fund raisers – and their victory celebrations. It is where celebrities who are sick of South Beach stay. It is where you take your out-of-town friends to impress them.

But the Biltmore’s fate as a hotel and social center (and home to a PGA-level golf course) was by no means certain when Prescott arrived in 1991. Except for a three-year stint from 1987 to 1990, the building had not functioned as a hotel for half a century, not since the U.S. Army commandeered it as a military hospital during World War II. Two years after the war, the Veterans Administration took over, and UM started their medical school here in 1952. Both left when the General Services Administration (GSA) took over in 1968.

By the time the City of Coral Gables bought the Biltmore for $3 million in 1973, it had been sitting idle for five years. Plans for its destiny included making it a housing complex, with adjacent apartment buildings, or turning it into a campus for FIU. In the end, after bringing the golf course and county club back to life, the city agreed to a proposal by a development team headed by Earl Worsham to restore the Biltmore to a 266-suite hotel for $40 million. It took three years to restore and three years more to go bust; in 1990, Barnett Bank foreclosed on a $27 million loan to Worsham et. al. and turned off the lights (thought kept the air conditioning going to prevent mold.) Enter Prescott’s Seaway Corporation.

In many ways, Gene Prescott’s career perfectly prepared him for the Biltmore. Raised on a cattle ranch in Idaho, he got his MBA at the University of Idaho and then got an M.S. in finance at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. He took more finance classes at Case Western in Cleveland while working for accounting giant Touche Ross, but soon departed for the opportunity to work for the Olivetti corporation in Italy, where they were transitioning from making typewriters to producing office computers. “They wanted to bring American management techniques to Italy,” says Prescott. “I went thinking it would be a year and ended up staying for three years.”

While at Olivetti, where he worked on production schedules, Prescott learned two key lessons: Be very careful who you hire (Italian companies were not allowed to fire people at the time) and be very careful with your financial forecasts (since hiring was directly tied to them). He also learned Italian (though he says poorly) and married an Italian woman. The couple later divorced, but not before having two children.

Prescott’s next stop was at Applied Devices, a software company based in Connecticut, as their comptroller. “This was another great experience for me. One week after I got there, we were de-listed from the American Stock exchange, the bank called our loan and they bounced the payroll checks,” he says. The electrical equipment company survived by downsizing; one of Prescott’s more painful experiences was having to fire almost 500 employees at a factory in Muncie, Indiana. “After that I had a very tough skin,” he says.

Then Prescott got his first taste of the hospitality industry. He was hired as a kind of work-out specialist for Italian travel company Pierbusseti, which had offices in Pittsburgh. It had overextended itself with its Club International reward card program that promised vacation packages it couldn’t deliver. Prescott wound down the program, earning sufficient bonuses for a job well done to make his first real estate investment. Again, it was a troubled business that he was able to fix, a cold storage company in New Jersey “that turned out to be a good proposition,” says Prescott. “We ended up going from one to two to four cold storage facilities. We still have two in New Jersey.” The other sites were later developed and sold.

1926 The Biltmore Hotel opens with 1,500 guests and 300 employees

1926 Miami is hit by a major hurricane in Septem ber; the hotel never fully recovers.

1929 Merrick sells the hotel to John Bowman for $2.1 million.

1931 The hotel reopens with guests like Calvin Coolidge, Douglas Fairbanks, Babe Ruth, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, and Al Capone.

1942 The U.S. War Department takes over the Biltmore for a military hospital

1943-45 U.S.O. tours arrive with Bob Hope, Judy Gar land, Bing Crosby, Jane Russell, Danny Kaye & more

1947 The Veterans Administration takes over the Biltmore

1968 The General Services Administration (GSA) takes over

1973 The City of Coral Gables officially becomes the owner

1987 The Biltmore is re-opened as a hotel

1990 Barnett forecloses on the Biltmore

1992 The Seaway Group, headed by Gene Prescott, reopens the hotel

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BILTMORE (UNTIL PRESCOTT)

Recent renovations, from a $35 million makeover that included replacing more than 1,000 windows, has placed the Biltmore Hotel in a perfect position to enter a golden era with above-average occupancy rates.

Flash forward to 1994. Prescott is now in his late forties. His Seaway Corporation, with a few bumps along the way and several partners, has done well for itself. Besides its successful refrigerated warehouse business, it owns a wholesale travel business in Chicago; the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida; the Staten Island Hotel in New York; and the Alexander All Suite Hotel on Miami Beach.

While all of these properties are financial successes, none compare with – or hold the attention of Prescott – like the Biltmore Hotel. And now his crown jewel is about to debut on the world stage with something called the Summit of the Americas.

In a bold effort to move his agenda forward for the Western Hemisphere, President Bill Clinton had called for a meeting of all 34 heads of state from Latin America – everyone except for Fidel Castro of Cuba. And his team decided to hold it at the Biltmore Hotel. All at once, the hotel was hosting President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, President Carlos Menem of Argentina, President Itamar Franco of Brazil, President Alberto Fujimori of Peru and so on. Talk about upping your game.

“The Summit was a landmark event for us,” says Prescott. “We

worked our tail off, with all the political influence we had, to get it here. And it was great.” Prescott was in his glory, hobnobbing with the likes of Menem (“he was a real pistol”) and Zedillo (“he was a little preoccupied with inflation at home”), and getting especially close to Bill Clinton, who returned in 2001 to celebrate the hotel’s 75th Anniversary.

Not only did the Summit help establish the Biltmore’s image as a world class hotel, notes Prescott’s son Tom -- and earn the hotel enormous publicity throughout the Americas -- “It was also one of the great moments establishing Coral Gables as a gateway to Latin America.”

It was also a far cry from just two years earlier, when Seaway Corporation cut its deal with Barnett Bank to take over the empty hotel. Barnett, Seaway’s Florida bank, had approached them on a bailout of the property. Prescott was busy at the time with plans to upgrade the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater and working a new property he was going to launch in Key West. But the Biltmore captured his imagination, as well as the company’s resources earmarked for Florida.

It was not easy whipping the Biltmore into shape. After Seaway secured the lease, Prescott ironically faced the same challenge that derailed the Biltmore’s first rollout as a luxury hotel in the Roaring Twenties: A major hurricane. In 1926 the “Great Miami” hurricane devasted Greater Miami with sustained winds of 150 mph, causing hundreds of deaths. The Biltmore never recovered its swagger.

In 1992, just months after Seaway took over, Miami was hit

with Hurricane Andrew. While it did not hit the Gables directly, it was a major blow to the area, and forced Prescott to hire 100 staff overnight, without sufficient time to train, let along vet them, in order to open prematurely. He had no choice; similar to 1926, the Biltmore became a place of refuge in the wake of the hurricane, especially for families of emergency crews working around the clock. Prescott said it took a year to “feather things out” from that peremptory, bumpy beginning, but the hurricane came with a silver lining. “The hurricane became a personal connection to the city as a whole, to the government and the broader community,” says Tom. “We had a real personal connection from that point onward… There were families that came here, and in subsequent years -- decades later -came back and talked about that experience of coming for refuge and knowing dad personally.”

After the summit the Biltmore thrived, becoming THE place for the rich, powerful, and famous to stay, especially before the advent of South Beach. The list of celebrities who have visited the Biltmore is nothing less than astonishing, from Muhammad Ali and Lauren Bacall to Cameron Diaz and Woody Harrelson (see box). Not that the Biltmore was a particularly lucrative investment for Seaway. Says John Allen, executive director of the Coral Gables Museum, “Financially it has always been a challenge, but it has been a success in every other way.” In certain years, quips Prescott, his Staten Island Hotel alone made more money than the Biltmore. The challenge? Simply that the hotel was, and remains, an expensive property to maintain. By virtue of its lease, and the covenant that Coral Gables signed with the Federal GSA, the property must be well maintained as a historic landmark.

When times were good, Prescott did not object to funding the restorations and maintenance as needed, putting in some $40 million during the first decade of ownership. But in the second decade, the Great Recession hit the country, and the burden became too much.

“I had felt that the city was not fulfilling their obligation, which was to put money into the property,” says Prescott. “We’d put a lot more money into the building and the city had not participated… I finally said, ‘Enough. I am going to stop paying.’”

The result was a six-month standoff in 2009, during which the Biltmore withheld its rent, a percentage of revenue that equals between $1.7 million and $2.2 million a year. While the move got the attention of the city council, it produced a slew of bad press for the property, which in turn started to cost it clients. “From a business point of view, we had to settle this thing. So, we paid them off, 100 percent of what we owed them,” says Prescott, whose team does not particularly relish talking about those sour years – except to compare them with today, when the relationship between the city and the Biltmore is experiencing a golden era.

“It is a difficult property to manage because of its age and the upkeep,” says Coral Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli. “But Gene has made it go and it’s our pride and joy and symbol of the city.” Two years ago, Valdes-Fauli’s administration agreed to help the Biltmore with its latest round of restorations, a $35 million makeover that included replacing more than 1,000 windows.

“The city fathers recognized that it’s a one-hundred-year old building, with mechanics, plumbing, electrical, and windows that go back many, many years,” says Stanley Friedman, one of Prescott’s inner circle who has worked as a consiglieri advisor to him for three decades. “All the windows had to be replaced. That alone cost $10 million… The city recognized this and they were very gracious in giving us five years, with half the rent that we paid going toward improvements to the building.” Besides a redo of the common areas, including the magnificent central lobby, the golf course was brought back to its 1926 glory and extended to 7,000 yards to qualify for PGA championships.

CELEBRITY GUEST REGISTRY

Some of the Biltmore Hotel’s Celebrated Visitors of the Past Decades

Christina Aguilera; Muhammad Ali; Steve Allen; Paul Anka Lauren Bacall ; Kevin Bacon ; Billy Baldwin; Antonio Banderas; Angela Bassett; Marisa Berenson ; Larry Bird ; James Caan; Neve Campbell; Cyd Charisse; Chayanne; Natalie Cole; Nadia Comanici; Cindy Crawford; Celia Cruz; Jane Curtin; His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Johnny Depp; Cameron Diaz; Bo Diddley; Erik Estrada; Jamie Foxx; Daisy Fuentes; Andy Garcia; Gisselle; Bob Griese; Woody Harrelson; Carolina Herrera; Carl Hiaasen; Tommy Hilfiger; Evander Holyfield; Oscar de la Hoya; Rachel Hunter; Elizabeth Hurluy; Julio Iglesias; LL Cool J; Janet Jackson; Magic Johnson; Jose Jose; Emeril Lagasse; Martin Lawrence; Spike Lee; Tara Lipinski; Jennifer Lopez; Lucero; Kyle MacLachlan; Chuck Mangione; Ricky Martin; John Cougar Mellencamp; Luis Miguel; Matthew Modine; Julianne Moore; Alonzo Mourning; Bill Murray; Chyna Phillips; Mike Piazza; Prince; Dennis Quaid; Robert Redford; Judge Reinhold; Denise Richards; Ronaldo; Theresa Russel; Gus Van Sant; Cristina Saralegui; Roy Scheider; Claudia Schiffer; Jon Secada; Martin Sheen; Will Smith; Sylvester Stallone; Martha Stewart; Rod Stewart; Oliver Stone; Sharon Stone; Olga Tañon; Thalia; The Bee Gees; John Travolta; Ivana Trump; Tommy Tune; Gloria Vanderbilt; Robert Wagner; Mike Wallace; Esther Williams; Oprah Winfrey; Katarina Witt; James Woods; Kristi Yamaguchi

Today, the Biltmore is on the rise. In the last half of 2019 its occupancy rate exceeded the 65 percent benchmark that defines success in a hotel. It also continues to host some 300 weddings a year. “It’s a national historic landmark, it’s got life and chemistry that other places don’t have,” says Ben Mollere, Corporate VP of Baptist Health Group, who worked for Prescott for more than a dozen years as VP of sales and marketing. “You’ll never find another place like it for people who look for a certain experience.”

That “certain experience” is what current VP of Marketing & Sales Philippe Parodi is banking on for a strong decade ahead. “I think that Miami has re-emerged from many years of being only South Beach and Miami Beach,” he says. “[Travelers today] really look at a destination for what it has to offer, which is authenticity, culture, art, different communities, different kinds of architecture -- basically the same values that we keep in preserving the hotel’s history.” Prescott is also keen on keeping up with the times, personally insisting that rooms add numerous outlets for personal electronic devices.

Gene Prescott will meanwhile tell you that the hotel business is all about the numbers. The occupancy rates, the industry trends, the cash flow. He and his inner circle of long-time employees – the controllers, the managers, and especially his son Tom, who now runs much of the daily operations – are already bracing for an influx of new hotel rooms in Miami-Dade. But Prescott knows that while the devil is in the details, a lot of those details are the people.

“In the end, the best part of all this is the people,” says

Prescott, and that doesn’t mean just the presidents, senators, celebrities, and community leaders that he has hosted at the Biltmore. It also means the close team that advises him, and the 650 employees of the Biltmore, many of whom have been at the hotel for ten, twenty, even twenty-five years. He is kind of guy who can visit a president one day (he was invited to the most recent White House Christmas party) and then crack a joke with a groundskeeper the next (“Hey,” he says to a couple of workers who are using a level to check how straight a new sign is. “Can’t you just use your eyes to see if that’s straight? You must be getting old!” They guffaw, because Prescott is now in his mid 70s.)

Prescott is also now the sole owner of the Seaway Corporation, having bought out his partner Robert Kay more than three years ago; at the time, Kay had wanted to sell the Biltmore to a third party and get out of the business altogether. Prescott, predictably, did not want to let go of his crown jewel in Coral Gables, so agreed to buy out Kay (reported at the time for $28 million). Consequently, Prescott remains the benevolent monarch of the Biltmore. And for those who know and admire and love him -- the community, the celebrities, the politicians, the regular guests, the employees, his family -- that is how it should be.

“Gene’s restoration of the Biltmore Hotel will go down as one of the classic endeavors of any citizen who loves this city,” says his friend Mike Carricarte, the former chairman of insurance giant Amadex. “He saved it.” Museum director Allen, who authored the monograph “Fate in the Balance,” a history of the Biltmore from 1926 to 1985, puts it this way: “It’s pretty safe to say there wouldn’t be a Biltmore without Gene… The Gables is the Biltmore, and the Biltmore is Gene Prescott.”

Gene Prescott (right) with his son Tom, who runs much of the daily operations of the Biltmore Hotel.

SPAIN

The Consular Corps of Miami is comprised of various diplomatic representatives from foreign nations assigned to South Florida to care for the citizens of their home countries who visit, work, or live in our community and region. There are 26 with offices in Coral Gables; others with offices in Miami also live in the Gables.

These Consul Generals and Honorary Consuls play an important role in the international scene in Coral Gables, where they not only serve their citizens, but also the home-based companies that do business and/or keep offices here.

In this series of interviews, we will introduce our readers to Consul Generals whose Consulates and/or residences are located in the City Beautiful. Our first guest is Cándido Creis Estrada, Consul General of Spain

WHEN DID YOU ARRIVE HERE?

I came to Miami in 2015 after serving as the Head of Protocol in the Royal Household of His Majesty the King. Prior to that I was posted with the Spanish Permanent Delegation to the EU in Brussels.

WHAT IS YOUR JOB HERE?

My duties are to assist Spanish citizens in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Our Consulate also helps foster bilateral trade and investment, educational projects and cultural activities. We are co-located with representatives of Spain’s Trade Commission, Education Office, Tourism Office and the Spanish Cultural Center.

HOW LONG HAS THE SPANISH CONSULATE BEEN IN CORAL GABLES?

I am proud to say that the Consulate of Spain and the Consul General’s residence have both been in Coral Gables since the 1970s – coincidentally located on streets named after two important cities in Spain, “Valencia Avenue” and “Granada Boulevard.”

WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL GOALS HERE?

To find ways to highlight the common heritage between Spain and Florida, including the founding of St. Augustine in 1565 and the 18th Century Mission San Luis in Tallahassee. In fact, I serve on the board of directors of the Florida Secretary of State’s Friends of Florida History.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT CORAL GABLES?

One wonderful feature is the fine dining. We especially enjoy restaurants featuring dishes from our native Spain, such as the Mediterranean fish dishes at La Dorada, the tapas at Bulla Gastrobar, and the amazing jamon at Bellmónt. And no weekend evening would be complete without a visit to La Taberna Giralda for wine and Flamenco music.

This interview was conducted by Don Slesnick, Honorary Consul of Australia and former Mayor of Coral Gables.

THE SPANISH CORPORATE PRESENCE

Spain is one of Florida’s top trade partners and leading sources of direct foreign investment. In Coral Gables, they are fairly dominant: More than one third of the international firms with headquarters here are from Spain. Here is a sampling of companies.

Adolfo Dominguez USA LLC – Men’s Clothing

Dragados USA Inc – Construction Services

Air Europa Lineas Aereas SA, Inc – Passenger Airline Services

Aletea Advisors, Inc. – Legal Services

Matachana USA Corp – Chemical Industry Equipment

USA Voip LLC (Avanzada 7 Sl) –Telecom Equipment

Biologia Y Nutricion 2, S.A. – Pet Food

SicaSoft Solution LLC – Environmental Services

Delaviuda USA, Inc. – Candy Manufacturing

Humiclima USA, Inc. – Industrial Engineering

Intermas Nets USA, Inc. – Electronic Components, Plastic Mfg.

Kettal North America, Inc. – Home Furnishigs

Marketinnova Group LLC – Marketing And Pr

Miriam Quevedo, Inc. – Cosmetics

Pescanova, Inc. – Frozen Fish Importers

SPANISH TRADE

PORT OF MIAMI – 2018

Total Trade: $414.6 million, a 40% increase since 2017

Exports: $78 million; Imports: $336.5 million

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – 2018

Total Trade: $873.3 million

Exports: $153.8 million; Imports: $719.5 million

Top Import: Medicine, at $534 million, up 164% since 2017

Source: World City

The Consul General of Spain, Cándido Creis Estrada, (left) with the former Mayor of Coral Gables, Don Slesnick

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FEBRUARY 13 - 17

DOWNTOWN MIAMI

ONE HERALD PLAZA

What $3.5 to $4 Million Will Buy in Coral Gables

Residential real estate in Coral Gables continues to be among the most valuable in South Florida, though it is currently something of a buyer’s market. According to Redfin, homes are currently selling for about six percent below list price, and according to Zillow, Gables home values have declined 1.6 percent over the past year. Having said that,

the median home value in Coral Gables, at $753,400, is still twice the median home value for Miami-Dade County as a whole. To see what $3.5 to $4 million would buy today, we asked three real estate agents to submit one of their homes for sale in that price range. Here is what they came up with, in different Gables locations.

In the Woods Near Fairchild

5577 ARBOR LANE

Listing Price

$3.5 million

6 bed/7 bath/2 half bath, pool, garage. 6,429 sq. ft. Located on a cul-de-sac in the Snapper Creek Lakes community, this expansive home on more than an acre has access to a private marina. With two working fireplaces, pool, three-car garage and separate wing with three bedrooms (each with its own bathroom), this 1998 home offers plenty of privacy – including an interior courtyard with fountain. Listing Agents: Lani Kahn Drody & Blair Sonville (Lowell International Realty) 305.520.5420

Open Access to the Bay

12950 NEVADA ST.

Listing Price

$3.95 million

7 bed/7 bath/2 half bath. 4,742 sq. ft.

A Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design on the water in gated Gables by the Sea. Just three minutes to the open bay, with 240 feet of water frontage, this home is built for a yacht owner. Plenty of light, and views of the water from almost every room. Two-car garage, almost new roof (2016). Listing Agents Hilda Jacobson & Stacey Margulies (Douglas Elliman Real Estate), 786.213.4511; 305.491.2376

Residential Real Estate

A SNAPSHOT OF THE GABLES HOME MARKET

Comparing the numbers from September, October and November of 2019 to the year before, the good news is that, while the inventory of single-family homes increased year over year, the amount of sales increased at a slightly higher rate – showing good demand. The median sale price for single family homes decreased by 11 percent, which shows buyers favoring the lower-priced inventory in the city. The condo market is meanwhile showing signs of improvement. Inventory decreased by 11 percent and sales were up slightly, so “the

numbers are heading in the right direction,” says Patrick O’Connell, senior VP of business development at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty. The five percent reduction in median price is not worrisome, he says, since this number can change quickly with the sale of a few luxury units.

“The real estate market in the City Beautiful tends to outperform other markets around the county, and I believe this will continue into 2020,” says O’Connell.

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Source for figures: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty

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PASCAL’S HAS BEEN ON PONCE FOR 19 YEARS. HERE’S WHY.

By Andrew Gayle

The only problem with perfecting a dish, says Chef Pascal Oudin, is that your clients will never let you take it off the menu. “When I took my lobster bisque off the regular menu, I practically had a riot on my hands, there was such a protest,” he says. But after a decade or so, sometimes you just have to change things up.

As it is, the menu at Pascal’s is neither fluid nor whimsical. It is a well thought out, discrete selection of classic French cuisine, each dish executed like a work of art. And, naturally, Pascal gives his own spin to the classics, like his olive and Dijon dusted rack of lamb or his beef filet served with onion marmalade.

For Pascal, his favorite entrée is the diver sea scallops topped with beef short rib. But for our party it was his crispy duck confit. Sliced duck breast is fairly standard for any French restaurant, but Pascal instead uses Moulard duck legs. He brines them, then immerses them in duck fat at 180 or 200 degrees for several hours, then chills them, then pan fries them to crisp up the skin. The result is a duck more delicious than any our party had previously tasted.

On the appetizer side, Pascal is equally adept. Here, it is all about the delicate dance of flavors that play off of each other. His terrine of duck foie gras, for example, is done country style, which means chunky, savory and salty, and is offset with an array of pickled eggplant, tiny green

beans, onion marmalade, and poached pear.

Among the appetizers or “first courses,” Pascal’s masterpiece is the Tomato “Tartin,” a sort of tomato tart that combines three preparations of skinless tomato – oven dried, oven roasted and pureed – which are then briefly baked together, placed on a crisp wafer, and served with sheep milk feta cheese, mustard crème fraîche and micro arugula. That the humble tomato should taste so good is almost sinful.

What makes dining at Pascal’s all the more enjoyable is the setting. The restaurant is elegantly demure: an intimate bistro setting, just a dozen tables and an old wooden bar, with quiet music and comfortable lighting. The walls are hung with some remarkable paintings, courtesy of Pascal’s friend Ramon Cernuda, proprietor of nearby Cernuda Arte (yes, that is a real Wifredo Lam, and that huge canvas is a César Santós). The staff, meanwhile, is perfectly attentive without being intrusive.

Many of his customers consider Pascal’s among the most romantic restaurants in the Gables; it is certainly somewhere to celebrate an anniversary, if not to propose. And, because it is for serious dining, Pascal’s is the kind of place where men wear jackets and women wear dresses. This is refreshing in a city where, in most restaurants, “formal” means a shirt that has a collar.

Perfection, naturally, does

ABOVE: A Pascal favorite, diver sea scallops with beef short ribs

OPPOSITE LEFT: Tomato “Tartin,” appetizer with sheep milk feta cheese and crème fraiche

OPPOSITE CENTER: Crispy duck confit using Moulard duck legs

OPPOSITE RIGHT: The chocolate soufflé with dark chocolate sauce

Chef Pascal Oudin opened Pascal’s on Ponce in 2000. Esquire magazine named it the ‘Best New Restaurant in America.’

not come cheap. First courses are around $20, and most entrees are just north of $40, though nothing goes wildly beyond that. The maestro does offer his patrons a complementary amuse bouche to start the journey of each meal. Ours was an exquisite duo: a prosciutto-wrapped heart of palm on a thin cracker with a sprig of spring lettuce on top, paired with a spoon of salmon tartar capped with a thin slice of radish. Like his other work, it was an artful presentation, with the light splash of palm heart offsetting the strong flavor of salmon – a complex melody of tastes, perfectly Pascal.

But what would an evening of fine French dining be without a superlative dessert, which in the case of Pascal would be one of his soufflés. Most popular is the chocolate, but we had the Grand Marnier, a muffin-shaped cloud of baked egg wonderfulness made creamy with a warm, sweet sabayon sauce that you pour onto it; an exquisite, light taste that stays with you long afterwards, making you feel like you’ve eaten very, very well.

January 2020

THE TOP RESTAURANTS IN CORAL GABLES

Coral Gables is a movable 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 and on the Giralda pedestrian plaza, but are also spread throughout the Gables. There are some good choices at the Shops at Merrick Park, and some hidden gems to be found 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 to go to a restaurant at 10 p.m. 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 top-flight, 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.

$ ............ 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

Bachour

World-renowned pastry chef Antonio Bachour opened his new bakery and restaurant back in Feb. 2019. The menu, on top of rows of fresh and decadent pastries, features eggs benedict, croissant French toast, guava and cheese pancakes, sandwiches and salads. $ - $$

2020 Salzedo St. 305.203.0552

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

Clutch Burger

Not your average burger. Most of the burgers hover around $20 because they’re made with quality Wagyu beef. They also specialize in fine wines and craft beers brewed here in Miami.  $$ 146 Giralda Ave. 305.400.8242

Copper 29

Mostly known for its happy hour, the Miracle Mile restaurant and bar also has a wide range of food options. We especially love the BBQ Chicken Flatbread and Pork Sliders. They also serve bottomless brunch all weekend that includes mimosas, wine, mojitos,

Bloody Marys and champagne. $

206 Miracle Mile 786.580.4689

Doc B’s Restaurant + Bar

Offering a no-veto menu, meaning there’s something for everyone, Doc B’s Restaurant + Bar serves craveable American fare dishes made from scratch daily, incorporating the highest quality ingredients. Offering brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour, signature dishes include the Wok Out Bowls, The Wedge Burger and “Hot” Chicken. $$

301 Miracle Mile 786.864.1220

Eating House

Groovy place with inventive everchanging 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

The Globe

The Globe is a Coral Gables icon, and one of the most pleasant, relaxed places to eat in the city – assuming you like a smart, Euro-style bistro. Decorated with classic paintings (and globes over their old-world bar), their Saturday night live jazz sessions offer the weekend’s coolest entertainment. The menu is a collection of mostly American dishes – salads, burgers, fish, etc. – that have been perfected over the years by owner Danny Guiteras. Best conch fritters anywhere. $-$$

377 Alhambra Circle 305.445.3555

Hillstone

Situated at the corner of Ponce de Leon and Miracle Mile, Hillstone has been a longtime staple in the Gables. Known for their steaks, like the Hawaiian, which is made with a pineapple-soy-ginger marinade. Though an American restaurant, they also have a great sushi bar and offer dozens of

fresh rolls. $$$

201 Miracle Mile 305.529.0141

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 flatbread menu is really a nice touch. It’s a chain, but we forgive them. $$

321 Miracle Mile 305.442.8552

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. $$$ 6915 Red Rd. 305.665.9661

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 coleslaw). $$-$$$ 301 Giralda Ave. 786.391.1566

The Local Craft Food & Drink

One of the best places in Coral Gables to enjoy locally sourced food, hence the name. Chef Juan Bedoya wants to create a pub feeling with comfort food. We’re obsessed with the fried chicken, which is served on a short stack of cheddar cheese pancakes with bourbon maple syrup. The flavor is enhanced by watermelon jelly on the side for a sweet, spicy bite. $$ 150 Giralda Ave. 305.648.5687

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

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

Izakaya

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

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 Kao Sushi come from Buenos Aires. Outdoor seating on the Mile. $$ 127 Miracle Mile 786.864.1212

Malakor Thai Isaan

This eatery on Miracle Mile prides itself on delivering true, tasty Thai food.

PALME D’OR

That means pork skewers with sticky rice, grilled fatty pork neck sliced and tossed with lime juice, or the Gang Aom, a Thai curry with fish sauce, dill and herb paste. $$

90 Miracle Mile 786.558.4862

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 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

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, now that we are experiencing cooler weather, they will soon expand their number of outdoor tables. $$ 317 Miracle Mile 305.446.2690

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 yakitori 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. 305.447.6555

FRENCH

Brasserie Central

Secretly owned by Pascal’s on 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

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

Palme d’Or

The award-winning Palme 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

Pascal’s On Ponce

Elegant, quaint and delicious, Pascal’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 foie gras. Try the diver sea scallops or the tomato tartin. $$$

2611 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.444.2024

ITALIAN Bugatti

Based on Ponce for several decades, Bugatti prides itself on its pasta. And for good reason, since the restaurant started as a pasta factory. The décor is simple and contemporary, with a good number of booths, while the service is crisp and superb. The dinner menu is straightforward, with pasta dishes mostly under $20 and entrees mostly under $30. We especially like the fact that they have as many dessert listings (12) as pasta choices. $$

2504 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.441.2545

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. He now has a new chef who hails from Tuscany, so the daily specials have a whole new spin. $$$

318 Aragon Ave. 305.441.0700

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. They are also big on Italian seafood, including a great clam and mussel dish which is worth the trip. $$-$$$ 45 Miracle Mile 305.442.4925

Fiola

Brought to you by Washington, D.C. chef Fabio Trabocchi, this new entry into the Gables dining scene is a game changer. From the place settings to the artwork to the innovative cuisine, Fiola offers an exquisite dining experience. Among their must-try dishes are the porcini mushroom soup, the sea scallops ceviche, and the signature lobster ravioli. Elegant presentations only add to this encounter with gustatory greatness. $$$$

1500 San Ignacio Ave. 305.912.2639

kitch e n&ba r

Fontana

The setting is as elegant as it comes: the Biltmore’s famed fountain courtyard. You can sit under the stars, in a covered archway, or inside to enjoy classic Italian dishes. 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

Forno’s

Owner Artan Kapxhiu opened this charming spot back in 2017. Forno’s serves pasta, but people come for the pizza, cooked in a wood-burning oven. From a simple margherita to a stacked pistachio, ham, cherry tomato and shaved grana Padano cheese pizza, there are no bad choices here.  $

1403 Sunset Dr. 305.661.3964

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

P. Pole Pizza

A fresh take on pizza, each pie is made

on the spot at this Miracle Mile pizzeria. At the start of the assembly line-like production, you choose the dough and sauce you want. Then choose as many toppings as you want before sending it into the miniature oven that cooks it right in front of your eyes. Great quality of dough, sauce and toppings. $

279 Miracle Mile 786.618.5287

Salumeria 104

A trattoria-style restaurant serving traditional, house made Italian classics. Since a salumeria is the Italian equivalent to a delicatessen, we definitely recommend some sort of meat dish, whether it’s prosciutto for an “antipasti” or porchetta for a “secondi.” Unbeatable lunch special of a sandwich and a soup or salad for $10. $-$$

117 Miracle Mile 305.640.5547

Terre Del Sapore

True Neapolitan pizza in the heart of Coral Gables. Owner Angelo Angiollieri is obsessed with quality ingredients, including minimally-processed flour from Italy, and you can taste it. Offers a great lunch special of a side salad, entrée and drink for $13. No better pizza anywhere. $ 246 Giralda Ave. 786.870.5955

Zucca

A worthy heir to the hallowed grounds of the old St. Michel restaurant, this is a 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

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

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 Le Jeune Rd. 305.446.5659

Caja Caliente

Opening its second location in Coral Gables in May 2019, Caja Caliente serves “the original Cuban tacos.” Their flour tortillas come stuffed with any kind of meat from lechon to mahi mahi, and are topped with pico de

gallo, aioli, beans and cilantro. Also serve poke and quinoa bowls. $ 808 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 786.431.1947

La Casita

Often overlooked in a region overrun with Cuban eateries, and not far from the top competition of Versailles, La Casita holds its own as a quiet, elegant place to enjoy classic Cuban dishes like vaca frita (the Monday lunch special!), ropa viejas and lechon asado. They also venture into Central American territory with an excellent churrasco skirt steak. And, surprising for Cuban restaurants where green is rarely seen, a fine selection of salads. $ 3805 SW 8th St. 305.448.8224

COYO Taco

Bringing its “Todo es Fresco” philosophy to the Gables, COYO opened its third location in Miami on Giralda Plaza in August 2019. Their guac and array of salsas can’t be beat and their tacos are mouthwatering – we love the Grouper Frito. Don’t forget to hit the speakeasy lounge in the back, open until 2 a.m. $ 126 Giralda Ave. 786.629.7929

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

DINING GUIDE

and pasta, empanadas and salads, but come here for the meat, the selection of which will stun even hardcore carnivores. $$$

394 Giralda Ave. 305.774.3599

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 (masas de Puerco). Large menu with all your Cuban favorite dishes along with – surprising for a Cuban place – some nice dinner salads. $$  4612 S. Le Jeune Rd. 305.661.2622

Mikuna Peruvian

“It’s time to feel the real Peru” boasts the Mikuna website, 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

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 flatbreads that are really haute tacos – are great at $17. $$ 2299 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.444.2955

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

MesaMar

Some of the best – if not THE best –seafood in the Gables with inventive fusions between Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. Their fish is caught daily in local waters and brought to your table for inspection. Their whole fried fish is a marvel. Also, make sure to try the lobster tacos. $$$

264 Giralda Ave. 305.640.8448

Sea Grill

Just a few months old, Sea Grill is already a popular weekend destination for lovers of Mediterranean seafood. A large,

brightly lit and futuristic space with lots of energy, it serves fish that is caught in the Aegean Sea and flown to the Gables. Their octopus, which takes two days to prepare, is simply the best. $$$ 4250 Salzedo St. 305.447.3990 (Shops at Merrick Park)

SPANISH

Bellmónt

Modern décor meets traditional Spanish dishes. Their house specialty is the roast suckling pig. If you want the whole pig ($230 for 4) you need to order four 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

Bulla Gastrobar

As valued for its cocktails as for its tapas, Bulla 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

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 on 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

Mara Basque Cuisine

If you have ever wanted to taste authentic Basque cuisine from northern Spain, this is your chance. Its entry into the scene on Giralda brings the best of Basque cooking: Cod prepared with Vizcaina sauce (made from red onions and choricero pepper), Iberian ham with eggs and potatoes, meatballs with tomato sauce and guindilla peppers, and beef oxtail stew. Many dishes served as tapas to be shared. $$$ - $$$$ 112 Giralda Ave. 305.504.9274

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. Their classic Caesar salad is still the best in town, and the jumbo shrimp cocktail is a house specialty. $$$

3101 Ponce de Leon Blvd. 305.446.1400

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

Morton’s The Steakhouse

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

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille

The latest entry among Coral Gables steak houses, Perry’s is a Texas chain that gets its beef from the heart of the Lone Star State. Great outdoor space with fire pit and a huge interior with its own lounge area piano bar. The entrees are all carefully concocted, including excellent reduction sauces for the finer cuts and their famous five-finger giant pork chop that is carved at the table and can easily feed two. $$$$

4251 Salzedo St. 786.703.9094

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

There is a reason that the tables at Ruth’s are typically full, even on weeknights. 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

PUBS, CAFES & MISC.

Crema Gourmet Espresso Bar

Though it’s named an espresso bar (and definitely try the coffee), Crema also has great food options for both breakfast and lunch. Start your day with a croissant breakfast sandwich or take a midday break with a soup, salad or sandwich. Satisfy your sweet tooth with their Nutella cheesecake. $ 169 Miracle Mile 786.360.4026

Fritz and Franz Bierhaus

Be transported from Coral Gables to Oktoberfest. Enjoy German comfort food like Weisswurst and Heringsschmaus. Naturally, you have to order a beer, but here you can have it served in a giant class boot. Proost.  $$

60 Merrick Way 305.774.1883

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

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

Pincho

One of the few places where you can get delicious food at a low price in the Gables, this homegrown chain (based here) combines Brazilian shish kabob (served in rice bowls or as wraps) with uniquely flavored hamburgers. A guilty pleasure for the well to do. $ 30 Giralda Ave. 305.446.5666

Someone’s Son

Brought to you by the same people as Threefold Café, Someone’s Son is shifting the focus away from breakfast and toward quality dinner entrées. The Gnudi is a must as a starter. For

an entrée, we recommend The Softy for carnivores and The Branzino for seafood lovers. A little off the beaten path but worth it. $ - $$ 800 Douglas Rd. Ste. 145 786.334.6374

The Seven Dials

Calling itself an “eclectic American gastropub,” Seven Dials is a fusion of American recipes with British culinary standards, with nice twists. The shepherd’s pie is made from lamb, the chicken breast is cooked with curry sauce. There is also a nice 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

Threefold Café

You have to love a place that is dedicated to breakfast all day. Who needs dinner when you can get shrimp tacos for breakfast, along with salmon scrambled eggs, chicken parma, and that Millenial favorite, smashed avocado toast? The brain child of Australian Nick Sharp, Threefold is also popular for Sunday brunch – partly because of nice outdoor seating on Giralda Plaza. And the coffee is some of the best around. $$ 141 Giralda Ave. 305.704.8007

Historic Mailboxes of the Gables

Sometimes beauty, like the devil, lies in the details. Coral Gables is replete with historic homes, and much of the loveliness of that rich heritage comes down to details of the home exteriors, things like iron work, win-

dow treatments, doorway design, and so forth. We recently asked local photographer Barbara Redondo to gather images of mailboxes in historic Gables homes. Here are some of her findings.