The First U.S. Espresso Martini Festival Starts Today

Plus, Danny Meyer closes some restaurants and piano bars are back

Melissa McCart

May 16, 2022

New York, Miami, and a handful of other U.S. cities will kick off Monday with the first Espresso Martini Festival hosted by Mr. Black Roasters & Distillers. The festival, starting Monday, May 16 through Sunday, May 22, includes a roster of bars in each city — such as these in NYC and these in Miami. It’s an extension of the first Mr. Black festival in Australia in 2016, which expanded to London in 2018, and to the U.S. for the first time this year. Other participating cities include Chicago, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Houston.

The company was founded in 2013 by distiller Philip Moore and coffee-geek Tom Baker. The two shared a common belief that coffee (when done well) is delicious. drinking is a lot of fun, and we should put those two things together more often, according to the website.

Danny Meyer Closes 2 D.C. Restaurants

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Eater D.C. reports that Danny Meyer and Union Square Hospitality Group will be closing Maialino Mare, and the rooftop bar, Anchovy Social, in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard next month after a two-year run. The sibling to New York’s Maialino and its rooftop bar will close June 5, and, according to a spokesperson, it’s “due to a pending transfer of the Thompson Washington D.C. hotel lease” and “not related to the pandemic.” The Manhattan Maialino in Gramercy Park Hotel is closed and has remained so through the pandemic.

Mark Your Calendars for the Next Michelin Reveal

Florida’s Michelin stars will be announced on June 9 at 6:30 p.m., according to the Miami Herald. It’s the first time Michelin Guide will rate Florida restaurants. Tourism group Visit Florida made the announcement in November about the guide’s expansion to the state; it partnered with tourism boards in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa to broker the deal and agreed to pay “as much as $1.5 million over the next three years” to put together the Florida guide, according to the Herald. Read what Miami restaurants should be on the radar, below.

Broken Palate

Michelin Is Coming to Miami

For decades, people have flocked to Miami and Miami Beach (two distinctly separate cities) for warm weather, neon-tinged nightlife, and aquamarine waters. It’s only recently — maybe the last eight years or so — that Miami has become a culinary destination. Local chefs have put their hearts and souls into making intimate eateries that speak of their roots. The restaurants on this list may not be the most obvious or splashy. You might not see a celebrity dining next to you. What you will get, however, is a meal made by a passionate chef in their prime…

2 years ago · 3 likes · Laine Doss

The Piano Bar Is Back

Lest you thought the piano bar had faded into dueling piano chain in tourist centers everywhere, the piano bar is back in New York, according to the New York Times. “Some of the bars are completely immersive, with singing waiters, bartenders, and performers taking requests in exchange for tips, while others are more restrained, with lone pianists playing arrangements of songs from their own playlists.”

Matthew Kenney is Partnering on a Plant-Based Pub Near Fenway Park

Fans of baseball and plant-based food will find a new haven when PlantPub opens later this spring in the former Boston Beer Works building. The restaurant will open in the shadows of Fenway Park in the next few weeks. This is the second location of PlantPub, which offers plant-based pub grub, with the flagship opening in Cambridge, Massachusetts in fall 2021. The restaurant, a collaboration between chef Mary Dumont and entrepreneur Pat McAuley. has partnered with MKC, the vegan lifestyle brand founded by chef and author Matthew Kenney. PlantPub offers plant-based versions of favorites like wings, pizza, and bowls and will boast over two dozen craft beers on tap.

Carbone’s Major Food Group is Opening a Members-Only Restaurant in New York

Trout roe at ZZ’s Club Photo by World Red Eye

In a short time, New York City-based Major Food Group has opened several of its ventures in Miami including Carbone, Sadelle’s, and a steakhouse hybrid of its Dirty French bistro. In a reverse twist of fate, the trio — comprised of partners Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi — is opening a version of its Miami-based ZZ’s Club in New York City’s Hudson Yards, according to the New York Times. The Miami version, located in the city’s tony Design District, is a two-story restaurant that offers upscale sushi and cocktails. The New York location will build on that concept, adding a private version of Carbone to the mix.