Jon & Vinny’s Opens in Miami, Florida | Eater Miami
"A wildly popular Los Angeles Italian-American restaurant is opening a residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood, taking over the former Lekuspace and slated to open Saturday, December 7. “We’re beyond excited to bring this residency to Miami—it’s a true homecoming for us,” says Jon Shook, who along with Vinny Dotolo co-owns the concept; wine director Helen Johannesen is leading a Miami-specific beverage program. The Miami location will serve many of the restaurant’s well-loved dishes, including the gem lettuce salad with Calabrian chili dressing, marinara-braised meatballs with house-made focaccia, and the LA Woman pizza; while breakfast service won’t be available initially, the team plans to offer its famous pancakes all day — a first for the operation. Johannesen developed a full bar program featuring classic cocktails with an Italian twist, including a Miami-specific take on the Jungle Bird made with Aperitivo Select instead of Campari, and notes, “We’re really trying to bring a taste of our California energy to the Miami people,” and that “It’s a killer program based on producers we’ve always supported.” The museum space seats 44 indoors, 50 outdoors and has bar seating for 14; architect Jeff Guga (who designed the original locations) adapted the site with a light redesign incorporating elements from the restaurant’s COVID-era outdoor dining setups, including large garage doors that create an indoor-outdoor feel. For Shook and Dotolo the opening represents a homecoming: both were born in Florida, attended culinary school in Fort Lauderdale and worked under chef Michelle Bernstein early in their careers before heading west. The partners first made national waves with Animal (opened 2008), which during its 15-year run — earning multiple James Beard Award nominations before closing last year — was credited by Eater LA as having “changed everything” in the city’s dining scene; they later built an L.A. restaurant group that included Son of a Gun (closed earlier this year), Petit Trois (with Ludo Lefebvre), and five existing locations of their namesake. The team is framing the run at the museum as a true residency: “We’re treating it the same way they handle artist residencies here at the Rubell — they can stay as long as they want and take their body of work wherever they want,” said Shook. The opening coincides with Miami Art Week, when the team will also oversee food and beverage at the Resy Lounge (in partnership with Delta Air Lines and American Express) at Untitled Art Fair and host several public and private events at the museum, including a public breakfast pizza pop-up on December 6 featuring their morning pies. The restaurant will be located at 1100 NW 23rd Street and will be open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. for lunch and dinner starting December 7, with breakfast potentially being added in early 2025." - Olee Fowler
