Category: Business

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Vida & Estilo Restaurant Group | V&E Hospitality Group (V&E), which translates to Life and Style in Spanish, is a culinary industry pioneer behind some of the most recognizable and finest restaurant concepts. The brand exudes lifestyle concepts that blend gastronomy, mixology, entertainment and unique vibes into their locations.

V&E’s award-winning portfolio includes Cafe Americano, PaperFish, Barsecco, Oh! Mexico, La Cerveceria de Barrio, Havana 1957, Cortadito Coffee House, Marabú and Mercato Della Pescheria.  A second PaperFish recently opened on Espanola Way,  and the team revamped the iconic Ocean Drive News Cafe and Oh! Mexico Taco Shop. The July ED Business Newsletter spotlights Jamil Dib, co-founder and owner of V&E Restaurant Group.

  1. Please share the history of your restaurant concepts and what inspired you to open in Miami Beach?

Vida & Estilo opened its first restaurant in 1997. Our inspiration, for moving from Mexico to Miami Beach,  was about changing our lifestyle. We were spurred by the magic of Miami Beach and I am now proud to call the city my home.

  1. How would you describe the atmosphere and ambiance of your restaurant concepts?

Our concepts are about having a memorable experience. We curate our locations with absolute dedication to the theme and restaurant concept. The relaunched News Cafe, an operation in partnership with Goldman Properties, and dedicated a great amount of effort to recreating the essence and spirit, past, present and future, of Ocean Drive and South Beach.

  1.  Please share some of your popular culinary offerings, and what makes them stand out?

We are proud to highlight Cuban cuisine at Havana 1957, which was the second restaurant for Vida & Estilo.  We now have five Havana 1957 locations, the first opened over a decade ago on Española Way, and was recently included in the Best Cuban Foods in Miami listing, specifically highlighting our vaca frita (fried shredded beef). Havana 1957 is also known for our signature chicken, Pollo Havana, a family recipe, which is oven cooked for 3 1/2 hours and marinated for 72 hours. Additionally, our Japanese food lovers enjoy our signature sushi roll, the Acevichada, at PaperFish, which is wildly popular in Miami Beach and Miami.

  1. What unique ingredients or cooking techniques do you use in your dishes?

We use a Josper oven at Mercato Della Pescheria. It is a charcoal oven that allows us to combine tradition elements with modern and innovative cookery. We also enjoy cooking with seafood and fish, such as our celebrated branzino, and preparing savory meats with this coal grilling technique.

  1. How do you source your ingredients, and do you prioritize using locally sourced or organic products?

Our purchasing department is constantly improving our selection of quality products, produce and vendors. We strive  to source  local, where  possible, and keep a close eye on availability and value.  We purposely work to keep our food cost reasonable to preserve a menu that is cost-friendly to our clientele.

  1.  What kind of dining experience can customers expect when they come to your restaurants, and how do you ensure high-quality service?

Excellence and honesty are on the menu. Our food is what attracts patrons, and our customer service, reputation, cleanliness, safety, decor are the added essentials that complete the dining atmosphere. We pay close attention to the entire diner experience and make it memorable.

7. What steps do you take to accommodate dietary restrictions and personal preferences?

Being able to accommodate dietary restrictions and personal preferences, such as vegetarian and gluten free options, is key to our dining delivery and our customer service. For example, Cortadito Coffee House offers a variety of non-dairy options, such as  a café con leche with an assortment of milk choices, which has been widely indulged and appreciated by our patrons.

  1. What are your future plans and goals, and how do you plan to continue growing and evolving?

Adapting, transforming, and understanding the needs of our consumers and cultivating the next generation of patrons is our plat du jour.

We are working to understand and foster our younger culinary consumers, nurture our existing Miami Beach diners, making our restaurants “must experience” destinations, and continuing to grow our culinary offering in the ever expanding hospitality and gastronomy world.

For more information, please visit: https://www.verestaurants.com

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On July 16, 1987, the Miami Beach Theater of Performing Arts was renamed the Jackie Gleason Theater, in honor of the television star who boldly proclaimed at the end of all his shows that “Miami Beach audiences are the greatest in the world!”

Built in 1950 and initially known as The Miami Beach Municipal Auditorium, the auditorium was substantially renovated in the 1970s by renowned architect Morris Lapidus and renamed the Miami Beach Theater of Performing Arts. The venue played host to Jackie Gleason’s American Scene Magazine show (renamed The Jackie Gleason Show in 1966) after it moved to Miami Beach from New York in 1964. Gleason’s love of Miami Beach led to his viewers flocking to Miami Beach to experience what Gleason called the “sun and fun capital of world”.

From the theater’s inception in 1950 to the present, it has hosted historic and memorable song and dance performances, comedy, boxing matches, pageants and iconic entertainment including, but not limited to, The Ed Sullivan Show, dazzling musical performances from stars like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to classical musicians like Yitzhak Perlman and Vladimir Horowitz, bringing 73 years of audiences, tourists and visitors to the Miami Beach business community.

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Do you have a plan for when the Sunshine State isn’t as sunny? Join our webinar to learn about the resources and tools available to best prepare your business ahead of hurricane season. You’ll hear how VISIT FLORIDA, Expedia, the Florida Department of Commerce, and the Florida Division of Emergency Management work together before, during, and after a storm to support Florida residents and businesses.

Click here to register.

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With the weather heating up and the Fourth of July fast approaching, thousands of Florida residents and visitors will be heading to our world-class beaches this month. People aren’t the only ones that love coming to our beaches every summer. July is also peak nesting season for both sea turtles and shorebirds, and many other creatures both large and small inhabit sandy shores. In honor of Clean Beaches Week, celebrated July 1 through 7, here are tips to help keep our beaches healthy and beautiful.

Pick up trash

Be mindful of shorebirds and sea turtles

Steer clear of dunes

Fill holes in the sand

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Earlier this year, the State of Florida secured nearly half a billion dollars in loan funding specifically targeted for Florida small businesses and entrepreneurs. Approximately $142 million dollars of the total $488 million is currently available to fuel small business growth.

The Florida State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) is administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity with the goal of promoting small business lending, supporting small business growth within Florida, and creating jobs that support families and build strong economies. SSBCI can help businesses in any industry access credit for any business purpose even if they don’t have much collateral, are in a rural area, are very small, or new. There are several loan options available to meet the needs of the individual businesses, including:

Collateral Support Program: Enables financing that otherwise might be unavailable due to collateral shortfall.

Loan Participation Program: Supports a private loan by either acting as a companion loan or purchasing a portion of a loan already made by the private lender.

Loan Guarantee Program: Guarantees a loan or line-of-credit for eligible small businesses.

For more information, please click here.

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The Miami-Dade Business Navigator (MDBN) program is an exciting local initiative funded (in part) through a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It is led by the Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at Florida International University’s College of Business (FIU Business) in partnership with six experienced community organizations: Ascendus, Branches, the EDC of South Miami-Dade, the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Prospera, and StartUP FIU Procurement.

Through the program, the group of community partners will connect with underserved local entrepreneurs in Miami-Dade County to launch, grow and revitalize their businesses. The MDBN program focuses on small businesses—including microbusinesses with fewer than 10 employees—owned by women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Webinars will begin in July, click here to view the full listing of events and to register.

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The Small Business Growth Fund is back! In partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and with funding from Etsy and Progressive, the Small Business Growth Fund provides small business owners the capital they need to make their next move. Recipients will receive $5,000 – $25,000 grants to accelerate their growth and achieve their goals in 2023.

Applications are due by July 21, 2023. To apply click here.

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The Small Business Growth Fund is back! In partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and with funding from Etsy and Progressive, the Small Business Growth Fund provides small business owners the capital they need to make their next move. Recipients will receive $5,000 – $25,000 grants to accelerate their growth and achieve their goals in 2023.

Applications are due by July 21, 2023. To apply click here.

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This free virtual hospitality training session will focus on Developing a Service Culture; Onboarding Seasonal Teams and Developing Plans of Action. The session is 90 minutes in duration, followed by a 15-minute Q&A with your Forbes Travel Guide Executive Trainer.

To register for this training click here.

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Small-business owners can apply for a $25,000 grant offered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Top Small Business Awards. Eligible businesses will have fewer than 250 employees or less than $20 million in revenue for both 2021 and 2022.

Businesses will go through several rounds of judging to select an eventual winner. About 70 finalists will receive a yearlong membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and seven top finalists will get recognition during an award ceremony.

The deadline to apply is July 7, 2023. Click here to apply.