The Weekly Dish: Brickell City Centre’s Italian food hall is finally opening & more

LIV nightclub owner David Grutman is opening a donut shop and plant-based restaurant

Renderings of La Centrale, Matthias Kiehm and Jacopo Giustiniani
Renderings of La Centrale, Matthias Kiehm and Jacopo Giustiniani

UPDATED Feb. 9, 1:45 p.m.

La Centrale | Brickell

The three-story Italian food hall at Brickell City Centre is finally set to open Feb. 16, more than a year after the Shops at Brickell City Centre were completed.

In all, the 40,000-square-foot space on the northeast end of the mall at 701 South Miami Avenue will have 14 restaurants, five bars, a cooking school, retail space, a wine store and more than 1,000 specialty products. It marks the largest new food hall to open in Miami. It was designed by Urban Robot Associates.

La Centrale eventually plans to expand to cities like Atlanta and Boston.

Happy Place Donuts | Miami Beach

LIV nightclub owner David Grutman is jumping into the craft donut craze. Grutman, a partner in OTL in the Miami Design District, is partnering with Sugar Factory founder Charissa Davidovici to launch Happy Place Donuts.

The 4,000-square-foot café and shop, a collaboration between the Miami nightlife king and Sugar Factory founder Charissa Davidovici, is expected to open on Miami Beach’s Española Way this March. It will share space with Sugar Factory’s upcoming Gummy World, according to the Miami New Times.

Planta | Miami Beach

Grutman is also partnering with the Toronto plant-based restaurant, Planta, to open a location in Miami Beach. The restaurant, at 850 Commerce Street, is the first one in the U.S. for Planta. It will open Feb. 23, according to a press release.

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Executive chef David Lee will helm the kitchen. The space will seat 200 with two indoor dining rooms and an outdoor terrace.

Pubbelly Sushi | Aventura

Pubbelly is onto its fifth restaurant. The sushi restaurant is opening at Aventura Mall’s new three-story expansion wing on Saturday.

The 130-seat restaurant, suite 936 at 19501 Biscayne Boulevard, joins other Pubbelly restaurants in Miami Beach, at Brickell City Centre, Downtown Dadeland, the Dominican Republic and the AmericanAirlines Arena.

A spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment for more information about the lease.

Mason | Midtown Miami

The former Gigi space in Midtown Miami will become Mason, a concept from Beaker & Gray’s Brian Nasajon and minority partner Ben Potts. Nasajon is converting the space into a diner and plan to open it in about a month, according to the Miami New Times.

The restaurant, at 3470 North Miami Avenue, closed in July after an employee walkout. It opened in 2010, across the street from the Shops at Midtown Miami. Property records show a company controlled by Ziva Nitzan of Cymbal Development owns the Gigi building.

Asi Cymbal of Cymbal Realty and Marc Sirkin of Engel & Voelkers brokered the deal on behalf of Nitzan.