10 November 20-26, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Solar Flair Sunshine Coffee energizes Española Way. BY MICHELLE MUSLERA W ith pastel yellow walls and a fun menu, Sun- shine Coffee has opened in Miami Beach, bring- ing a touch of sunshine to Española Way. Created by husband-and-wife team Alan Philips and Gelareh Mizrahi, Sunshine Cof- fee’s colorful walls represent the sun and the joyful happiness of its namesake, their daugh- ter, Sunshine, while the blue represents the ocean. At its core, Philips tells New Times that Sunshine Coffee is the essence of Miami. “When I have an iced coffee and the sun hits my face, I just take a moment and appreci- ate this incredible life we all have here in this city,” says Philips. “We wanted to do our best to create a place where people feel that joy. The sun and ocean come together at the beach, which we would call our ‘common grounds.’ We use that play on words with the coffee, this is our common ground as a community, a place where everyone lifts each other up one cup at a time.’” Miami first en- countered the sunny café at its pop-ups at the Mi- ami Beach Botani- cal Garden during Art Basel 2024 and at Reserve Padel’s Seaplane Base. Now, its flagship shop and new per- manent home light up the entrance of the Esmé Hotel on Española Way. Iced coffee takes center stage on the menu, featuring the signature “Miami Iced” perfected by Philips for nearly a decade. He tells New Times that coffee is his department. When looking for the perfect iced coffee, he opted for a rich and taste-forward brew while also supporting local, choosing a locally roasted coffee in Miami Gardens. While Philips drinks two “Miami Iced” a day, he also recommends the many variations, including the fun and delicious milk and foam flavor options: “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Milk,” “Chocolate Chip Cookie Oat Milk,” “Banana Milk,” and “Pink Vanilla Cold Foam.” Another popular drink is the iced matcha, which Philips says is Mizrahi’s department. The café utilizes ceremonial-grade matcha to craft refreshing drinks, including the “Straw- berry Flower Matcha Latte” and the “Water- melon Matcha Lemonade.” The menu also features a selection of iced teas and smooth- ies, including the popular “Super Fantastic,” made with blue spirulina, which creates a marbled blue contrast to the cream-colored smoothie base. Food choices lean towards breakfast-style with a selection of toasts, sandwiches, break- fast tacos, and bowls. Must-tries include the “Sunshine Breakfast Sando,” made with eggs, thick-cut bacon, and cheddar on a fresh- baked English muffin, and the “Spicy Tuna Toast,” made with fresh ahi tuna over sliced avocado on a toasted English muffin. On the sweet side, the “pancake cake” (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like) and the brown butter cinnamon rolls made with fo- caccia dough are highlights, but there is a va- riety of freshly baked pastries to choose from. With their family woven throughout, the menu also features “Teddy’s Sun Drops,” named after the couple’s son, and “River’s Frozen Lemonade,” named after their eldest, who loves the frozen lemonades and bagels. “The reaction since opening has been over- whelmingly positive,” says Philips. “I think our coffee, our matcha, and our food are really good, but I will say that I think what people re- act to the most is our team and the energy when you walk into the space. A couple of peo- ple have walked in and said, ‘This is the happi- est place on earth.’ Miami has given our family a lot of really amazing blessings, and this is our opportunity to give back the happiness.” As a Miami-born brand, Sunshine Coffee is focused on growing in the city, and the team plans to expand with four to five new lo- cations in the next year. Sunshine Coffee. 1438 Washington Ave., at the Esmé Hotel; sunshinecoffee.com. [email protected] ▼ Café Café Photo by Jordan Frey New Miami Beach coffee shop Sunshine Coffee has opened on Española Way with delicious matcha drinks, lattes, cinnamon rolls, and breakfast. MIAMI HAS GIVEN OUR FAMILY A LOT OF REALLY AMAZING BLESSINGS, AND THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK THE HAPPINESS.” ▼ BRICKELL NOBU TOO Y ou’ve definitely heard about celebrities flocking to Nobu — whether it’s the star-studded Malibu location or the sleek outpost inside Miami Beach’s Eden Roc. Now, the iconic Japanese restaurant is making a major move across the causeway. Nobu Hospi- tality has announced plans to open a new res- taurant in Brickell, inside 619 Brickell, a 74-story waterfront tower rising just south of Icon Brick- ell. Designed by Foster + Partners in collabora- tion with Sieger Suarez Architects, the project marks Nobu’s first restaurant on the mainland, and its second in Miami, bringing a new level of luxury (and celebrity sightings) to the city’s fi- nancial district. The new location will occupy the ground floor of the tower and feature a circular dining room that overlooks Biscayne Bay. Developers 13th Floor Investments and Key International say the restaurant will be fully integrated into the building’s design, connecting directly with resi- dential and amenity spaces. areas. Nobu’s Miami story began exactly 24 years ago in 2001, when chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Robert De Niro, and Meir Teper opened the first Nobu restaurant in South Beach at the Shore Club on Collins Avenue. The South Beach outpost quickly became one of Miami’s most popular fine-dining destinations, serving its signature dishes like black cod miso, yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, and rock shrimp tempura. In 2014, the restaurant moved to the Eden Roc Miami Beach, where it later expanded into the Nobu Hotel Miami Beach. That property opened in 2016 as a hotel-within-a-ho- | TASTE TEST | >> p11
