Developer Silvia Coltrane’s inner circle gathered at a private dinner in mid-July – complete with camera crews and a home-cooked meal by one of Brazil’s more famous chefs, Henrique Fogaça.
The MasterChef Brasil judge is looking to open a restaurant in Miami by 2018, Guilherme Fogaça, Henrique’s brother and business manager, told The Real Deal. And Coltrane, who focuses on North Beach, Surfside and neighboring areas, along with Real Estate Transactions International agent Patricia Prado, are working with him to find a space.
Fogaça has looked at sites in North Beach, Wynwood and Miami Beach that will seat from 80 to 100 people with outdoor space. The Fogaças are coming back to South Florida at the end of the month to negotiate the final location.
The Brazilian chef is considering opening at the Ocean Terrace project, which has yet to break ground, or a future development by Coltrane in Surfside.
In all, they plan to spend up to $4 million on the restaurant, and duplicate what the MasterChef has done in Brazil with more of an emphasis on seafood, Guilherme Fogaça told TRD.
The restaurant will mark the first in the United States for the Brazilian chef, his brother said. While the Brazilian economy has tanked over the past year, Guilherme Fogaça told TRD that it has nothing to do with their decision to go overseas. Brazil’s interest in Miami real estate, once the top country searching for properties in Miami, has also dropped – although it is still in the top 10.
In Sao Paolo, Fogaça has one restaurant and two bars, including Sal Gastronomia.
In addition to being a MasterChef Brasil judge, Henrique Fogaça is also the subject of his own reality TV show, “200 Graus,” which translates to “200 Degrees.” The 13-episode show will air this year and has documented the search for a South Florida restaurant after filming in different areas for about a week combined, a spokesperson for the show told TRD.
Included in that is the six-course dinner with Coltrane, Prado, former Miami Beach Mayor and attorney Neisen Kasdin, entrepreneur Felix Sabates, architect Luis Revuelta, and developer Sandor Scher, among others. (Coltrane was heavily involved in Scher’s Ocean Terrace assemblage.)
A reported 60 percent of restaurants don’t make it past the first year, and 80 percent go under in five years, according to a University of Ohio study, but Fogaça will start small. He’s already committed to designing the menu at Coltrane’s newly opened Residence Inn by Marriott in Surfside.
“We’re taking a look at downtown Miami and Wynwood,” Guilherme Fogaça said. “But we like North Beach.”
A gang ta pesada ….em breve no Discovery Home & Health???
A photo posted by HENRIQUE FOGAÇA (@henrique_fogaca74) on