WGM: Iran's Great Comeback, Sunset Harbor Restaurant Triangle, & Where's David Martin?

Plus Stormy Monday Pop Up, Huge Miami Shores Listing, & Tara Benmeleh Exhibition

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WHAT’S GOOD MIAMI: 2.24.26

Beach Business

• North Beach is getting a water-world, aptly named the Mermaid Club.

  Continuum launches 2000 Sport & Wellness Waterfront Residences

• Where’s David Martin? Boca Edition

  Terra’s frontman is behind One Boca, a major redevelopment play

Hospitality Local Insider

• Sunset Harbor: The Bermuda Triangle of Miami Beach Restaurants

  Is Sunset Harbor a good place to open a restaurant? Unclear.

• Fuku’s Back. Back Again. We did this before, but let’s pretend.

  David Chang’s chicken spot launches in Coral Gables. Didn’t we do this already?

• Pop Up Bar: Stormy Monday Bar

  Hospitality veterans behind Kyu, Kaori, and Wynwood’s Shiso, are opening a bar.

Real Estate

• Luxe Listings We Love: The Panorama House, Miami Shores

  21,450 SF lot with a beautifully designed 5,348 SF midcentury residence.

You Gotta Have Friends

• Art: Tara Benmeleh’s Moving Altar

  Tara Benmeleh is opening a solo show at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden.

• Arthur & Sons, NY Red Sauce joint opens in Jupiter, Florida

  Joe Isidori (& Jeff Lagowitz) have opened Arthur & Sons in Jupiter

Iran: The Greatest Comeback Story of the 21st Century Is Being Written

If you’ve ever had a Persian friend (me), dated a Persian (me), married into a Persian family (me), or simply been lucky enough to sit at their table, you already know. You know about the food that takes three days to make and disappears in twenty minutes. You know about the hospitality that makes you feel like the most important person in the room. You know about the style, effortless, elegant, always just right. You know about the music that starts after midnight and the dancing that doesn’t stop. You know about the mothers who feed you before you even sit down, the fathers who pour before you ask, the children who are raised to be proud of where they come from. Persian culture has been quietly one of the greatest gifts to every city it has touched, New York, Los Angeles, DC, London, and more recently Miami. From the real estate skylines they helped build to the restaurants they filled with life, from the Shabbat tables where they became family to the boardrooms, hospitals, and universities where a brilliant Persian mind is never hard to find. There is no pocket of leadership in the world, no industry, no discipline, no community, where Persians aren’t contributing meaningfully.

This is a culture that has been carrying its civilization in its suitcase for forty seven years. The diaspora kept it alive in Beverly Hills and on the Upper East Side and in Bal Harbour, the food, the language, the poetry, the values. Rumi’s words have been on more Instagram bios than any algorithm could explain, and that’s not an accident. It’s a 2,500-year-old civilization refusing to be forgotten. Cyrus the Great wrote the world’s first declaration of human rights. Persian scholars kept mathematics and medicine alive while the rest of the world went dark. Hafez and Rumi didn’t just write poetry, they wrote a philosophy of living that the world is still catching up to. This is the culture behind the dinner parties you never wanted to leave and the weddings that felt like the best night of your life.

And now, for the first time in a generation, there is a real possibility of going home. Not just for the diaspora, but for all of us who have been adopted into this culture, who have sat at the table, who have fallen in love with the people and the food and the warmth. A new Iran, one that reclaims its identity as a bastion of culture, intellect, beauty, and celebration, is one of the most exciting prospects on earth. The Caspian coast, the ancient ruins of Persepolis, the bazaars, the mountains, the cuisine that somehow gets better every time, all of it is waiting. This is an invitation. Follow the Persians home. Support them. Celebrate with them. The greatest comeback story of the 21st century is being written right now, and you’re going to want to say you were there.

BEACH BUSINESS

North Beach is getting a water-world, aptly named the Mermaid Club.

Continuum Company, the team behind the iconic South Beach tower, is heading north. Ian Bruce Eichner and his daughter Allie are launching 12000 Sport & Wellness Waterfront Residences at 12000 North Bayshore Drive in North Miami, a 20-story, 262-unit development sitting on 4.3 waterfront acres they scooped up in a $48.5 million bulk buyout last fall. The project spans condos, penthouses, and townhomes starting at $1.4 million, with design by Kobi Karp Architecture and interiors by Paul Duesing Partners.

The crown jewel is the Mermaid Club, a full waterfront amenity experience complete with a 20-slip marina, floating pools, paddle-boards, and kayaks. Think less amenity deck, more aquatic lifestyle. The building rounds it out with a spa, fitness center, indoor pickleball courts, sports simulators, and putting greens — basically everything you need to never leave home.