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The Delano Miami Beach is officially back in the restaurant business and it’s doing it with truffle soy butter, Bellinis and one of the coldest Martinis on Earth.
As the iconic South Beach hotel prepares to fully reopen, it has debuted an entirely new food-and-drink lineup inside the property, anchored by two splashy new restaurants from Paris Society, the hospitality group behind hotspots in Paris, Dubai and Saint-Tropez.
The biggest headline: Miami is now home to the first U.S. locations of both Gigi Rigolatto and Mimi Kakushi.
Gigi Rigolatto, which opened to the public on May 7, takes over a huge swath of the Delano’s ground floor and pool area, bringing a kind of stylish Italian Riviera fantasy to South Beach in the form of yellow Siena marble, beach cabanas, Bellinis and vibes that may have you wanting to don your finest linen pants.
The restaurant already has locations in places like Paris, Dubai and Bodrum, but Miami’s version is solely focused on the Italian daydream theme: the menu includes handmade pastas, grilled octopus, Wagyu beef, giant prawns and a pistachio gelato that became so popular in Dubai that it’s now a permanent signature across every Gigi worldwide.
Mimi Kakushi, the hotel’s much moodier Japanese-inspired restaurant upstairs on the fourth floor, opened on May 1, inspired by 1920s Osaka jazz culture with an immersive Art Deco aesthetic.
There, the menu swings between luxurious and slightly chaotic. Gyoza is filled with Wagyu and foie gras, tuna tartare comes with caviar and miso black cod and bone marrow with beef tartare all make appearances. The drinks are equally theatrical. One signature Martini—the Nara Nara—is served inside a block of ice at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, which the team claims makes it one of the coldest martinis in the world.
The hotel also brought back the legendary Rose Bar, now redesigned with velvet seating, burgundy marble and delicious cocktails. Meanwhile, Café Delano rounds things out with espresso, pastries and a more relaxed European café setup.
Basically, the Delano isn’t quietly reopening. It’s reopening like it fully expects you to stay out way too late.