The Weekly Dish: Uchi and Wabi Sabi to open in Wynwood, Carrot Express hops to Coral Gables & more

UPDATED, July 18, 10 a.m.:

Uchi and Favorite Tahini | Wynwood
Two restaurants inked leases for space at Wynwood 25, a newly completed apartment development at 240 Northwest 25th Street. Related Group and East End Capital are the developers.

Uchi Miami, led by chef Tyson Cole, is taking 5,500 square feet. The famed sushi restaurant is based in Austin. Tahini Street Food, a Middle Eastern restaurant based in San Diego, is leasing 2,000 square feet, according to a release. Sara Wolfe of Koniver Stern Group represented Uchi Miami. Richard Skulnik, Lindsay Zegans and Beth Rosen at RIPCO are handling leasing for Related and East End.

Wynwood 25 has 289 rental apartments and 31,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Wabi Sabi by Shuji | Wynwood
Wabi Sabi by Shuji, led by chef Shuji Hiyakawa, is opening at 2700 North Miami Avenue in Wynwood. The Japanese donburi restaurant is leasing space in the Cynergi Lofts at Wynwood building, where Jimmyz Kitchen was previously located.

Hiyakawa will also open a small, 28-seat restaurant with restaurateur and art dealer Alvaro Perez Miranda this fall with another Wabi Sabi inside.

Margot Natural Wine & Aperitivo Bar | Downtown Miami
Gabe Orta and Elad Zvi, co-founders of Bar Lab, are planning to open Margot Natural Wine & Aperitivo Bar in the fourth quarter of this year. The wine bar, designed by Danya Hachey of MaD Artistic, will open at the Ingraham Building at 21 Southeast Second Avenue.

The duo also partnered with Timon Balloo to open Balloo: Modern Home Cooking at the Ingraham Building this summer and will open a third concept in next winter in the Ingraham Building, as well.

Real estate investor Shai Ben-Ami will partner with both tenants on ownership and buildout. Felix Bendersky of F+B Hospitality Brokerage, and Mika Mattingly and Soleil Mershon of Colliers International South Florida represented the landlord, and Ben-Ami represented the tenants.

Matchbox and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers | Fort Lauderdale
Thompson Hospitality of Washington, D.C., signed two leases at PMG’s X Las Olas development. Matchbox and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers are scheduled to open along the riverfront in mid-2020.

Tricera Capital and Dev Motwani’s Merrimac Ventures arranged the leases. Matchbox is taking 4,500 square feet and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers is leasing 1,500 square feet.

X Las Olas will have two residential towers with 1,200 units, 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and 30,000 square feet of co-working space above the retail on the second and third floors.

Carrot Express | Coral Gables
Carrot Express opened its fifth South Florida location at 259 Miracle Mile in downtown Coral Gables. Terranova Corp. brokered the five-year lease deal for 1,686 square feet, according to a spokesperson.

Regina’s Grocery | Miami Beach
Regina’s Grocery is opening at Urbanica The Meridian Hotel in Miami Beach. Urbanica The Hotels’ owners Diego Colmenero and Charlie Porchetto inked a deal to bring the New York City deli to 418 Meridian Avenue in South Beach. Regina’s Grocery will have about 250 square feet.

Icebox Cafe | Hallandale Beach
Icebox Cafe is planning to open at 301 Northeast Third Avenue in Hallandale Beach, the Hallandale Beach Community Redevelopment Agency announced.

Poki Bowl and Nacion Sushi | Kendall
Two new food and beverage tenants are leasing space at the Palms at Town & Country in Kendall. Poki Bowl is leasing 1,532 square feet and Nacion Sushi is taking 5,485 square feet.

Brendan Fisher with The K Company represented Poki Bowl. Angela Baez Baez with Sharpline Realty represented Nacion Sushi. Nicole Townsend of Weingarten Realty represented the landlord.

Weingarten Realty Investors paid $285 million for the open-air shopping center in 2016. It’s anchored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack and Total Wine.