Personal Best: Thomas Kramer
Thomas Kramer arrived amid much
fanfare as the man who would rescue the blighted realm
of South Pointe (Miami Beach’s south of Fifth Street
neighborhood) in the early 1990s. After all, the former
commodities broker from Frankfurt was buying up
properties all over that area — and with cash no less.
But many in South Beach became less enamored of Kramer
owing to his antics (he has been accused of sexual
assault a few times; opened a club called Hell, which
allegedly under Kramer’s instructions barred gay and/or
ugly people; reportedly threw wine in the face of a
homeless man, etc.). Kramer’s plans to inflate the value
of his land holdings by getting them zoned for massive
high-rises were, in fact, very much the inspiration for
the grassroots-driven Save Miami Beach charter
amendment, requiring voter approval for zoning increases
along the waterfront. Despite Kramer investing more than
a million bucks to defeat the measure in 1997, voters
overwhelmingly passed it. Not that it burned Kramer too
badly: He still made profits in the tens of millions by
selling most of his parcels to The Related Group.
Although he seems to have chilled out a bit over the
years, he isn’t completely out of the frying pan. In
April, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court ruled he must repay
$108 million owed to his ex-in-laws, who financed his
land-buying spree, the Miami Herald reported.
All
this got us wondering what Kramer’s got cooking.
What’s
new on your horizon?
An
Internet project. I plan to introduce the ultimate,
user-friendly network in early 2008. Check my Web page,
www.thomaskramer.com, for more details.
We read
you wanted to create your own cooking reality show. Did
it go anywhere?
Yes and
no. The original idea of a cooking show was replaced
with a reality concept that is now being played on
Europe’s biggest channel RTL in primetime. You can watch
clips of my show on my blog: http://tkblog.wordpress.com.
When
did your interest in cooking begin?
Since I
was a young child. My interest in food began when I
started to “spice up” my mother’s cooking.
Are
there any similarities between cooking and developing
high-rises?
Yes,
many. When cooking, you have to have the vision, the
creativity and stamina to arrange and prepare a meal
that passes the test of even the stiffest critics.
In
developing high-rises it’s similar. First you must have
a vision, then the creativity to design the project and
finally the stamina to overcome all the obstacles and
problems inherent to real estate development. And,
finally, you must be able to pass the tests of all the
community (and SunPost) critics.
How
have Miami Beach and Miami changed since you came here
in the early 1990s?
The
area developed into the American Riviera.
What
Miami Beach and Miami treasures have disappeared that
you miss?
The
models and the hip crowd.
What do
you like best about Miami-Dade?
We have
the best weather, no air pollution, the greatest mix of
people, the third-largest international airport (just a
few minutes away), the salsa influence of the Latins,
the efficiency of the Americans and the flair of the
Europeans!
What do
you like least about Miami-Dade?
Too few
locals who speak English.
What
are the best restaurants in Miami-Dade?
Quattro, The Forge, Prime 112 and newcomer DeVito’s.
Who are
the best chefs here, past and/or present?
Me!
Would
you like to open your own restaurant?
I will
definitely open my own restaurant one day, and it will
be located on some great waterfront with a huge outside
bar. Inside will be a top-rated international restaurant
that becomes a club at night, like The Forge.
Do you
still go out clubbing? If so, where?
Yes. I
go to Set and Mynt.
If you
were a sandwich, what kind would you be?
Rare
roast beef with Swiss cheese and bacon on a toasted
French baguette with spicy mayonnaise.
If you
knew you were going to die and could choose your final
meal, what would it be?
I’d
cook my cognac lobster bisque (with a lot of cognac) and
Wiener schnitzel with my special German potato salad.
—
Interview by Erik Bojnansky and Robin Shear
