By: Mark Trowbridge
This month begins the long, humid journey through summer that is both “boom and bust” when it comes to the local foodie community.
To counteract these annual doldrums, programs like Coral Gables Restaurant Week and Miami Spice help ensure the boom, while the tropical heat and low season for tourists often lead to a slowdown in our restaurant economy, that is a bust.
Of course, we are used to these cycles and even with a beautiful new Streetscape project nearing completion along Miracle Mile and Giralda Avenue, we all need to pull together to help our local restaurants thrive over the next few months.
If you are a fan of food, then this upcoming summer is the perfect way to satisfy your appetite and enjoy all the social aspects of dining out. And, just to make it even more interesting, there are a number of new faces – and familiar ones – open now in The City Beautiful that will be participating in these foodie events over the course of June, as well as both August and September.
The latest issue of Let’s Eat Magazine celebrates all the things we love about our summer. About to begin our third year in the foodie magazine biz, our Chamber and local business community continue to showcase the best part of Coral Gables – our restaurants.
This month, we feature the team behind such amazing concepts as Shula’s 347, Glass & Vine, as well as new eateries The Big Easy and American Harvest. Contributing writer Cindi Avila will also reveal the big plans this group has for the waterfront in the Grove where Scotty’s Landing used to be. Food 4 Thought features the minds behind the wines at Uvaggio on Miracle Mile. Craig DeWald and his partners have been slaying it since the day they opened in The City Beautiful and it is our great pleasure to share a passion that transcends great wines, bubbles and a delightful menu.
Our prodigal sommelier Jacqueline Coleman returns from her six-week sojourn to South America, visiting hidden gems that produce amazing wines (and art) in Buenos Aires, Salta, Mendoza and Patagonia.
Finally, if you happen to be walking along Miracle Mile or Giralda Avenue, or moving slowly up Ponce de Leon Boulevard, you might see our very own Publisher Jessica Wilcox in her nifty new Smart Car, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz and their Smart Center here in the Gables. In celebration of the dealership’s 60th anniversary and their on-going relationship with the amazing Smart Car brand, they have loaned us a beautifully blinged-out model to showcase our magazine and tout our local restaurants. It is a sweet ride and perfect for Jessica and her love of our restaurants.
As always, I encourage you to check us out between issues (next up is Miami Spice in August) by visiting our dynamic website curated by Cindi Avila of Green Goddess Public Relations at www.letseatmiami.com and see the latest goings-on in our Gables restaurants, as well as industry trends and other hot happenings you can devour with both a knife and a fork.
And remember, Coral Gables Restaurant Week is a great way to try something new or support an old favorite that you have not visited in a while. As always, each summer, our restaurants need you more than ever and only you can make sure that come the end of August, they are still standing tall!
Now, Let’s Eat!