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Austin chef Paul Qui is taking his first step outside the city with a new restaurant in Miami, as first reported by Food & Wine. It will be part of Faena Hotel Miami Beach, a new Florida-based hotel. No further details are known about his concept.
Two other chefs will join him at the hotel: Gabriel Ask, from Los Angeles, will become the hotel’s executive chef, and Francis Mallmann will open his first American restaurant with Los Fuegos, focusing on Argentine asado.
Qui is keeping himself busy. He is also working on opening Otoko, an intimate sushi counter, as part of the South Congress Hotel. The hotel is set to open sometime this summer.Then there’s, of course, Qui and the various East Side King ventures,
Eater has reached out to Qui for more information; watch this space for updates.
Update, 2:55 p.m.: Austin restauranteur Jesse Herman will also be part of Qui's Miami venture with his New Waterloo hospitality group. The two are already working together on Otoko in the South Congress Hotel, which will open next month, according to Herman. Herman told Eater, "It's not every day that you get one like that." He added, "I think it's a really cool phase of the overall development of the Austin dining scene," where local chefs are being enlisted in projects typically reserved for New York or Los Angeles.
Herman said that the unnamed restaurant isn't about dropping Qui there, but rather using his food "as the basis for everything." It will be "custom designed for Miami."
It's also a "once in a lifetime" chance for Herman and Qui to work with the creative team at the hotel. This includes the developer behind the hotel Alan Faena, along with film director and designer Baz Luhrmann and his wife, Catherine Martin. The couple will work on the design of the hotel. He said they're aiming to open on Sunday, November 1, just in time for Art Basel in December.
In a press release, Qui said Alan Faena "explained that he doesn't want to build buildings, but create culture. That is definitely something I can stand behind."
