Graspa Group, the team behind the Miami mainstays Segafredo, Salumeria 104 and Spris brands, is teaming up with a celebrity bartender on a new concept at CANVAS in the heart of Miami's Arts + Entertainment District. 

Dubbed “Esotico Miami,” the concept will be located in the ground floor at CANVAS, located at 1630 NE 1st Avenue. Esotico Miami will offer modern tropical cuisine and hand-crafted, exotic cocktails by internationally celebrated bartender Daniele Dalla Pola. It will also provide a home base for local musical talent, a cornerstone of the Arts + Entertainment District mission, featuring live music several nights a week. Esotico Miami will serve dinner and late-night cocktails with seating approximately 100.

“We’re delighted that Graspa has chosen the Arts + Entertainment District for its next venture,” said Nir Shoshani of NR Investments, the developer behind CANVAS and Filling Station Lofts. “This is the team that has made Segafredo one of the most beloved neighborhood cafés in Miami, and we’re confident that Esotico Miami will be equally magical, and become the de facto ‘living room’ for the Arts + Entertainment community. Graspa’s focus on good food and good people, combined with Daniele’s thoroughly original approach to cocktails, is a winning recipe.”

Graziano Sbroggio, founder of Graspa Group, and Dalla Pola launched Segafredo together in the 1990s. Dalla Pola honed his craft in Miami before returning to Italy to launch a restaurant and two successful cocktail establishments. He owns his own rum brand, Alamea and was nominated best bartender in the rum category at the International Rum Conference in Madrid, and one of the best bartenders in the world by Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.

“Daniele is a true artist, and every great artist needs a good manager behind him,” said Sbroggio. “He was the first to suggest the location at CANVAS and it didn’t take long to convince me. We see a lot of people moving into the Arts + Entertainment District. It has great connectivity to Downtown, Wynwood and Miami Beach and has a really strong community of local artists and entrepreneurs. We see this as the next great neighborhood in Miami.”

Alex Acker and Frank Rodriguez Melo of Cedano Realty Advisors represented the parties in the transaction to lock up the 2,700 SF space on the ground floor southeast corner of CANVAS. Esotico Miami is expected to open this fall (2018).