The Weekly Dish: Vagabond Sushi to open at MiMo hotel, Sylvano heads to Edgewater & more

UPDATED, Oct. 10, 7:25 a.m.:

Vagabond Sushi Bar | MiMo District

The former owner and operator of Bardot is opening a new sushi restaurant at Avra Jain’s Vagabond Hotel along with a new pool deck and a billiards room.

Amir Ben-Zion plans to open the restaurant, aptly named Vagabond Sushi Bar, in the next two weeks, bringing in fresh sushi directly from Japan.

Ben-Zion said he has spent more than more than $600,000 (although, he prefers to use 64.6 million Japanese yen) on renovations for the restaurant. For executive chef, he tapped Mike San, a former chef at Bond St. Sushi, Yakko San and Blue Ribbon.

The restaurant is part of a broader renovation of the Vagabond Villages, the non-hotel component of the Vagabond, in Miami’s MiMo neighborhood. The historic motel, developed in 1953, had the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. performing. Jain, a former Wall Street bond trader, paid $2 million for the 45-room Vagabond in 2012 and spent $6 million redeveloping it.

Ben-Zion is also redecorating the pool deck at the Vagabond Villages, called Oasis.

In addition, Ben-Zion, who previously owned Gigi in Midtown, is opening a billiards room with a cocktail bar at the Villages called Brigette. He describes it as a place “full of beautiful sexy art pieces and playful surprises.”

Sylvano | Edgewater

Sylvano is hopping across the bay and opening a new location in Edgewater.

The Italian restaurant, a longtime staple at 1925 Liberty Avenue in Miami Beach, paid $1.65 million for the building at 2426 Northeast Second Avenue in July, according to property records. 2426 NE 2nd LLC, led by Manbir Singh, sold the building to Albino LLC, which is controlled by Sylvano Carrara.

The restaurateur paid $150,000 for furnishings, fixtures and equipment, Lyle Chariff of Chariff Realty Group said.

Chariff listed the 2,365-square-foot building earlier this year for about $2 million. It was previously leased to Jack’s Miami trattoria until that restaurant closed in June. Albino LLC financed the deal with a $1.26 million mortgage from the seller.

The restaurant will keep its Miami Beach location and open in Edgewater later this month, Chariff said. The building sits on a 5,000-square-foot lot that’s zoned T6-12-O.

Fiola Miami | Coral Gables

A Michelin-starred restaurant in Washington, D.C. is expanding to a Bacardi development in Coral Gables.

Chef-owner Fabio Trabocchi will open at 1515 Southwest 72nd Street, in a new office building developed by 1515 Sunset LLC. The 5,800-square-foot restaurant includes indoor space and a covered porch. It’s set to open this fall with a rooftop opening in the spring, according to a release. It’s being designed by Jeffrey Beers International with Barcelona-based Lazaro Rosa Violan.

A spokesperson declined to provide lease information. The Class A development has about 50,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Facundo Bacardi, chairman of Bacardi Limited, owns the 1515 Sunset Building.

An earlier version of this story misidentified the zoning for Sylvano’s property.