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The kitten that has
a few folks up in arms. |
The critically acclaimed Pacific Time
restaurant died last week, at age 14, from a
combination of high rent and dining apathy, said the venue’s
owner, Jonathan Eismann. “We had a great 14-year run
and we were the icon of Miami Beach restaurants for years
and years,” Eismann said.
Indeed,
during a visit last Thursday to an already shut-down Pacific
Time at 915 Lincoln Road, Murmurs could not help but notice a
glass enclosure where all of the Pan-Asian seafood restaurant’s
accolades from the media and dining critics were displayed.
According to a manager, Pacific Time closed down on Tuesday,
June 19. A very slow summer “off-season” was the nail in Pacific
Time’s coffin. “I decided last week that that’s what needed
to happen,” Eismann said.
When he
opened in 1993, the rents were cheap and the crowds “more
artsy and a lot higher end.” Now there is a “much more
casual mainstream clientele” and the rents are way
higher. “Since I opened up, the [rents] went up by more than
500 percent.” Eismann hopes to relocate to the Design
District, where the rents are lower and, he says, the people
more appreciative of fine dining. Whether or not the new
restaurant will be a resurrected Pacific Time remains to be
determined.
News of
Pacific Time’s closure was greeted with shock by fellow
restaurant operators on the Road.
“No
way! It’s impossible,” said David Aguilar, general
manager of Sibilla Ristorante at 833 Lincoln Road.
“Wow, I
can’t believe that,” Julian Gianatiempo, the manager of
Paninoteca, said.
The
Sterling Building, Inc.,
owned by Sam Herzberg, is Pacific Time’s now former
landlord. No one from Sterling Building, Inc. could be reached
by Murmurs by early deadline. However, rents all over Lincoln
Road have been skyrocketing ever since renovation work was
completed back in ’98.
“We were
paying last year $22,000 a month,” said Aguilar, whose
restaurant is one of 154 run by the Sibilla by Bice
chain. “Now we pay $37,000 a month.”
Higher
costs are also influencing Paninoteca’s future plans. In a few
months, Paninoteca, a cramped shop at 809 Lincoln Road that
serves gourmet sandwiches, salads and entrées, plus beer and
wine, will be renovating and adding a full bar. “We are
going to make room,” Gianatiempo declared. Customers have
been asking for harder liquor, especially at night, he said, and
liquor is where the money’s at, though he added that business
was already good.
Incidentally, another high-profile restaurant has bitten the
dust. Though opening on Lincoln Road only recently, the New
York-based Cafeteria came into existence with much
fanfare when it renovated an old Cadillac dealership space at
546 Lincoln Road (including revealing the old 1920s façade). Yet
food reviews were less than complimentary and customers often
complained of the high prices. Another blow: Following fierce
opposition from nearby residents, the city’s Planning Board
revoked permission for the eatery to use its
third-floor roof lobby. After Memorial Day weekend,
Cafeteria shut down. Calls to management for the Cafeteria
restaurant in New York were greeted with a “No, the owners
don’t want to talk to you” remark and a swift hang-up. A
sign on the South Beach location’s door stated: “Cafeteria
Restaurant Has Closed Business. For any information or
inquiries except lease information please call Mr. Richard
Diaz, assistant trustee…. For lease/space information
please call Chariff Realty….” Calls to Chariff Realty
were not returned. However, Richard Diaz, the court-appointed
trustee, did provide what details he could, informing Murmurs
that a judge ensured that at least most of the employees were
paid through Memorial Day weekend, though there was a
long line of creditors. Cafeteria, as operated by Vice
President Mark Thomas Amadei, went from Chapter 11,
basically a corporate reorganization, to Chapter 7, bankruptcy.
“I
knew like two years ago that [Cafeteria] was going to
close,” Sibilla’s Aguilar said. “They didn’t have a good
concept.”
Does
a Bear…
On
Tuesday, June 19, an extension of Bear Smirnoff’s arraignment
date was entered on his behalf because his pretrial conferences
continued beyond its originally scheduled date, according to the
Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office records.
Smirnoff
is the name-changing park-goer who called Miami
Beach Police and was subsequently arrested in Pine Tree
Park last month, charged with two felony counts of
illegally recording someone without consent.
By all
reports, Smirnoff’s claim of someone wielding a shotgun
in the park was probably an example of miscommunication
between police dispatchers and Smirnoff.
Arrested
as Bear Smirnoffi (one of eight aliases listed in
county documents in conjunction with his name), he was hauled
back to jail soon after his release, when his bond was
revoked, reportedly because he provided false information
in regard to his finances. County records show he legally
changed his name from Marc Bryant Reidler to Bear
Smirnoff in 1992.
Soon
after this paper ran a story on the events taking place at the
park, a mysterious four-page fax was transmitted to the
SunPost office, included what appears to be e-mail
correspondence between Smirnoff and Responsible Dog
Owners of Miami Beach President Lucia Greer, about an e-mail
allegedly broadcast by Greer, alerting all dog owners that “The
State Highway Patrol in conjunction with the FBI
has issued a warning advising all dog owners to keep their
dogs indoors until further notice. Dogs are being picked
off one at a time on an almost continual basis throughout
the city.” Further pages apparently illustrate Smirnoff’s
response to that e-mail: “This is not normal behavior,”
referring to the “apocalyptic e-mail,” and ending it with wishes
for “great success, hopefully lifting your standards and not
just poop bags….”
Lucia
Greer says the e-mails are another communication misfire. “That
e-mail was a joke,” she told Murmurs, and that there was
a crucial missing image, depicting a kitten whose alleged
involvement might have led to the confusion.
The fax,
addressed to the SunPost article’s author, was signed on
a handwritten cover sheet: “From Sminoff [sic]. 5 pages.
Thank you!” A typo? A hoax? A missing page that explains
everything from what the fax is about to why dropped toast
always lands peanut butter-side down? The SunPost staff
remains baffled.
Smirnoff’s new arraignment date is scheduled for Thursday,
June 28 at 9 a.m. No attorney has been entered into the
public record, and a public defender has not yet been
identified.
Another View
To some,
the Miami Herald’s sudden fascination with the
questionable way the city of Miami runs its affordable
housing program gives optimism that the daily paper, now
that it’s under the McClatchy Newspapers wing, has become
a crusading watchdog against government mismanagement. To
others, the latest round of “House of Lies” articles
targeting Miami officials, particularly Community Development
Director Barbara Gomez, is just plain yellow
journalism. “Some of us know that Miami Herald [sic]
is not providing all of the facts. And half truths
then become a vehicle for vicious tabloid [sic],” stated an
e-mail message signed by “MTA, artist.” “And so I draw a
picture of what some of us believe is happening today (see
attached). Any comments are welcomed.”
The
drawing: a depiction of three Miami Herald reporters as
hovering angels, “praying” (or preying) as Gomez is cooked alive
in a stew pot. So what do you think? Like MTA said, any comments
are welcome.
Got
Murmurs? E-mail
editorial@miamisunpost.com.
Comments? E-mail
letters@miamisunpost.com.
