Owned by entrepreneur and restaurateur Mathieu Massa, the spot formally opens on Thursday, February 9.
“This space has a soul,” Massa – who notably owns and operates El Tucán – tells New Times. “Before me, the seller, who had owned the property for more than thirty years, referred to the property as she. And, let me tell you, she has a magnetic energy with so much going for it.”
According to Massa, he went below contract for the Fifth Street staple in November 2019. The historical past of the house – the location of shoots for music movies and album covers by the likes of U2, Madonna, and Jennifer Lopez – initially drew Massa to the house in addition to its open format by which he says, “there are no columns anywhere.”
Faced with the pandemic shortly after buying the constructing, Massa cast forward. He says probably the most troublesome elements in morphing the house had been the preservation parts, which embrace its unique crown molding motifs, railings, and extra. Today – after a $40 million redevelopment – the house shines from its gold-door façade and properly past.
Visual elements embrace a black and white mural in its entrance by Miami artist Gonzalo Fuenmayor, a Salon lounge decked out in Lobmeyr chandeliers, and a grandiose eating room, which incorporates mezzanine flooring and a VIP lounge.
The focus of the eating room is its kitchen with wanting glass home windows, the place morsels from chief culinary officer Julien Jouhannaud and govt chef Mitchell Hesse are concocted. Jouhannaud has overseen plenty of Michelin-starred operations, notably Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse à l’Hôtel de Paris in Monaco, and Hesse had held top-chef roles at Cote, Novikov, and Zuma. Massa says, “with chefs Julien and Mitchell, I have surrounded myself with the best chefs and the best staff in the world.”
The menu contains uncooked bar objects, sushi, sea and land choices (together with chipotle miso lamb chops and a 14-ounce Wagyu beef ribeye with wasabi chimichurri) and a particular “Butcher Reserve” menu spanning the reduce spectrum, from a skirt choice to a 42-ounce Japanese A5 bone-in ribeye. There’s an “omakase counter” on the second flooring, overlooking the primary eating room.
In complete, the restaurant and lounge house seats 350 and may maintain as much as 780 for standing occasions. On that observe, Massa hopes for the bedazzled Queen to function a multifaceted hotspot for company occasions, trend exhibits, and main Miami occasions throughout its reign.
Queen Miami Beach. 550 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; Tuesday via Saturday from 6 p.m. till late; queenmiamibeach.com. Opens on February 9.