Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com
For restaurants, 2021 has brought some degree of hope. As workers and diners get vaccinated, restaurant dining rooms are beginning to more closely resemble pre-pandemic scenes. But the costs of 2020 linger. Many restaurants are struggling to hire staff. Months worth of deferred rent payments now due could push more to close for good; scores of restaurants already have. And then there’s Major Food Group, the powerhouse restaurant group that’s on an expansion tear.
Over the past four months, while restaurants all over the country have slowly attempted to regain their footing, MFG has opened four restaurants and announced plans for several more. The New York City-based group, founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick, kicked off the year by opening a new location of Carbone, its Italian-American celebrity magnet, in Miami’s South Beach at the end of January. Just a few months later, in April, it opened ZZ’s Sushi Bar, a hybr
Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images
Winter is always high season in Miami. But this year, the combination of loose restrictions in Florida, tight restrictions elsewhere, great weather, a rise in domestic travel, and pent up demand has led to a major boom in the hospitality industry, or what Eater Miami editor Olee Fowler is calling “our season on steroids.”
Eater’s Digest podcast, we talk to Fowler about the influx of big name players to Miami right now and what it means for the longterm future of the local culinary industry.
Then we talk to restaurateur Simon Kim about opening the Miami location of his hit New York City steakhouse Cote during the pandemic and what it’s been like to operate in two cities that approach pandemic regulations in wildly different ways. “It’s like basically having one foot in a piping hot water and having another foot on an ice block, almost like liquid nitrogen,” he says.
These Are the Innovative Restaurant Ideas the Friends of Eater Hope Will Continue in 2021
Not everything that emerged from 2020 was bad
Share this story
Photo by Mairo Cinquetti/NurPhoto via Getty Images
As we (finally!) put a cap on 2020, Eater surveyed a group of friends, writers, and all around experts for their take on the past year. We asked them ten questions: from top standbys to top newcomers, from best meals to restaurants they’ve broken up with. All will be answered by the time we turn off the lights at the end of the 2020. Responses are related in no particular order; all are cut, pasted, and (mostly) unedited herein. Responses do not necessarily reflect the views of Eater and Eater Miami.
Ortanique and Balloo Were 2020 Saddest Restaurant Closures
Friends of Eater Miami share what restaurants they’ll miss the most
Share this story
As we (finally!) put a cap on 2020, Eater surveyed a group of friends, writers, and all around experts for their take on the past year. We asked them ten questions: from top standbys to top newcomers, from best meals to restaurants they’ve broken up with. All will be answered by the time we turn off the lights at the end of the 2020. Responses are related in no particular order; all are cut, pasted, and (mostly) unedited herein. Responses do not necessarily reflect the views of Eater and Eater Miami.
Friends of Eater Miami Share Where The Restaurant Industry Should Go Next As It Rebuilds
Smaller restaurants, livable wages, and community focused
Share this story
As we (finally!) put a cap on 2020, Eater surveyed a group of friends, writers, and all around experts for their take on the past year. We asked them ten questions: from top standbys to top newcomers, from best meals to restaurants they’ve broken up with. All will be answered by the time we turn off the lights at the end of the 2020. Responses are related in no particular order; all are cut, pasted, and (mostly) unedited herein. Responses do not necessarily reflect the views of Eater and Eater Miami.