27 Aug How Pura Vida Grew Out of Omer and Jenn Horev’s Special Bond

PASSION PROJECT “Pura Vida started as a passion project for me,” Omer says of his and his wife Jen’s chain of comfortably chic, healthy-casual dining spots. He readily acknowledges that he and Jen came not from the culinary world, but from real estate. The two met cute, in 2014. Both were working for small real estate firms in Broward: Omer had a listing and Jen brought in the buyer. They were sold on each other. He was darkly handsome and swarthy—he emigrated from Tel Aviv when he was 21—while Jen, though born in Chicago, was a Fort Lauderdale girl, blond and sun-kissed. They married three years ago and have a four-month-old at home. The genesis for Pura Vida had been, he says, on the back-burner—until he met Jen, who convinced him to quit his real estate job and chase his dream. “I was always passionate about hospitality and community,” he says. “I identified areas where people live, work and play to offer that third place”—not home, not the office, but an inviting atmosphere where people could eat, work and be a bit social. Omer’s real estate background came in handy when prospecting for fertile ground for third places. Starbucks and Panera Bread set the mold for the third-place concept, but as Omer says, “I wanted a more elevated experience, a better guest experience.” The Pura Vida openings occurred in quick succession: South Beach, in the South of Fifth neighborhood (2012), Coral Gables, near the University of Miami (2016), Edgewater (2018), Miami Design District (2019), West Avenue in South Beach and West Palm Beach (2020), followed by Aventura (2021). The two traded a honeymoon in order to launch the Design District location (“I owe her a honeymoon,” Omer says, with a chuckle), but their riskiest bet was arguably West Avenue, with Omer thinking he could succeed where other casual and health food venues had foundered. Despite its location across the street from numerous high-rise condominium buildings, West Avenue between Ninth and 10th is a notoriously hard nut to crack. But Omer and Jen turned the block into a destination, as young entrepreneurs quickly flocked—and continue to flock—to the garden-like setting for wraps, juice shots and healthy bowls, all-day breakfast (almond berry toast, avocado smash), and an addictive chocolate peanut butter smoothie with a base of organic, grass-fed chocolate protein. “I think we created a community of health-minded people who care about what they’re putting in their bodies and care about being in a great space,” Jen says. “We get families, businessmen, yoga moms.” Omer adds that their customer base is so devoted that they see people coming in not only a few times a week, but a few times a day.