We finally go to Maty’s, located in Mid-town Miami, which has been named one of the 50 best restaurants in America. Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 12, because Miami Book Fair 2023 is kicking off in style with an incredible line up of evenings. I never thought I’d get a seat at Rao’s but I’m going to have dinner there in a few days. You’ve heard of Ray Elman, but you may not know he is a talented portrait artist. The Jewish Museum of Florida will exhibit 25 of his large-scale, mixed media portraits

We Made It to Maty’s

It pays to have friends who are well informed. I can’t keep up with everything. My good friend Alison Davis, the founder of City Life Guru, a newsletter featuring local Miami experts who have carved out a niche in their area of expertise and are contributing to this city’s growth as a truly multi-cultural global city, recommended Maty’s for our get together last Saturday night. It was a yummy, good time.

We sometimes tend to dine in our old favorites restaurants because we are too lazy to scout for something new. The minute Alison suggested Maty’s we all chimed in “yes.”

The New York Times had already declared Maty’s as one of the best restaurants in Miami.

They also said that Maty’s was one of the 50 best in America, Food & Wine named Val Chang and her brother Nando Chang, two of the 2023 Best New Chefs and Bon Appétit named Maty’s one of its 2023 Best New Restaurants in America.

We quickly found out why. Everything was delicious and unique. Alison and her husband Jan Gerits and their close friend Tere Traub picked the best dishes. Eliot and I sat back so we could experience their selections. They did an excellent job. Our taste buds were jumping for joy. Every delectable delight was new and different.

Maty’s is chef and restaurateur Val Chang first solo project. It’s located in Maty’s, in Midtown Miami, and it serves an ode to the Peruvian cuisine she knew so well while growing up.

The restaurant, named after Chang’s grandmother, celebrates traditional Peruvian cuisine inspired by her family and infused with bold flavors. The menu includes dishes such as black grouper ceviche with torrejitas de choclo (savory waffles), yuca rellena (stuffed yuca balls) stuffed with wagyu strip, lamb seco (stew) with cilantro and squash, and wagyu oxtail saltado (stir fry) with habanero, cherry tomato, and red onion. Maty’s indoor and outdoor dining areas seat up to 150 guests, including two large communal tables. The bar and lounge serves an extensive cocktail selection meant to complement the cuisine.

Chang is best known for co-creating the acclaimed Nikkei restaurant Itamae in the Miami Design District with her brother, chef Nando Chang, and her father Papa Chang. That’s our next stop.

Nov. 12-19. Miami Book Fair 

The 40th Miami Book Fair (MBF) will take place in downtown Miami at Miami Dade College. Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 12, because the book fair is kicking off in style with an incredible lineup of evenings:

🌟 Kerry Washington in conversation with Eva Longoria Baston.

🌟 Jada Pinkett Smith chatting with Lena Waithe.

🌟 Joan Baez sitting down with Broken Record podcaster Justin Richmond.

In advance of this milestone anniversary, the Miami Book Fair unveiled its official poster created by Miami-based Peruvian artist and graphic designer Jose Chocce, a New World School of the Arts (NWSA) senior in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design program. The concept for poster was inspired by storytelling, getting lost within books and allowing your imagination to soar unrestrained.

This year’s Miami Book Fair will once again feature some of the world’s top authors, influencers and celebrities, including Evenings With headliners Kerry Washington, Joan Baez, David Brooks, Walter Mosley, Jada Pinkett Smith and Henry Winkler, among others. Hundreds of authors will present in-person in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. Some of these programs will be streamed live from the Fair to miamibookfaironline.com (available on demand 24/7).

Other components of the Fair will return as well. ReadCaribbean will feature Haitian and other Caribbean authors. ReadingEast will feature authors from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The robust IberoAmerican program will host noted Hispanic authors, journalists, poets, essayists, storytellers and visual artists and photographers.

Children’s Alley provides fun and learning activities during the popular Street Fair weekend, Nov. 17 – 19. Off the Shelf’s live music stage will again present popular bands and other performers. As always, Street Fair vendors will include a mix of booksellers, publishers, artist-made goods and a food market featuring food trucks and pop-up restaurants and cafés.

Free social gatherings this year will include an opening day block party on Sunday, Nov. 12, and the return of Lost Chapter, a nightly rooftop lounge with views of the downtown Miami skyline (open Nov. 13-17).

In recognition of Miami’s growth into a culture destination, and Miami Book Fair’s leading role in that transformation over the past 40 years, a special celebration dinner – The Next Page – will take place at the JW Marriott Marquis on Friday, Nov. 17. During the evening, Miami Book Fair will honor three writers with a deep connection to the Fair and Miami, as well as three community leaders who have made a positive, lasting impact. For event and sponsorship information on Next Page, visit www.miamibookfair.com/nextpage. For more information, contact Lisa Better, Membership and Development Associate, LBetter@mdc.edu and 305-790-7597.

The complete Miami Book Fair guide will be available online and in print in October. For Miami Book Fair information, visit www.miamibookfair.com, or call 305-237-3528 or email wbookfair@mdc.edu. Follow the Miami Book Fair @miamibookfair on all social media platforms.

Miami Book Fair contact: Lisa Palley, Palley Promotes, 305-642-3132, lpalley@bellsouth.net. Secure your seats and join us for an unforgettable opening day! See you there! https://bit.ly/44QWsEA

I’m Finally Getting a Seat at Rao’s Italian restaurant  

Truth be told, my reservation is 1,200 miles away from Harlem. You can’t be picky when it comes to getting into Rao’s. I lived in Manhattan for 40 years and I never went to Rao’s because I didn’t want to finagle my way into a restaurant with just 10 seats. The restaurant is located on the corner of 114th St and Pleasant Avenue in Harlem. It’s been there since 1896 and was always considered a hot spot for the rich and famous.

In just a few days I’m going to get the chance to finally dine at Rao’s. It won’t be Harlem but that’s okay. I now live in Miami Beach and Rao’s is opening its first restaurant in Florida at the Loews Hotel. I’m excited because it should be much easier to get in considering there are 130 seats. I was told that the menu is pretty much the same, so I call this location Rao’s on steroids.

Rao’s at the Loews opens up October 25 but they start taking reservations October 13th. The restaurant will be located in the historic St. Moritz tower of the Loews. In order to keep the same hotsy totsy appeal as the Rao’s in New York, the Miami version will have a private room reserved for celebrities. Dino Gatto, corporate and executive chef, is reportedly going to be on hand to make sure that the famous regulars get the exact dish that they love so much at Rao’s. I hope the snob appeal attitude works because the competition for getting patrons in Miami is intense. We have so many restaurants here that it’s already New York competitive.

Going from a small place to a rather large restaurant is going to be a huge challenge in Miami. We are a seasonal town. When the weather gets hot, a huge part of the population goes north. Many of the restaurants stay empty. It’s not a pretty sight. You have to make enough money during the season to cover your 12 month a year expenses. The smarter restaurants know how to do that.

Welcome Rao’s! After being in existence for 100 plus years this is going to be a whole new ball game for you. You have our support.

Loew’s Miami Beach Hotel, 1601 Collins Ave., Miami Beach

Ray Elman‘s Portraits On Exhibit At The Jewish Museum of Florida

Everyone in Miami knows Ray Elman. He is the publisher and founding editor-in-chief of Inspico (now called ArtSpeak), an arts publication platform providing high-quality, in-depth insights into all art disciplines, with a focus on Miami and South Florida.

The side of Ray they don’t necessarily know is the fact that he is a very talented artist who has been making portraits of important people who fly in and out of Miami each year: Campbell McGrath, Richard Wurman, Richard Blanco, Michele Oka Doner, Nicole Henry, Mitchell Kaplan, and so many others.

Ray is going to get the exposure he deserves thanks to The Jewish Museum of Florida. The FIU institution will exhibit 25 large-scale, mixed-media portraits by Raymond Elman from October 22 to March 3.  There will be an opening reception on October 22 from 5-7 PM.

All of the portraits above are either 60 x 40 inches or 40 x 60 inches, mixed-media on canvas. The people in the portraits are:

• Morton Dean — CBS News, ABC News
• Michele Oka Doner — artist, daughter of Miami Beach mayor, created mile-long embedded bronze walkway at MIA
• Winston Scott — astronaut, 2 trips to the International Space Station and 5 Space Walks (EVAs), Miami native who played jazz trumpet at the Hampton House as a teenager
• Richard Blanco — 5th Presidential Inaugural Poet
• Kimberley Green — President of the Green Family Foundation and creator of Green Space
• Nicole Henry — jazz vocalist

In addition, the wall text for each portrait contains a QR Code that will link the viewers’ mobile devices to ArtSpeak video conversations with the people in the portraits.

The exhibit also includes an 80-minute video projected onto a large overhead screen that presents people in portraits telling stories about one-another.  This video will run continuously in a loop whenever the museum is open. It’s worth noting that four of Elman’s portraits are featured in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.

The heart and soul of ArtSpeak is the 500+ video conversations with impactful people across all art disciplines — U.S. Poet Laureates, Pulitzer Prize recipients, Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Grammy, Pritzker, etc. award winners.  ArtSpeak is sponsored by the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media, a part of The College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts (CARTA) at Florida International University (FIU).  See:  https://artspeak.fiu.edu/