After 17 years, the Mandarin Oriental, Miami’s Asian-inspired restaurant, Azul, will be closing its doors on Friday.
Former Azul chef Clay Conley will return for the final dinner services at the end of this week, according to a press release. He served as an executive chef at Azul from 2005-2010, and in 2011, Conley opened the popular Buccan in Palm Beach.
The luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel, at 500 Brickell Key Drive, is also home to La Mar by Gaston Acurio, a Peruvian restaurant that opened in 2013. Swire Properties owns the 326-key hotel. It was built in 2000.
The Mandarin brand is expanding in South Florida. In Boca Raton, Penn-Florida Companies is developing the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences, an 85-unit condo and 164-room hotel. The project is part of Via Mizner, a mixed-use development with luxury apartments, retail, restaurants, a private club, gym and golf amenities.
The Residences will be one of three Mandarin-branded condo buildings in the U.S. and one of nine in the world. The hotel will be completed toward the end of 2019, and the Residences will follow a few months later in 2020. – Grace Guarnieri