San Lorenzo Ristorante

The Newest Restaurant in Miami Has No Menu | Eater Miami

"A new waterfront Italian eatery in Miami is taking an extreme no-menu approach: offering four items priced at $140 for two people, where diners make one choice—fish or meat—and receive three antipasti and an entrée (desserts available for an extra charge; vegetarians can be accommodated by request). “In a world of infinite choices, where distractions are around all the time, to be guided is actually welcome and a bit of fresh air,” says co-founder Andrea Fraquelli, who explains that the main choice is simply coming to the restaurant and asks diners to “let us do the rest.” The concept is the latest from 84 Magic Hospitality (Fraquelli, Ignacio Lopez Mancisidor, and Mattia Cicognani) and opens Saturday, May 31; reservations can only be made by phone or by walking in. Designers Eduardo Suarez and Milan’s Alessio Bernardinito created a breezy, coastal space with warm tones, crisp white tablecloths, fresh flowers, and Venetian lighting: the indoor dining room seats 44 with a standing bar area, and an outside Italian terracotta terrace seats 30 at candlelit tables with views of Little River. Tuscan‑born Giulio Rossi leads the kitchen and is resurrecting a signature from his past: a lobster, crab, and king prawn seafood pasta he served at Panacea (a seafood-focused restaurant that earned a Michelin star in 1991); Rossi also ran restaurants in Italy in the 1980s, including Ristorante Mario Fiesole, which he owned for 18 years. Fraquelli frames the experiment with past tests—“Milanese [at Cotoletta] has been my test case for this experiment, and we couldn’t be happier. People are not bored,” he says—adding, “It’s like, you go to a pizzeria and they don’t have antipasti, pasta, secondi… they have pizza. This way of working with restricting the menu creates trust and consistency.” He also invokes his favorite philosopher, Alan Watts—Watts is famously known for saying, “In giving away control, you got it,”—and urges diners to stop agonizing over choices: “Control is an illusion. Stop choosing, let us do it.” The beverage program is tightly curated—four red wines, four white, a rosé, and two sparkling wines (including a Franciacorta), a single brand of each spirit for classic cocktails, and a selection of digestivos—featuring interesting finds like the Greek Kástra Elión vodka distilled from green olives and locally made Harry Blu’s gin. Practical details are intentionally old-school: the restaurant is named for Fraquelli’s grandfather, opens Saturday, and advises guests to be ready to answer: carne o pesce?" - Henna Bakshi