Two new Asian-Mediterranean fusion restaurants offer options suited for meetings and after-work entertaining.
1. Sawa Restaurant and Lounge opens this week inside the Village of Merrick Park shopping center in Coral Gables. The intimate 2,500-square-foot restaurant can seat 60 and has a 50-inch flats-creen TV over the bar that can connect to a laptop or other media device for presentations. An additional 12 seats are also available at the bar.
Sawa's 1,500-square-foot patio can hold 250 for an after-work reception. The patio doubles as a hookah lounge in the evenings, with a menu of shisha tobacco in 22 flavors, including double apple, guava, and strawberry margarita.
2. Further north, Tonino Lamborghini’s Caffe Corsa is part of the Village of Gulfstream Park dining and entertainment complex in Aventura. The 6,000-square-foot restaurant has unobstructed views of the complex and can seat about 200 people in a classroom arrangement. Five TVs suspended from the ceiling around the perimeter of the space can be used for presentations. For smaller groups, two semiprivate dining areas for eight and 12 each have a TV with laptop adapter capabilities. The entire restaurant is also equipped with Wi-Fi.
Caffe Corsa's menu consists of homemade pastas, assorted meats and cheeses, and handmade Neapolitan pizzas and can be customized for groups.