Second act
Pasta, New World Symphony Gala, Partou Soleil, Baker’s Bay, The Lodge at Blue Sky, winter Fridays, Valentine's reservations, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Live action
The Skinny: Peruvian husband-and-wife chefs Juan Manuel Umbert and Janice Buraschi’s Pasta, which opened last October, is a second location of their popular Lima restaurant. The Wynwood spot features an extended bar that doubles as a chef’s counter, where you can witness their handiwork preparing a smartly edited menu of housemade pastas.
The Vibe: Umbert and Buraschi are gracious hosts, happily explaining their process as they go. If you’re not up for the show at the bar, the restaurant has plenty of traditional table seating in the airy, wood-clad, 77-seat dining room. A playful, everyone’s-family energy buzzes throughout.
The Food & Drink: Pasta highlights include agnolotti di funghi with butter and 36-month-aged parm and pappardelle with 15-hour braised beef cheek. There’s also a list of a half-dozen starters, like razor clams with nduja and salsa verde, and stracciatella with sourdough (an ideal one-two punch). The wine list is mostly Italian and accessible.
The Verdict: A boisterous neighborhood restaurant, equal parts entertainment and family dinner. –Matt Meltzer
→ Pasta (Wynwood) • 124 NW 28th St • Wed-Thur 530-10p, Fri-Sat 530-1030p, Sun 5-10p • Reserve.
MIAMI RESTAURANT LINKS: NYC import Le Grand Boucherie opens tomorrow in South of Fifth • Wynwood’s The Taco Stand comes to Miami Beach • Why après-ski, minus the skis, is everywhere.
CULTURE & LEISURE • FOUNDLISTING
New World Symphony’s Gala goes Hollywood
CELEBRATING THE MAESTRO OF THE MOVIES: Join Miami arts and business leaders in celebrating New World Symphony’s 37th Anniversary Gala alongside special guest John Williams, the visionary composer whose iconic film scores have defined magical moments in cinema.
“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes. There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.” –Steven Spielberg
Tickets for this black tie event start at $2,500 and support the future of classical music.
→ New World Symphony’s 37th Anniversary Gala (Miami Beach) • 500 17th St • Sat, 2/22, @ 6p [spon]
WORK • Thursday Routine
Part deux
ANDREA MARCUCCI • founder/designer • Partou Soleil
Neighborhood you work and live in: Belle Isle
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I work mostly from home, but I also find places to work on my laptop. I mix it up based on how far I like to drive. Sometimes, it’s the Four Seasons Surfside or just across the street from my home at The Standard. I usually organize lunch with other entrepreneurs who also work from home so we can break up the day and get engaged. We like to support new places, if possible, though we also have our usual spots — Pastis, Mandolin.
My womenswear resort line, Partou Soleil, is a play on words. Partou means “radiance” in Persian and “everywhere” in French, but it also refers to “part two” of my career, as I launched the brand in my mid-50s. Both invention and reinvention captivate me. With the specialty line of day-to-night robes, we don’t adhere to seasons; we drop limited edition prints and colors every couple of months. I make the robes from my factory in New York (they also produce for brands like The Row) and source them there, as well. It’s part of my sustainable model.
When I’m in New York, it’s super stressful and high energy getting all of the pieces together in about two weeks. When I return to Miami, I switch gears to marketing and sales.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’m recording conversations with women on their “part two” for my podcast, What Do You Believe? I want to have these conversations with women in the Miami community and beyond.
Any bar or restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I love to walk around my little hood — Sunset Harbour — because it’s a place where not a lot of tourists go. Beyond the neighborhood, recently, I’ve been frequenting Sunny’s, Boia De, The Plymouth Hotel, and La Natural. I love finding charming antiques at Casa Barcelona down the road from La Natural in Little River.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Faena for arts and culture and connecting with great people. I joined as a Rose member and it helped my perception of Miami tremendously. I joined The Cultivist recently, which, if you travel frequently, is a great way to catch interesting exhibits and studio visits.
Any weekend getaways?
I’m now obsessed with padel, but golf is my game. I play it a lot and love to head north for the weekend to Jupiter and Palm Beach to play with friends. It’s a great way to break up the week in Miami, and it’s close, two hours on the Brightline. It’s a completely different vibe. Another favorite getaway is Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas. My years spent there inspired me to begin my resort line — Partou Soleil is a love story to both the South of France and this unique part of the world I’ve been lucky enough to call home.
What was your last great vacation?
One of my favorite long getaways is the Splendido Hotel in Portofino, where I spent my birthday this past year. Singing with Vlad on the terrace is the best thing ever. I then toured around Tuscany for two weeks. The Reschio in Umbria is also an unforgettable experience.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Pucks
Islanders v Panthers • Amerant Bank Arena (Sunrise) • Sun @ 6p • section 118, $104 per
Nurse John • Olympia Theater (Downtown) • Sat @ 930p • GA, $79 per
Becky Robinson • Coral Springs City Center Theatre (Coral Springs) • Sun @ 7p • orchestra center, $70 per
WORK • Employee Benefits
Endless summer
Legend has it, there were no summer Fridays before Don Draper. Or, at least, his real-life 1960s ad agency counterparts, who (per the NYT) were so eager to be Hamptons-bound that they’d shut down the office by noon on Friday.
Other industries (even those nowhere near the East Coast) eventually followed, and a vague office tradition was born. By the time I entered the Indianapolis-area workforce in the ’90s, “summer Fridays” were listed as a perk in job listings for everything from drug company executive to insurance agent to orthodontic assistant (my then-career, long story).
During the tech booms, the pendulum eventually swung back toward the virtues of the non-stop grind, and calls, emails, and deliverables crept back on many warm-weather Friday calendars. The pandemic pushed it even further. What even was summer Friday if you never left your house in the first place? Besides, closing your laptop to doom scroll on your phone didn’t feel like much of a perk anymore.
But the pendulum may have finally swung back. Go to a gym, beach, or restaurant on any Friday, and you’ll see exactly how far. With fewer official Friday afternoons being freely given by their employers, many remote workers are reportedly taking them all. Slack from a 3p Friday yoga class? Don’t mind if I do.
This may be part of the inevitable March toward a four-day work week. Or maybe it’s just a little post-pandemic worker flex in response to benefits lost. There’s only one way to find out: make it official, and bring back that Draper-era summer Fridays spirit. –Eve Batey
MIAMI WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Condos to starting at $15 million at Zaha Hadid-designed The Delmore • Ken Griffin taps NYC developer Related to build 54-story Citadel HQ in Brickell • Amazon signs largest office lease in Wynwood history at Wynwood Plaza • Another new bathhouse, Grotto Social Baths, coming to Wynwood this fall • World’s first pickleball stadium opens in Fort Lauderdale • Birkin buyer confessions, part II.
GETAWAYS • Utah
Sky high
Blending alpine chalet charm with sleek minimalist design, The Lodge at Blue Sky is an elegant retreat on a 3,500-acre private ranch that’s a 45-minute drive from Salt Lake City’s airport. Though part of a larger hotel group (the Auberge Resorts Collection), the property exudes a warmth and intimacy — a reflection of the personal touch of its hands-on horse-loving owners, Mike and Barb Phillips. Their presence and care infuse the Lodge with a welcoming, home-like energy. It’s a place that feels personal, grounded, and deeply connected to its surroundings.
The low-slung, equestrian-themed retreat blends into its mountainous landscape, offering 46 rooms, suites, and houses, which come wrapped in honeyed blonde cedar wood accented with local stonework. Soaring floor-to-ceiling windows lead to private terraces that offer panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountains, some with fire pits (ideally deployed for the house-made s’mores kit). Minibars stocked with complimentary Ritual Chocolate, bath products infused with mineral-rich salts from the Great Salt Lake, and even Coterie diapers for unpotty-trained guests further sweeten the deal.
The hotel proper, with its main lodge and New American signature restaurant Yuta, claims a comparatively small footprint on the sprawling property. Panning out, there are horse stables (Barb rescues neglected horses and other animals), a sheepskin-adorned yurt equipped with lavender and wildflower honey-laced hot toddies (in partnership with The Macallan), a sporting clay range, and even acclaimed whiskey-maker High West Distillery.
Food is a major focus here, with produce, eggs, and more coming from its own nearby Gracie’s Farm. Last year, the team debuted WildKitchen, a seasonal, open-fire dining experience available from May through October. At the heart of this setup is a custom-built grill (available for home purchase) and oven designed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who featured an early version in his 2019 film The Gentlemen. The meal takes place under a tent about five minutes from the main lodge, where guests gather around a multifunctional dining table for an elevated twist on rustic live-fire cooking (like a souped-up take on Korean barbecue). There are also special events, like next month’s California kaiseki 12-course omakase with SingleThread Farms, visiting from Sonoma.
The resort also maintains an exclusive lounge at the base of the Silver Star chairlift at Park City Mountain, about a half-hour drive away. As an escape for skiers — or those simply seeking a peaceful mountain retreat — The Lodge at Blue Sky embodies the ultimate home-away-from-home destination. –Kat Odell
→ The Lodge at Blue Sky (Wanship, UT) • 27649 Old Lincoln Hwy • Rates from $2089/weekend night.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Chef Thomas Keller not rebooting Ta-boo in Palm Beach, but maybe opening restaurant in West Palm? • Update: Alila taking over Andaz Mayakoba after refresh • Four Seasons coming to Cartagena, plans midyear opening • Insider’s guide to the Austrian Alps • Venice in winter, with a poet as our guide.
ASK FOUND
Today, three FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we seek intel:
What new fitness/wellness trend/class are you taking on?
What’s your new winter bar?
Tell us a secret about your favorite ski mountain!
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundmiami.com.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Valentine’s Day, ticketed
Nine of the best Valentine’s Day reservations in the city. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundmiami.com.
Sexy Fish (Brickell, above), shared platter featuring Wagyu and lobster, dessert platter topped w/ candy apple, bottle of Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé, $250 per, reserve