Digital and dining worlds collide at Haven, the brand-new gastropub opening on Lincoln Road in South Beach today. The 2,000-square-foot space may be intimate—seating just 120 people—but it offers planners a range of high-tech audiovisual and branding options, including the ability to stream images (or project one large stand-alone image) on the restaurant's walls.
Running a close second to the digital display walls as the focal point of the room is Haven's open kitchen and chef's counter, which gives diners the chance to watch executive chef Todd Erickson and his team at work.
The counter, bars and tabletops are made from Siberian onyx and reclaimed American walnut, while the main area of the lounge features recycled black leather banquettes and ottomans and uplit low tables. The ceiling features a grid of lights resembling colored ice cubes, as well as soft, LED down-lighting, and an illuminated walnut-tree-shaped canopy. Outside, Haven offers sidewalk seating for 20.
Mike Boles, the entrepreneur who designed Haven, says the lounge will feature both sight and sound installations in an effort to mix cutting-edge design with an international menu and creative cocktail list. Chef Erickson, who joins Haven from downtown Miami's Zuma restaurant, will create locally inspired dishes such as rock shrimp with coconut panko and wasabi-sour peach marmalade, and desserts that blend gastronomy and science, such as ice cream created using liquid nitrogen.
Dinner and after-hours menus will be served daily from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., but Haven is also available for private events. Aside from the digital imaging available for the walls, the restaurant's tech features include a 35-speaker high-fidelity surround-sound system. Before creating Haven in Miami Beach, Boles made a name for himself with similarly high-tech venue, Compound, and Luckie Food Lounge, both in Atlanta.
