11 OctOber 23-29, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | BRUNCH EVERY SAT & SUN BEST WATERFRONT VIEWS IN MIAMI 3201 RICKENBACKER CWY, KEY BISCAYNE, FL 33149 | 305.361.3818 WWW.THERUSTYPELICAN.COM BE SOCIAL WITH US! /RUSTYPELICANMIAMI miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ FORT LAUDERDALE TOP CHEF SIGHTING Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth, the Top Chef duo behind South Florida favorites Stiltsville Fish Bar and the now-shuttered Root & Bone and Mi’talia, are heading north with Florida Room, which opened Wednesday, October 15, at the Fort, a 9.5-acre sports and entertain- ment complex in Fort Lauderdale. In a very 2025 move, the restaurant sits be- side the venue’s pickleball courts, meaning diners can enjoy wagyu meatloaf and caviar- topped tots while watching strangers argue over line calls. For now, Florida Room is open for dinner service only. “We envisioned Florida Room as the perfect spot for affordable, comfortable, stress-free weeknight dining, a fun family dinner, or drinks with happy hour friends,” says McInnis. “Naturally, the offerings are el- evated by technique and made with the best ingredients available, but a night at Florida Room should feel familiar and comforting in the best possible ways.” Florida Room’s menu is certainly robust, offering nearly 40 dishes that mix Southern comfort with coastal ingredients. Appetizers include a crunchy calamari Caesar, grilled mango and sesame salad, and peaches paired with stracciatella and prosciutto. The house-made tater tots arrive with crème fraîche and caviar, while lamb sausage rolls, smoked fish dip, and pimento cheese with focaccia round out the starters. Flatbreads range from margherita and hot honey pepper- oni to a black truffle version with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and aged balsamic. Heartier main courses include a wagyu short rib “meatloaf” brushed with plantain barbecue glaze and a spatchcock chicken pressed under a brick until its skin turns golden and crisp. There’s chili-lime yellowfin tuna with miso sweet potato puree, spicy rigatoni with Calabrian ’nduja, and a ten- ounce double smash burger. The “Favorites + Classics” section complements the main of- ferings with double buttermilk-fried chicken, barbecue ribs, and an 18-ounce Australian ri- beye, served with marrow butter and chimi- churri. Sides include pimento cheese grits, rose- mary citrus fries, and sweet plantains with chimichurri. Desserts lean nostalgic: a baked Alaska torched tableside, coconut key lime pie, and chocolate spumoni tart with bourbon cherries. Weekend brunch is expected later this year. McInnis, a Florida native and James Beard Award nominee, first came onto the scene as executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach before co-founding Yardbird Southern Table & Bar. Booth, originally from Australia, also com- peted on Top Chef and earned a James Beard semifinalist nod for her work at Root & Bone. The 4,000-square-foot space is bright with sandy tones, plenty of greenery, and a bar that spills out toward the courts. There’s room for 100 guests inside, 100 outside, and 45 in a private dining room. A separate event space upstairs doubles that capacity. Florida Room at the Fort. 891 SW 34th St., Fort Lauderdale; playthefort.com. OLEE FOWLER ▼ DESIGN DISTRICT NEW CULINARY CHAPTER FOR MASSIMO BOTTURA? Less than a year after opening to major fan- fare, world-renowned Italian chef Massimo Bottura’s first and only Miami restaurant, Torno Subito, unexpectedly hit pause this summer. The rooftop Italian restaurant atop Julia & Henry’s food hall in downtown Miami officially closed on June 29, just ten months after its splashy debut in August 2024. The closure was billed as a “summer break,” with spokesperson Nidal Barake calling it a strate- gic “reset” and promising a return in the fall. But in a city where summer closures can qui- etly become permanent, the news left diners buzzing: Would Torno Subito really return? Now, Bottura’s next move is coming into focus — and it’s a big one. According to a New Times source with direct knowledge of the deal, the highly acclaimed Italian chef has ei- ther just signed or is in the final stages of ne- gotiating a new restaurant inside the historic Moore building in the Miami Design District. | TASTE TEST | ▼ Café Florida Room photo Husband-and-wife Top Chef alums Janine Booth and Jeff McInnis
