Buon anniversario
Mother Wolf, FOUND anniversaries, Morningside listings, O, Miami, Anna Maria Island, Printemps New York, best Mother's Day reservations, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Roman holiday
Six months after debuting in the Design District, the dining room was packed on a recent Tuesday night at Mother Wolf, chef Evan Funke’s hit L.A. import. The ode to Roman cooking serves sumptuous pastas to a fashionable crowd.
The expansive, richly textured space is aglow with the soft light of Murano glass chandeliers, and rounded red velvet banquettes line the walls. We started with the signature focaccia, a gorgeous spongy round sprinkled with olive oil, sea salt, and wild oregano; fried squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano; and an arugula salad dressed simply with Parmesan, lemon, black pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. The hospitality was warm in the Italian fashion.
The hospitality’s as warm as the lighting, but also sharp — our waitress explained the menu with authority, later carefully plating the trio of pastas we ordered: two staples of Roman pasta, tonnarelli cacio e pepe and rigatoni all’amatriciana, and the Tuscan pappardelle al cinghiale. They were exceptional. We rounded out the meal with a crispy, thin-crust margherita pizza, but secondi options range from a 24-ounce Australian wagyu to swordfish puttanesca.
While I opted for a one-two punch of Champagne and a vodka martini, there’s a cocktail menu highlighting Italian spirits, liqueurs, and vermouths, as well as wine from across Italy. For dessert: creamy tiramisu and sweet little ciambellle fritti sugar donuts, served with blueberry preserves and crème fraiche panna cotta and just as addictive as the pasta. –Shayne Benowitz
→ Mother Wolf (Design District) • 3841 NE 2nd Ave • Daily 530-1030p • Reserve.
MIAMI RESTAURANT LINKS: Macchialina team opening wine market and pizzeria Bar Bucce in Little River on Monday • After 13 year run, South Beach’s Villa Azur has shuttered • Natural wine isn’t over.
WORK • About FOUND
Birthday party
Two years ago this week, we launched FOUND NY (04/18/23), and one year ago, we debuted FOUND SF (04/17/24) and FOUND Miami (04/18/24). Time flies when you’re building a global lifestyle media brand.
Building the way we do — send by send, city by city — requires diligence and patience. The road to media success is paved with well-intentioned enterprises that flame out in a six-month flurry of content creation, or worse, a sustained, venture-fueled spending binge.
So we’re celebrating the anniversaries, but just for a minute, because there’s much more to build even as we’re poised to cross 100K FOUND subscribers any moment now. Deeper coverage of our current markets? Definitely. New cities? Very likely. Heightened utility for all our subscribers? It’s why we get up every morning.
To make all this happen, we’ve got some immediate projects worthy of your attention:
With thanks to the thousands of you that are already paid FOUND subscribers, we’re adding new paid subscriber benefits as we turn two. First up: Quarterly Reports, punchy and actionable roundups of our top recommendations for Miami plus NYC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Paid subscribers will receive the inaugural Q1 ‘25 Quarterly Reports — perfect travel cheatsheets — for each of these locales this month, then add FOUND’s newest haunts, London and Paris, starting in Q2 ‘25.
We’re hiring sales people (full- and/or part-time). If you’re a creative seller with entrepreneurial instincts, especially if you have experience in luxury or real estate advertising, we’d love to chat.
Finally, we’re adding contributors with good taste and sharp pens in all of our markets. That’s NY, LA, SF, Miami, London, and Paris. Interested? Email us with a very quick pitch about the joy you’re going to bring to the FOUND universe.
Thanks for being part of FOUND: The Early Years. Keep sending us feedback and tips (found@itsfoundmiami.com). More good times ahead. –Josh & Lock
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in Morningside that came to market in the last 30 days.
→ 628 NE 59th St (Upper Morningside, above) • 4BR/3.1BA, 2672 SF house • Ask: $3.425M • renovated and ivy-adorned • Days on market: 3 • Annual taxes: $20,290 • Agent: Nancy Batchelor, Compass.
→ 545 NE 55th Ter (Morningside) • 4BR/4.2BA, 3741 SF house • Ask: $4.29M • new construction with summer kitchen • Days on market: 21 • Annual taxes: $47,740 • Agents: Danny Hertzberg & Hillary R Hertzberg, Coldwell Banker.
→ 510 NE 52nd St (Morningside) • 4BR/4.1BA, 3500 SF condo • Ask: $4.5M • new construction with 1230 SF of terraces • Days on market: 2 • Annual taxes: $10,194 • Agents: Ignacio Villanueva, Compass & Alexandra Stelling, LP Realty.
MIAMI WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Brickell residents lose fight to block 80-story new development by church • Exterior work nears completion at 33-story residence The Crosby at Miami Worldcenter • In tight labor market, ‘the idea of working with my dad is becoming way more appealing.’
CULTURE & LEISURE • Dark Matter
Tiffany Haddish • Lillian Wells Hall (Ft Lauderdale) • Sat @ 7p • orchestra L, $73 per
Khruangbin • FPL Solar Amphitheater (Bayfront Park) • Sat @ 730p, section 3, $276 per
Pearl Jam • Hard Rock Live (Davie) • Thu 04/24 @ 730p • section 115, $1128 per
WORK • Thursday Routine
Miami rhapsody
MELODY SANTIAGO CUMMINGS • executive director • O, Miami
Neighborhood you work in: Little River
Neighborhood you live in: Miami Shores
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
O, Miami recently moved into a bright, sunny new office space within the former Little River Post Office. It’s quickly become a joyful gathering place — not just for us, but for our wider network of teaching artists and collaborators. After nearly five years of working from home, I really value the energy of being in person with our team.
Our walls are lined with our Civic Publishing projects, Day-Glo posters, poetry street signs and poetry ephemera from the last 15 years of programming. It feels a little like walking into a living O, Miami archive. And this month, we’re especially excited to be installing a poem on the building’s facade in collaboration with our friends at Free Plastic. It’ll be an effective way to root our presence in the neighborhood and invite poetry into public space.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Right now, I’m in the thick of producing, attending, and celebrating the 14th annual O, Miami Poetry Festival, which runs from April 1-30. Our mission is to reach every single person in Miami-Dade County with a poem, and this year that means over 40 events and programs — from a poetry workshop in a cemetery, to prototyping a custom domino set, to hosting a photo zine-making session at the Miami Zine Fair or a Puerto Rican picnic at Roberto Clemente Park.
Any bar or restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
For happy hour, Offsite is a short walk from our office and I often drop in for a quick refueling. Come supper time, Recoveco in South Miami is my new favorite restaurant. It’s a casual, intimate setting of 34 seats. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. (I can’t wait to go back on April 29 for an exclusive O, Miami dining experience.)
How about a little leisure or culture?
At Frost Science’s planetarium, O, Miami debuted a new original pre-show animation UniVerse, which features original poems written by Miami-Dade students. I love Bookleggers library and their storytime on Saturdays. Browsing their endless stacks of books is a perfect way to spend a hot or rainy day indoors. For live music, it’s the Miami Beach Bandshell. I also like visiting Legion Park’s farmers market on Saturdays and Vizcaya Village on Sundays — the fresh tropical fruit juice from Clive is a must.
Any weekend getaways?
Just a few hours from Miami, Anna Maria Island is a serene, Old Florida beach community that’s a perfect weekend escape. While the island is still recovering from last year’s devastating hurricane season (the iconic pier remains closed for now), the community has rallied to bring it back to life. It’s best explored by bike or golf cart, allowing you to ride to the beaches, ice cream shops, and beachfront bars and restaurants. The sunsets are breathtaking, especially from places like The Sandbar or Beach House. For something casual, Poppo’s Taqueria is a go-to for fresh, quick tacos and burritos, or check out the Donut Experiment for customized, made-to-order donuts.
What was your last great vacation?
We always visit Cape Cod in the summer and I love spending time in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. My most memorable vacation was spent at The Cottages at Nantucket Boat Basin. This set of charming cottages and lofts have the best views of Nantucket Harbor overlooking the boats and gorgeous scenery. Dogs are very welcome and they provide the cutest pet accommodations with goodie baskets and special dog tags and treats.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Easy Peasy, an inclusive and welcoming tattoo shop and gathering space. Also, Rose Coloured Floral for fresh flowers, and Little River Cooperative for plants and garden service.
Where are you donating your time or money?
O, Miami of course, specifically investing and volunteering in our poetry in schools program, Sunroom. And again: Bookleggers, Miami’s first and only free bookstore. They’re expanding access to books and engaging the city through thoughtful and thematic popups. And Miami Freedom Project for Democracy, which advocates for climate, economic, health, immigrant and racial justice across our community. Co-founder Ana Sofia Pelaez is a force of nature.
GETAWAYS • New York City
Springtime in NYC
This post appeared in a recent issue of FOUND NY. Want more New York in your life? Subscribe to FOUND NY, with new issues dropping Tuesdays and Fridays.
Recently, the walls seemed to start whispering “Printemps” (in a sultry French accent, of course). The French luxury department store’s New York opening kept cropping up in conversations and publications, and all I could think was that their PR must be working overtime — and whatever they’re doing is working on me. Intrigued by the buzz, I made plans with a friend to visit the store.
Printemps occupies several floors of One Wall Street, an Art Deco skyscraper once the Irving Trust headquarters, now mostly luxury condos. With towering windows and architectural details, the building feels well-suited to the Printemps brand. Inside, shoppers can browse a wide range of high-end fashion, accessories, and beauty products, and pause for a glass of champagne and a bite (caviar, perhaps) at one of the elegant bars within the store.
In its communications, Printemps resists the department store label, preferring the term “project” to describe the opulent, multi-use space, complete with a food program led by Top Chef alum Gregory Gourdet. It’s a curious choice. To me, the idea of a new age of luxury department stores is what makes Printemps exciting.
Growing up, I romanticized stores like these in New York, though I’d missed their heyday. The Thoroughly Modern Millie soundtrack was my childhood obsession, sparking within me a fascination with the Roaring ’20s-era old-world glamour of Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys. Printemps feels like a revival of that legacy, merging French luxury with New York history. Elements of the original design have been preserved, such as the landmarked Red Room, home to breathtaking floor-to-ceiling mosaics.
Inside the Red Room, which now houses designer shoes, there was a clear divide between the champagne-sipping shoppers considering high heels and the eager tourists snapping photos. When the Red Room was the Irving Trust reception, only those of a certain class were privy to its grandeur; now, it’s open to all. This is the beauty of a luxury department store; it’s there for those who can afford to bring home a (soon-to-be iconic?) kelly-green Printemps shopping bag and those just there to wander and admire its splendor. –Phoebe Fry
→ Shop: Printemps (New York, NY) • 1 Wall St • Daily 10a-7p.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Sales launch for 1 Hotels-branded condos on Jupiter Island • Caribbean Airlines adding two more weekly MIA-POS (Trinidad) flights this summer • New airport bar at SXM (St Maarten) makes a mean ti’ punch.
ASK FOUND
First, a quick primer on how this works: You send us the pressing questions of the day (on dining, services, living in Miami and surrounds). We all put our heads together (us at FOUND, + you, FOUND subscribers, who are also FOUND) in search of truth and beauty.
Today, one FOUND subscriber PROMPT for which we seek intel:
What restaurant should we take our picky kids to that’s also somewhere I actually want to eat?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundmiami.com.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Brunch, Mother’s Day
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best in Miami and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundmiami.com.
Amal (Coconut Grove, above), Lebanese buffet brunch, fresh pastries, truffle rakakat, $55 per (optional bottomless mimosas $35), 11a-345p, reserve