• 23 Sep

    Posted at 20:48h in Hospitality by
    From the neon sign that everyone who passes through Miami Beachโ€™s South of Fifth points out to a hidden culinary membership club in the Miami Design District. Thatโ€™s the leap that Major Food Group made last year by following up the South Beach it-spot Carbone with the enigmatic ZZโ€™s Club. The discreet venueโ€”packed in season, hushed during the summerโ€”marks the 26th MFG property in the world, and the second in Miami after Carbone. And like Carbone, ZZโ€™s Club has its roots in New Yorkโ€™s Greenwich Village; the high-concept temple of reinvented Japanese gastronomy takes its name from ZZโ€™s Clam Bar, another MFG restaurant and the smallest restaurant in the United States to have earned a Michelin star. (ZZ is the nickname of MFGโ€™s co-owner Jeff Zalaznick; his partners are Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi.) But everything else here is new and daring, from interior designer Ken Falkโ€™s curvy relief work on the walls, which looks like underwater racetracks, to chef Yasu Tanakaโ€™s richly sourced range of cooked and raw dishes. This is especially true of fish egg connoisseurs. Some of the most insanely flavorful and beautifully presented options are the caviar and avocado appetizer (with chopped bluefin tuna) and a sweet and savory โ€œtoastโ€: trout roe spread on a brioche doused with truffle honey.

    22 Sep

    Posted at 16:49h in Web Extras by

    [caption id="attachment_93641" align="alignleft" width="300"] Taxfyle Co-Founders William Sahatdjian, Richard Lavina, Michael Mouriz[/caption] After a year of unprecedented growth highlighted by securing $20 million Series B funding, Taxfyle is expanding into a 10,125 square foot office building at 2911 Grand Ave. in Coconut Grove, which will serve...

    21 Sep

    Posted at 01:17h in Education & Philanthropy, Homepage Banner by
    Junior Achievement gave 17-year-old Jayden Bonhomme something that school could not. And thatโ€™s the point. This is a story of burgeoning self-esteem, validation, and an epiphany that his varied interests could lead to a viable career path. Through its Youth Employment program, which is part of JA Career Bound, the organization helps teenagers prepare for the workforce. They learn interviewing skills, presentation skills, collaboration, conflict resolution, networking, how different companies in varied sectors functionโ€”in short, the real world. โ€œResearch says that students graduate from high school knowing only about five to eight jobs,โ€ says Laurie Sallarulo, president and CEO of JA of South Florida. The program serves to remedy that. For Bonhomme, JAโ€”and Career Bound, in particularโ€”made him envision a future as a health care administrator. โ€œI became acquainted with Junior Achievement in high school during my freshman year,โ€ Bonhomme recalls. โ€œI remember everyone was getting dressed up for mock interviews, and I thought, I want to be a part of that.โ€ The first time Bonhomme walked into JAโ€™s Town Square, for a field trip during his sophomore year, he noted the breadth of the organizationโ€™s reachโ€”various colleges, Broward Health, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, the FBI and the military were all represented.

    20 Sep

    Posted at 15:00h in Entrepreneurs & Business Strategy by
    Fort Lauderdale-based Seth Wise is the quintessential financial achiever, with his fingers in plenty of pies: As if it werenโ€™t enough to serve as the co-chief executive officer of the Altman Companies (which has built more than 26,000 rental apartments) and president of BBX Capital Real Estate, heโ€™s also on the board of Bluegreen Vacations (a fractional vacation ownership concern listed on the New York Stock Exchange) and a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council. Born in Washington, D.C., Wise earned a bachelor of science degree in finance at the University of Florida, and his is a true South Florida success storyโ€”throughout his career, he has managed approximately $3 billion of real estate assets in various classesโ€”but, like many successful businesspeople in a region that offers peerless quality of life, Wise has taken stock of his priorities during the pandemic era, welcoming working from home, a third dog, getting in shape and being home for dinner. He sounds like a man at ease, despite his myriad responsibilities. Who was the best mentor youโ€™ve ever had? Iโ€™ve been blessed with two mentors, Alan Levan [chairman of BBX Capital Corporation] and [vice chairman of BBX Capital] John Abdo, who has been his partner for the last 40 years. What was their mentorship style? Did you learn based on observations and osmosis, or was it more direct? It was both. Iโ€™ve been working with both of them since 1996, so Iโ€™ve had the opportunity to observe how theyโ€™ve handled themselves in times of extreme challenge and stress. The ability to observe how theyโ€™ve conducted themselves with high integrity โ€ฆ itโ€™s kind of remarkable. People donโ€™t believe this, but in the years that weโ€™ve been together, I donโ€™t think I can remember a time where anybody raised their voice or blamed somebody. Alan Levan, Jack Abdo, [president and CEO of BBX Capital] Jarett Levan and myself have worked together closely for all that time, and itโ€™s really just been about, how do we solve a problem when it comes up, not whose fault, or how did this happen? The mentorship has been about maintaining a calmness even in the face of crisis that allows you to tackle the problem and not get lost in the emotion.
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