One of South Florida’s most anticipated openings of the year is finally happening: World famous Italian chef Massimo Bottura is ready to open his downtown Miami restaurant.
Bottura, whose restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, earned three Michelin stars, is opening a second location of Torno Subito on the rooftop of Miami food hall Julia & Henry’s on Flagler Street. The original Torno Subito in Dubai earned a Michelin star in 2022 .
Earlier this year, when Bottura was honored at the tribute dinner at the 2024 South Beach Wine & Food Festival, he told the Miami Herald that opening a restaurant in Miami wasn’t originally on his agenda. But as Michelin swept into the city and national publications started to notice Miami as a culinary destination, he changed his mind.
“I found an an amazing energy” in Miami, he said. “I feel it’s the place to be right now. The city is exploding. I want to be there.”
The new restaurant, which opens Aug. 21, will be helmed by chef de cuisine Bernardo Paladini, who was the chef at the Dubai Torno Subito. The Miami restaurant, Bottura told the Herald, will be different from the Dubai location and “all about Bernardo.”
Paladini, he said, has spent the past year and a half in Miami meeting farmers, fisherman, ranchers and cheesemakers, a crucial step in following Bottura’s mission of fostering relationships with providers.
“It’s very important to connect with all of the local farmers and fishermen and cheesemakers for ingredients,” he said. “This is one of the key points in all of our restaurants all over the world.”
Paladini said that local influences will definitely play a part in the menu.
“We want to bring our guests on an imaginary trip all over Italy, while also honoring and taking inspiration from the rich history, culture and landscape of Miami,” he said in a statement.
Of course, classic Italian dishes will on the menu. Diners can expect to find traces of Bottura’s passion project — eliminating food waste — in the pappa al pomodoro, which is made with day-old bread, tomato and Parmigiano Reggiano foam. Other specialties include I Love Tartar, in which the guests are able to create their own dish.
Guests will also find cacio e pepe and carbonara and can order the famous Emilia burger, a staple on many Bottura menus. The dish takes an American classic burger and infuses Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and balsamic vinegar into a patty made with rib eye and cotechino (Italian pork sausage).
The restaurant’s cocktail program will be curated with New York City’s Dante from the West Village, named the World’s Best Bar in 2019. Traditionally a magnet for Italian immigrants, Dante is best known for its aperitivos and other Italian drinking traditions.
With its carefully created cocktails and rooftop location in Miami’s changing downtown, Bottura envisions the restaurant as a nod to the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.
“Miami is always living la dolce vita,” he told the Herald.
Torno Subito
Where: Julia & Henry’s, 200 E. Flagler St., Miami
Opening: Aug. 21
Reservations: OpenTable
More information: tornosubitomia.com
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