The anticipated opening of Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen’s new Aventura location is just around the corner. The new restaurant will open on Monday, December 18, 2023, serving lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.
Located at 2956 NE 199th Street, the 4,000 square-foot space that once was home to 800 Degrees Wood-Fired Kitchen has been transformed into a sprawling high-ceilinged, plant-filled space that evokes the Mediterranean via architectural details and light, neutral colors. With seating for more than 140, Abbalé Aventura is more than double the size of its South Beach namesake and includes a full service 13-seat bar serving Mediterranean and Israeli wines, beers and specialty cocktails, and a chef’s counter with seating for eight overlooking the restaurant’s open kitchen. A DJ will spin on select evenings in the buzzy lounge and there is also a private dining room that accommodates 12. The restaurant also plans to host cooking demonstrations, wine and cocktail tastings, and Shabbat dinners.
Co-owners Chef Sam Gorenstein and Pura Vida founder and entrepreneur Omer Horev jump-started Miami’s Israeli/Mediterranean dining trend with the opening of Abbalé’s first location in a cottage on South Beach in 2021. Immediately, they recognized that it was only a matter of time before they expanded the popular concept. They embarked on a search for a location for Abbalé’s second outpost, seeking an area that held the same significance for them as Abbalé South Beach. While Horev’s upbringing took place in a Moroccan Israeli household in Israel, Gorenstein’s culinary roots trace back to his Colombian upbringing, where he savored dishes prepared by his Syrian Jewish grandparents. The deliberate choice of Miami Beach’s enchanting South of Fifth neighborhood for the first restaurant paid homage to both partners’ beginnings in that community. Now, in Aventura, there is a special resonance for Gorenstein, who resides with his family in the neighborhood and actively engages with the surrounding community.
“Aventura is home for me and Abbalé is an extension of that,” offered Gorenstein in a statement. “From the kind of food we like to eat, to our welcoming space that is for everyone– from families to folks enjoying a special occasion or drinks at our beautiful bar – it’s a vibe that we look forward to sharing with the surrounding community. It’s great for us to be in this part of South Florida as we have so many visitors to our South Beach restaurant that come from Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, even Boca Raton and we’re happy they won’t have to travel so far and can visit us more often.”
Under Gorenstein’s supervision, executive chef Marcelo Palacios will take charge in the kitchen. Palacios first worked with Sam in 2009 as his sous chef when they opened BLT Steak and then went on to work as corporate chef for Prime 112. The kitchen at the new restaurant will offer kosher style dining, featuring many of the dishes that have put Abbalé on the map in Miami Beach with favorites all made fresh in-house. A wide variety of salatim including hummus with tahini, muhammara, and charred onion tahini as well as diner favorites like shakshuka with Moroccan spices, crispy halloumi with grapefruit salad, double cut lamb chops remain, as does much of the original menu. With a much larger kitchen to work with and a full bar and lounge, Gorenstein is expanding the menu to include a plethora of new dishes and a bar menu.
New offerings on the dinner menu as part of the Nisnushim (Snacks) category is Caviar and Chips – za’atar dusted golden chips served with a caramelized onion labneh spread and American sturgeon caviar. New salads debuting include Heirloom Tomato with Syrian olives, herbs, radishes, onions, long hot pepper and toasted pita as well as Roasted Beets and Avocado with pickled kumquat, Persian cucumber, pistachios, raw tahini and lemon. Mezze offerings now will include Ahi Tuna Tartare with preserved lemon, olive oil, Turkish pepper, labneh and nigella and Pan Roasted Haloumi served with warm Acacia honey, lemon and pistachio dukkah. The kitchen also avails Gorenstein the opportunity to serve more large format plates for Al Ha’esh – or main courses – including a 36-ounce Prime Kosher Ribeye for two, served with garlic confit and za’atar chimichurri’ and a line-caught Local Whole Fish for two, either salt crusted or wood grilled, served with a sauce Vierge, lemon, fresh oregano and olio verde.
The dessert menu benefits greatly from the addition of soft serve ice cream with flavors such as Har Bracha Tahini with olive oil and sea salt; Saffron & Rose, dusted with pistachios and rose petals and a Middle Eastern take on a banana split: the Persian Sundae featuring both the tahini and saffron & rose soft serve with pistachio-caramel brittle and Maldon Sea salt. Other sweet offerings include Basbousa, an Egyptian semolina cake served with Marcona almonds and saffron candied coconut; and Amaretto and Burnt Labneh Cheesecake topped with roasted strawberries.
Lunch will encompass many of the dinner offerings as well as a larger selection of salads, sandwiches, pitas, and bowls. Standout sandwiches will include a new House Smoked Beef Pastrami, served with cabbage slaw, pickled mustard and brined cucumbers on sourdough rye and a Chicken Schnitzel sandwich with matbucha, eggplant, cabbage slaw, Turkish pepper and tahini. Abbalé’s legendary Sunday Brunch will include a full menu enhanced with brunch items including Abba’s Breakfast – two pasture raised eggs, house-cured gravlax, Israeli salad, hummus, abba’s pickles, labneh, marinated olives, and toasted challah; Safta’s Fluffy Tahini Pancakes with salted silan butter, halvah and seasonal fruit compote; and Steak & Eggs – shawarma-spiced Wagyu steak, two pasture raised poached eggs, tomato-pepper braise, herb salad, tahini and toasted challah.
Orli Vadai, a sommelier, will oversee the restaurant’s wine list. The list is notable for its dive into lesser-known Mediterranean wines from Israel, Lebanon, Macedonia and other wine-producing countries not always given prominence on wine lists, as well as better known varieties from Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the USA. Specialty cocktails will include crafted mixes of herbs, flowers, and spices from the region, designed to perfectly complement the cuisine.
The restaurant’s design was overseen by Jen Horev, who was responsible for creating the South Beach restaurant’s coastal summer house look with plant-filled interiors and a breezy, stylish yet comfortable terrace. White brick walls and industrial floors and ceilings add light and space to the room, while handmade Moroccan tiles surround the chefs bar – a tie to Horev’s husband Omer’s Moroccan heritage. Soaring custom olive trees add natural beauty to the center of the space, which is filled with oversized curved rose colored leather banquettes. Rattan lighting fixtures and earthenware vessels continue the motif. One of the standout features is the oversized bar topped with muted green quartzite stone and white oak details. The outdoor covered terrace provides weatherproof al fresco dining and is entered through greenery-laden trellises boasting wooden banquettes strewn with pillows and travertine stone tables amid lush plants.
Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen Aventura is located at 2956 NE 199th Street in Aventura. Free parking is available. The restaurant will open on Monday, December 18, offering lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch. Catering will also be available for home parties and events as well as special holiday packages. To go and delivery will be offered via UberEats.
