Chef José Andrés to Open Mediterranean Spot at Ritz-Carlton, South Beach
By Julia Echikson August 29, 2023 5:47 pm
reprints
Celebrity chef José Andrés is taking his talents back to South Beach.
The Spanish-American chef’s hospitality group plans to open Zaytinya by the end of the year at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach hotel. The restaurant will replace Fuego y Mar, the hospitality group announced.
An upscale Mediterranean concept, the first Zaytinya location opened in Washington, D.C., just over two decades ago. The José Andrés Group added a New York outpost in 2022 at a Ritz-Carlton at Broadway and West 28th Street.
The South Beach location marks Andrés’s return to the neighborhood after the closure of The Bazaar by José Andrés in March. Elcielo, a Michelin-starred restaurant from Colombia, took over the space occupied by the steakhouse inside the SLS South Beach hotel.
At the Ritz-Carlton, Andrés’s company will also operate all of the hotel’s food and beverage operations.
The change-up is part of the hotel’s owners bid to revamp the 375-room property at 1 Lincoln Road and its surrounding area.
The owners — a partnership between the Lowenstein family’s Lionstone Development, the Kanavos family’s Flag Luxury Group and the Ben-Josefs — are negotiating with the City of Miami Beach to extend the pedestrian-only portion of Lincoln Road two more blocks toward the 250,000-square-foot hotel, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. Last month, they also proposed adding a 15-story condo building to the Sagamore Hotel, which sits adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton.
A representative for José Andrés Group declined to comment on the terms of the lease, while a spokesperson for the hotel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
