There are a number of really good Mediterranean restaurants in Miami but the one everyone is raving about is Motek. Eliot and I own a Wynnie Mynerva painting. She was discovered in Miami and is now exhibiting at NYC’s prestigious New Museum. If you are planning a family trip to Miami, you should stop by Books & Books in Coral Gables to see a remarkable Lego exhibit. If you love Joan Didion, like me, the Perez Art Museum Miami has created an exhibition “Joan Didion: What She Means,” an examination of the life of the great American artist.

Hello Sweetheart 

Everyone raving about is Motek. (Just in case you are wondering, Motek מותק: means sweetheart in Hebrew.) You can’t find a person who says “mediocre.” The minute you say the name of the restaurant to other people, they immediately say, “I love that place.” Motek is a Tel Aviv creation. It’s a kosher-style Mediterranean restaurant with influences from ancestors in Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, and Yemen.

The Motek we visited is in Coral Gables on the Miracle Mile. For some reason, there is no noticeable sign but it’s right next to The Gramercy restaurant. There’s also a Motek in the Aventura Mall. They are both big and beautifully designed restaurants. However, the big draw is the food. It’s affordable and delicious. I’m not sure which description to say first because both price and taste seems to be more important in Miami after the pandemic than ever before.

I had the Israeli breakfast because my friends strongly recommended it. I was reluctant at first because I’m not “an egg person.” I don’t normally order eggs when going out for brunch. Anyway, I decided to try it. I was amazed. I don’t know what they put in their eggs but it was like eating caviar. I couldn’t get enough. You can get eggs anyway you like them and they come with so many dips that you are having a great time tasting them all. By the way, wear your expandable slacks. The bread that comes with the meal is one of the best you have ever had.

https://motekcafe.com/menu/all-day-brunch/

A Most Unusual Story 

Eliot and I own a Wynnie Mynerva painting. We bought it at Untitled, one of the satellite art fairs during Art Basel in Miami, December 2019.  I wanted to share this story with you because Wynnie was discovered in Miami and now is exhibiting at the prestigious New Museum in lower Manhattan. Let me know if you want to see the exhibit. If Wynnie is in town I want you to meet them.

Portrait of Wynnie Mynerva by Marice Casta. Courtesy of the artist and the New Museum

(Wynnie is a “they/them.“ Third-person pronouns are used by individuals who want to reflect that person’s gender identity). We met Wynnie a few days before the art fairs began. She was a resident at Fountainhead Arts. We immediately liked their work. We had no idea at the time that Wynnie would have a major exhibit at the world respected New Museum. We are so proud of them.

Wynnie gets very personal in their recent interview in Cultured magazine. Their creativity knows no boundaries. That’s why we love abstract expressionism so much.

According to Art Net News, New Museum’s “Wynnie Mynerva: The Original Riot” reimagines the story of Adam and Eve with a 70-foot-long painting—the largest to have ever been displayed at the institution—and a sculptural installation showcasing Mynerva’s bodily relic.

The New York exhibition is not the first time Mynerva has incorporated corporeal modifications into their artistic practice. In 2021, for “Closing to Open” at Madrid’s Ginsberg Gallery, they had their vagina sewn three-quarters of the way shut. The artists sees the traces left by each surgery as “weapons,” symbolic offerings they instrumentalize in their fight against the dictums of capitalism, patriarchy, and organized religion.

With “The Original Riot,” they offer an alternate narrative to Genesis, centering Eve and introducing Lilith, who according to Mesopotamian and Jewish mythologies, was in fact the original woman, sculpted of the same clay as Adam and banished from heaven for refusing to defer to her male counterpart.

Read this fascinating interview with the artist, conducted by Art Net News. It’s powerful. Read it here.

A Lego Tribute to Books & Books 

If you are planning a family trip to Miami, you should stop by Books & Books in Coral Gables to see a remarkable Lego exhibit. This creation should be the force that makes children want to read and get involved in the community. I got the chills when I first saw the exhibit. It was an absolute delight to see young men pay tribute to an institution that makes our lives more fascinating every day.

Charles Boland, 14 and Jamie Boland 12, built (2002) a Lego version of one of the most treasured establishments in Miami, the headquarters of Books & Books. What a fabulous art piece. They captured the beauty of the entire enterprise. There is no other bookstore like this in the world.

Books & Books was founded by Mitchell Kaplan in 1982. Since that time, the store has become one of the most well-respected independent bookstores in the country. It’s a local landmark and an inspiring gathering place for writers as well as readers. The philosophy at Books & Books has remained constant throughout the years: it’s about neighbors, books, history, quality, tradition and creativity. Books & Books hosts reading groups, poetry groups, free workshops and lectures, and partners with many cultural, educational and charitable organizations to present special events at any of its several locations.”

Joan Didion: What She Means at The Perez Art Museum Miami 

If you are like me, you can’t get enough of Joan Didion. Apparently, curator Hilton Als of the Perez Art Museum Miami feels the same way. He has created an exhibition that details Didion’s journey as an eyewitness and pioneer of her time. “Joan Didion: What She Means” is an examination of the life of the great American artist.

“I am excited to share this exhibition with the Miami community,” said Als. “Joan Didion is an artist who had deep ties to the city. She was a Californian by birth and temperament, but she traveled widely throughout America; she was interested in and committed to recording what made us different and similar in a shared nation.”

Didion authored screenplays. Following a winding chronology, the exhibition traces Didion’s life and the regions she called home: Holy Water: Sacramento, Berkeley (1934–1956); Goodbye to All That: New York (1956–1963); The White Album: California, Hawai‘i (1964–1988); and the final chapter, Sentimental Journeys: New York, Miami, San Salvador (1988–2021).

“Joan Didion is one of the most important writers of our time, and we are thrilled to present this exhibition to our visitors,” said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans. “Through her writing, Didion has shaped the way we think about ourselves and our society. Her work is as relevant today as it was when she first began writing, and we are excited to offer our visitors the opportunity to explore her life and work in depth.”

Joan Didion was born in Sacramento in 1934 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1956. After graduation, Didion moved to New York and began working for Vogue, which led to her career as a journalist and writer. Didion published her first novel, Run River, in 1963. Didion’s other novels include Play It As It Lays (1970), A Book of Common Prayer (1977), Democracy (1984), and The Last Thing He Wanted (1996).

Didion’s first volume of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, was published in 1968, and her second, The White Album, was published in 1979. Her nonfiction works include Salvador (1983), Miami (1987), After Henry (1992), Political Fictions (2001), Where I Was From (2003), We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order to Live (2006), Blue Nights (2011), South and West (2017) and Let Me Tell You What I Mean (2021). Her memoir The Year of Magical Thinking won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2005.

In 2005, Didion was awarded the American Academy of Arts & Letters Gold Medal in Belles Lettres and Criticism. In 2007, she was awarded the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. A portion of the National Book Foundation citation read: “An incisive observer of American politics and culture for more than forty-five years, Didion’s distinctive blend of spare, elegant prose and fierce intelligence has earned her books a place in the canon of American literature as well as the admiration of generations of writers and journalists.” In 2013, she was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama and the PEN Center USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.