A tranquil view from the Metropolitan by Como hotel in Miami Beach.
It may be one of the world’s most glamorous playgrounds, but Miami Beach comes in more flavors than just plain party. Far from the madding crowds on the Lincoln Road Mall and Ocean Drive and the hubbub of this week’s Winter Music Conference, there’s another Miami Beach, one that’s quiet, chic and even subtle.
A peaceful hotel
The newest address for a different take on Florida’s most fabulous sandbar is theMetropolitan by Como (2445 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305-695-3600), the just-opened 74-room renovation of the circa-1926 Traymore Hotel on Collins Avenue. Unlike most hotels in Miami Beach, this Art Deco beauty is so small and discreet, it’s easy to miss along the skyscraper-lined seafront, but at night, it shows off its design credentials with an original neon sign that still says Traymore, in spite of its recent rebranding as the first U.S. property of the Singapore-based hotelier Christina Ong’s Como Hotel group. The Italian designer Paola Navone did the serene seashell-like interiors of the hotel in a scheme that respects its good bones but doesn’t pastiche them, a look that will doubtless be popular with visitors to the Paris-based design show Maison & Objet when it stages its first show in Miami Beach in May of 2015. There’s rooftop hydrotherapy, a heated swimming pool (without a disco soundtrack) in a beautifully landscaped garden, a spa and a full-service private beach. With a young staff that is smart, friendly and attitude-free, the Metropolitan by Como might also have the best service of any hotel in Miami Beach.
The newest address for a different take on Florida’s most fabulous sandbar is theMetropolitan by Como (2445 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305-695-3600), the just-opened 74-room renovation of the circa-1926 Traymore Hotel on Collins Avenue. Unlike most hotels in Miami Beach, this Art Deco beauty is so small and discreet, it’s easy to miss along the skyscraper-lined seafront, but at night, it shows off its design credentials with an original neon sign that still says Traymore, in spite of its recent rebranding as the first U.S. property of the Singapore-based hotelier Christina Ong’s Como Hotel group. The Italian designer Paola Navone did the serene seashell-like interiors of the hotel in a scheme that respects its good bones but doesn’t pastiche them, a look that will doubtless be popular with visitors to the Paris-based design show Maison & Objet when it stages its first show in Miami Beach in May of 2015. There’s rooftop hydrotherapy, a heated swimming pool (without a disco soundtrack) in a beautifully landscaped garden, a spa and a full-service private beach. With a young staff that is smart, friendly and attitude-free, the Metropolitan by Como might also have the best service of any hotel in Miami Beach.
The roof of the Metropolitan by Como features a party-free pool.
Morning delights
The chef Jonathan Lane does excellent modern American cooking, including a lot of fresh Florida seafood, at the hotel’s beautifully lit, refreshingly concept-free Traymorerestaurant. The baked eggs with black beans and Cuban sausage at breakfast are a good reason to get out of bed in the morning. Or pick up a paper and head to the mellow and reasonably priced French-owned A la Folie Café (A La Folie Café, 516 Española Way, Miami Beach; 305-538-4484) on charming Española Way for good croissants and coffee.
The chef Jonathan Lane does excellent modern American cooking, including a lot of fresh Florida seafood, at the hotel’s beautifully lit, refreshingly concept-free Traymorerestaurant. The baked eggs with black beans and Cuban sausage at breakfast are a good reason to get out of bed in the morning. Or pick up a paper and head to the mellow and reasonably priced French-owned A la Folie Café (A La Folie Café, 516 Española Way, Miami Beach; 305-538-4484) on charming Española Way for good croissants and coffee.
French invasion
The easygoing Semilla (Semilla Eatery & Bar, 1328-1330 Alton Road, Miami Beach; 786-955-7580), another place with a French touch, has become popular with the local European expat crowd since it opened a few months ago. The chef-owner Frederic Joulin’s small-plates menu is terrific, too, including braised beef short-rib pot stickers with green curry, Vermont goat cheese with bacon croquettas and lobster mango remoulade, dishes that pair perfectly with Jean-Luc Colombo’s easy-drinking Coteaux d’Aix rosé, a bargain at $32.
Lunch, the old-fashioned way
For a the-way-we-were moment and great deli sandwiches to take to the beach, head up to Goldstein’s Prime delicatessen (Goldstein’s Prime, 7419 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305-865-4981) in North Miami Beach. The founder Joe Goldstein, a former Long Islander who runs the last kosher deli in town with his son Brian, is the kind of guy who’ll give you a quarter for the parking meter outside even before you’ve placed your order. Ringing up the pastrami, he volunteers that he doesn’t get to speak his ancestral Hungarian very often anymore. “Now what I need is Spanish,” he says with a shrug and a grin. “But I like the change, and Miami Beach, it’s a beautiful place to live.”
The easygoing Semilla (Semilla Eatery & Bar, 1328-1330 Alton Road, Miami Beach; 786-955-7580), another place with a French touch, has become popular with the local European expat crowd since it opened a few months ago. The chef-owner Frederic Joulin’s small-plates menu is terrific, too, including braised beef short-rib pot stickers with green curry, Vermont goat cheese with bacon croquettas and lobster mango remoulade, dishes that pair perfectly with Jean-Luc Colombo’s easy-drinking Coteaux d’Aix rosé, a bargain at $32.
At Semilla, dessert macarons resemble sliders.
Lunch, the old-fashioned way
For a the-way-we-were moment and great deli sandwiches to take to the beach, head up to Goldstein’s Prime delicatessen (Goldstein’s Prime, 7419 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 305-865-4981) in North Miami Beach. The founder Joe Goldstein, a former Long Islander who runs the last kosher deli in town with his son Brian, is the kind of guy who’ll give you a quarter for the parking meter outside even before you’ve placed your order. Ringing up the pastrami, he volunteers that he doesn’t get to speak his ancestral Hungarian very often anymore. “Now what I need is Spanish,” he says with a shrug and a grin. “But I like the change, and Miami Beach, it’s a beautiful place to live.”
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