Latest News Feed about V&E (Vida and Estilo) Restaurant Group.
No one does it better than Miami” and according to The Infatuation Virginia Otazzo: “… here are the ones you should be prioritizing”
The 18 spots list includes Havana 1957 Espanola Way, which the critic describes as: “…turns out that Havana 1957 isn’t just popular because of its location on Española Way—the food here is very good. Service is fast and personable ….. and the mojitos are refreshing…”
Read the Full List: https://www.theinfatuation.
News Cafe, the storied South Beach restaurant, bar, and newsstand that helped spur the neighborhood’s revival in the 1980s, has reopened at its original location after a pandemic-induced closure in early 2021. The newly refurbished restaurant, now operated by Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group, features an updated design and a Mediterranean-American menu that pays homage to its iconic past.
Founded by restaurateur Mark Soyka in 1989, News Cafe quickly became a fixture of the local Miami Beach community, attracting everyone from celebrities like Gianni Versace — who famously dined at News Cafe on the morning of his untimely death — to locals and tourists. For over 30 years, the restaurant remained open 24 hours, serving up to 5,000 guests daily.
“The News Cafe was essential to South Beach,” said Jamil Dib, founder, and co-owner of Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group. “If you visited without going to News Cafe, you didn’t experience the real South Beach. We have the honor of restoring the restaurant and therefore a responsibility to its legacy, which we are confident the new concept will pay homage to what it was.”
For this venture, Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group partnered with developers Goldman Properties, also known for helping drive the South Beach renaissance of the ‘90s. Its late founder Tony Goldman renovated several Art Deco and neighborhood properties over the years, including The Tony Hotel. Goldman Properties acquired the News Cafe brand in 2021 and is partnering with Vida & Estilo for the reopening.
The new menu, created by chef Henry Hane of B Bistro, features updated takes on classic News Cafe dishes like Tony’s tomato soup, tuna melt, Aegean-Mediterranean plate, and eggs Benedict, alongside new offerings like pina colada pancakes with grilled pineapple and coconut syrup, and a burger with red wine demi sauce, smoked gouda, and caramelized onions. The extensive beverage list includes iced and frozen cocktails, still and sparkling wines, and a variety of beers.
Despite the updates, the News Cafe retains much of its original charm. The same green awning with its iconic “News Cafe” logo welcomes guests into the restaurant, while the namesake newsstand offers a selection of local, national, and international papers. Framed portraits of ‘90s icons like Versace and Tony Goldman adorn the walls, along with vintage images of News Cafe’s early years.
South Florida residents who miss reading a newspaper while enjoying breakfast and a cup of coffee on the sidewalk outside News Cafe can do so once again.
The longtime South Beach sidewalk café and bar — known for helping to revitalize the area in the 1980s — officially reopened this week in its original location at the Tony Hotel South Beach after being closed for just over two years.
According to Jamil Dib, founder, and co-owner of Vida & Estilo — the restaurant group that now owns and operates News Cafe as well as Miami concepts Barsecco, Havana 1957, Cafe Americano, Paperfish, Marabú, and Oh Mexico — the goal was to breathe new life into the establishment while preserving the key elements that made it a Miami Beach mainstay.
“We had the honor of restoring the restaurant, and therefore a responsibility to its legacy, which we are confident the new concept pays homage to,” says Dib. “This project is about Miami Beach and Ocean Drive, and part of our mission is to offer places that create and foster community, just as News Cafe did all these years.”
The brainchild of restaurateur Mark Soyka, News Cafe opened in 1988 after relocating to South Florida from New York with friend and real estate developer Tony Goldman, founder of Goldman Properties.
Located at the corner of Eighth Street and Ocean Drive, it was one of the only restaurants in the Art Deco district at the time. The restaurant was part of a portfolio of Art Deco hotels and properties Goldman redeveloped to attract businesses to the neighborhood, a movement that helped to build the Ocean Drive we know today.
For nearly three decades, the 350-seat restaurant was a go-to destination for locals and tourists, including Gianni Versace, the Miami Beach resident who visited the restaurant daily.
Open 24 hours, it was known to serve up to five thousand patrons a day before it abruptly closed in January 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The property shuttered for 18 months before undergoing an extensive overhaul of the hotel rooms and rooftop pool.
In March 2022, Miamians rejoiced when news broke that News Cafe would reopen in the same space on the ground floor of the newly renamed Tony Hotel South Beach.
To bring the establishment into its latest incarnation, Dib said it was important to honor the essence of Soyka and Goldman’s original vision.
Although the beloved South Beach establishment now boasts an elevated design and revamped Mediterranean-American menu, longtime customers will still be able to find several familiar elements, Dib tells New Times.
“You’re going to feel like you’re in New York — that ambiance Soyka and Goldman originally envisioned — and you’re going to feel like it’s still News Cafe, but with a few tweaks,” Dib says.
Take the stain on the wall, a vestige of water damage from Hurricane Andrew, a poignant moment the new owner decided to leave untouched.
There’s also a bowl of tomatoes at the restaurant entrance, inspired by an old photograph. Those who visited the café during its early years might remember a similar one filled with the former owners’ favorite variety, said to be displayed daily.
Diners can even sit at marble tables beneath the familiar green awning that shaded sidewalk-dining patrons since the ’80s. The bar looks just as it did for the past few decades, now with fancy red barstools.
And, of course, the namesake newsstand — today dubbed the “Fashion Corner” — populated with News Cafe-branded souvenirs and the familiar selection of local, national, and international newspapers and magazines meant to be purchased by diners to read over a cup of coffee or a meal.
News Cafe has a few upgrades, most notably the QR-coded wall décor that tells the story of News Cafe and Miami Beach through the decades via vintage images from the restaurant’s inception to the present day, along with framed portraits of ’90s icons who frequented the establishment.
And when it comes to food, expect longtime favorites with a variety of modern items, adds Dib, who researched to determine the restaurant’s best-sellers.
With the goal to once again open 24 hours a day, News Cafe will open from 8 a.m. to midnight daily, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
A nod to the original menu will offer dishes conceived by chef Henry Hané, founder of Brickell’s B Bistro, who remembers dining at the restaurant with his family every Friday growing up.
That means you can find his take on the original salmon omelet, Tony’s tomato soup, tuna melt, an Aegean-Mediterranean plate, and eggs Benedict while new additions bring a modern touch, from the piña colada pancakes with grilled pineapple and coconut syrup to a burger topped with a red wine demi sauce, smoked gouda, and caramelized onions.
An extensive beverage menu still offers shaken and frozen drinks, classics like piña coladas and daiquiris, alongside all-new cocktails, zero-proof libations, and creative coffee-based beverages.
The best part: many will be served in the old souvenir-style Hurricane glass sourced from the restaurant’s original manufacturer, allowing guests to take home a spirited keepsake of both the old and “new” News Cafe.
“This project wasn’t just to bring back a piece of history,” sums up Dib. “We feel like it will also be a game changer, the signal that sends a message that Ocean Drive can be a cool place to hang out again. We have a few more surprises planned for the area, and it’s our goal to create what we think of as a new American Riviera.”
BY CONNIE OGLE
Mar 6, 2023
In the days before the tourists returned, before we danced all night at cavernous clubs there, before the huge food festival and Art Basel, South Beach was the News Café. The oceanfront restaurant, which opened in 1988, was one of the only dining outposts in the Art Deco District. Miami Beach was more shabby than chic then, not much of a draw for tourists because few dared to visit. But the breezy outdoor patio drew locals — including designer Gianni Versace, who lived right down the street — ordering coffee, croissants and the daily newspaper, available on newsprint and not a screen. Now, the most iconic restaurant on Ocean Drive has reopened for business in the exact same location — and with its signature green awning and logo — just in time for the busy spring break season.
The News Café is located on the ground floor of The Tony Hotel, one of the properties developed by the late Tony Goldman, who was also instrumental in the rise of Wynwood’s art district. The restaurant was the creation of restaurateur Mark Soyka, also responsible for Soyka, one of the first notable restaurants along the Biscayne Boulevard corridor near Miami’s Morningside neighborhood. As the allure of South Beach grew, the tourists discovered the News Café, but eventually the restaurant closed in January 2021. Now, Goldman Properties owns the brand and will operate the location with Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group, which just opened its third Oh! Mexico location next door.
In a statement, the group praised the significance of the original restaurant. “The
News Café was essential to South Beach,” said Jamil Dib, founder and co-owner of Vida & Estilo. “If you visited without going to the News Café, you didn’t experience the real South Beach.”
To celebrate after 25 years in Miami Beach, Oh! Mexico has launched La Vieja Margarita – Silver Edition.
And according to Forbes contributor, Miami-based food and cocktail writer Amber Bond, it is a go-to spot to celebrate on National Margarita Day.
See the list with the 11 spots. LINK to FORBES.
According to “the trusted voice of the local food movement,” Edible South Florida, there is a list of places in Miami to watch the Kansas City Chiefs vs the Philadelphia Eagles: Marabu at Brickell City Center with Cuban beers Happy Hours and the famous Cuban burger is a go-to Sunday 12th. Take a look at the full list, here
Marabu-Cuban-Burger
Miami Herald says loud and clear “there ’s a new reason to go to Española Way, and it involves sushi (and mojitos)”
With the Title: “Japanese mojitos under the cherry blossoms: New sushi spot lights up Miami Beach”
Read via NewsBreak HERE
This Miami Beach restaurant was named one of the best in Florida. Locals don’t know it
In the words of VE CEO Matias Pesce:
“The very first VE restaurant opened on Espanola Way and now, 25 years later we have not three, but four full-service operations,” said CEO Matias Pesce. “As a two-time winner of Miami New Time’s Best Japanese Restaurant, we couldn’t be more excited to bring the popular Paperfish Sushi concept to this iconic, pedestrian street.”
Where: 432 Española Way, Miami Beach
Hours: 4 p.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday
Reservations and information: paperfishsushi.com or 305-686-0579
Multi-concept operator says restaurants can take steps to succeed*
As inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages continue, restaurant operators might find that these challenging times can inspire innovation. By developing new menu items, partnering with vendors, and looking for efficiencies, food service establishments can do more than just survive in the current environment. They can improve profitability while also offering guests a high-quality experience.
Rising costs are on everyone’s mind these days. “The reality is that inflation has eroded a significant portion of the wage increases that were gained post-pandemic,” says Matías Pesce, CEO of Miami-based V&E Restaurant Group. “We do our best to be in touch with consumer behavior adjustments.”
Menu engineering
One adaptation is that consumers still want to dine out, but now they are looking for value. For V&E Restaurant Group, which owns and operates 20 restaurants and 1 hotel in Miami and Las Vegas, that presented an opportunity to develop new menu items that offer a quality-oriented experience at an affordable price.
At Mercato Della Pescheria, the $24 Lunch Special is a three-course meal that includes selections among all-time favorites such as Salmon Tartar, Jumbo Shrimp Scampi, Italian Pork and Beef Meatballs, and Fresh Florida Key Lime Pie for dessert. The Italian seafood concept sells over 30 of these specials daily.
At Marabu, recent introductions include the $18 Cuban Bowls, served with white rice, black beans and sweet plantains with Roasted Chicken, Ropa Vieja or Lechon Asado. The Coal-Fired Cuban Cuisine concept sells about 40 of these a day.
Pesce says these innovative menu items had strong sales because they feature on-trend ingredients, and answer consumer demands. “We must be responsive in our offerings to match affordability, taste, proper portion, and be disciplined with our costs to make it work for everyone,” he says.
Offsetting increased costs
The challenge is that costs have been rising lately. One solution has been to reduce the complexity of core menu items. Having everybody on board, from kitchen staff to food vendors, is crucial. V&E’s corporate chefs can rapidly react to ingredient shortages without impacting the quality of the menu and offerings.
The purchasing area also plays an important role. The culinary team works closely with suppliers to find solutions for day-to-day operations. “Partnerships with key vendors have been instrumental,” Pesce says.
Supply chain constraints have posed a big challenge in foodservice post-pandemic. Sometimes ingredient substitutions have higher price points, and the establishment must battle higher-than-expected costs. The options are limited as the culinary team does not want to sacrifice flavor for value.
To overcome this challenge, V&E Restaurant Group partners with vendors to identify three pre-determined substitutes that are approved by the culinary team. For large distributors, the group developed a list of Top 86 items—with the 86 referring to the food service term for “unavailable”—and performs a weekly analysis that helps the team anticipate shortages and immediate substitutions.
Cutting costs, raising prices
Cutting costs is an ongoing, week-to-week challenge for V&E Restaurant Group and for the industry. The team monitors activity every week to ensure vendors are delivering on their promises, and compares vendor prices for the best deal that does not compromise quality and yield. The group leverages its size to the best extent possible, and seeks continuous improvements using technology both at the corporate office and restaurant locations.
“It has been said, a restaurant can die of a thousand cuts,” says Albert Llodra, CFO of V&E Restaurant Group. “We don’t get tired of reviewing those thousand ways to get cut.”
As ingredient prices continue to rise, cutting costs is not enough to improve profitability. Commodity prices have increased 14% to 15% and wages increased around 5%, so the restaurants are forced to pass along some of those costs by raising prices once each year, or more if there are drastic increases.
After an increase in menu prices, the restaurants monitor traffic counts to understand the impact on guests. Fortunately, the restaurants are located primarily in tourist locations. “That helps us to an extent as consumers are prepared to spend more when traveling,” Pesce says. “We don’t take that for granted.”
One of the keys to success at V&E Restaurant Group is to be mindful of guests and their expectations, and to offer menu items that match the concept and are trendy and innovative. “We anticipate the customer needs, understand our guest personas and the reason why they visit,” Pesce says. “We provide them with a memorable experience and not only food.”
Trip101 is an online travel guide that highlights the best accommodations thru hotels, vacation rentals & things to do around the world featuring top cities like Miami.
Sarah Eunice Lara, a creative travel writer, has recently compiled a list via Trip101 with the Best 9 Hotels with private pools recommended for travelers: ”Sometimes, a chill day by the hotel pool can be just what the doctor ordered. If a slow day is more your style…” – Sarah wrote.
#1 on the list is Hotel Breakwater, home of our Cuban Cuisine Havana 1957 South Beach with notes of uniqueness as described by the author: “For freshly cooked meals, you may visit the on-site Havana 1957 to relish some authentic Cuban dishes”
Havana 1957 Breakwater has recently been listed under the Best Sandwiches of America via Restaurant Hospitality, thanks to El guapo aka the Handsome sandwich created by Chef Yunior Perez.
El Guapo Aka The Handsome
From Nightlife to Food, Drinks, sightseeing, tours & itineraries, travelers can also search for all sort of lodging recommendations, powered by booking.com
HERE is the Full List wit the Best 9 Hotels Private Pools
Latin influence, vegetables and handheld versions of traditional dishes show operators’ creativity.
Sandwiches — convenient, versatile and usually affordable — remain a staple of the American diet, and Restaurant Hospitality’s Best Sandwiches competition remains a popular attraction, drawing some of the smartest independent restaurant operators who in turn provide inspiration for the industry as a whole.
As RH’s editors pored over the entries this year, we spotted a few notable trends. For one thing, vegetables are taking center stage with numerous handhelds, such as the char-grilled broccolini sandwich at Heritage in Long Beach, Calif., which offers its customers a meatless version of the classic Reuben, or the hash grilled cheese at Brekkie Shack in Columbus, Ohio, where a blend of sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, asparagus and radishes are at the heart of the sandwich.
Then there are the mashups, like the candied bacon tomato grilled cheese sandwich at Daddy Mac’s Down Home in Asheville, N.C., which has elements of a BLT and a Caprese salad, and the antipasto sandwich at Big Parm in Tustin, Calif., which as the name implies is a platter’s worth of Italian meat, cheese and vegetables on a roll.
Elegance — creating delicious meals but with restraint — are on display with The Glendale at Breadlam in Los Angeles, and with the subtle chicken club croissant at District South Kitchen & Craft in Tampa, Fla.
There’s plenty of Latino influence on sandwiches these days, such as the Torta Ahogada at MX Taco in Orlando., Fla., where the sandwich is literally drowned (ahogada in Spanish) in spicy tomato sauce, or the barbacoa melt at Toasted, also in Orlando.
At Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine in Miami, the El Guapo, which means “the handsome,” is a striking Cubano-style sandwich, but with the Brazilian beef cut picanha.
Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine
Miami Beach, Fl
Price: $19.57
Ingredients: Roasted picanha beef, cream cheese chimichurri sauce, guacamole and roasted tomatoes pressed in Cuban bread topped with butter
Creator: Yunior Perez
Description: The picanha is the juicy cap of meat on a beef sirloin that is a popular cut in churrasco cooking. Here it’s used as the heart of this handsome and hearty sandwich, where it’s paired with its natural condiment, chimichurri, but enhanced with cream cheese as well as guacamole. Roasted tomatoes round out this South Florida Cubano-style sandwich that reflects flavors from different parts of Latin America.
Read on to learn more about this year’s winners of the Best Sandwiches competition, including one based on chicken and waffle, a crispy pork sandwich and a zippy porchetta.
