Inside Amavi, the NYC Mediterranean Expat That Just Landed in Midtown Miami
Written by Eric Barton | July 13, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Amavi has opened its doors in Midtown Miami, bringing with it all the polished charm you'd expect from a New York transplant with a thing for hummus and cocktails.
The second outpost of the upscale Mediterranean spot landed at 3252 NE First Avenue, in the former Mau Miami space, complete with stone finishes, a 33-foot bar, and enough gold mesh netting overhead to make even the lighting feel dressed for dinner. It’s a block from my place, and I’ve walked past the place with my dog nearly every day watching it come to life—slowly, then suddenly, as these things tend to go in Miami.
The team behind Amavi—Jonathan Mansour, Igor Dze, Fallou Bathily, and Francesco Campoy—is banking on Miami’s ongoing love affair with grilled branzino, lamb chops glazed in pomegranate molasses, and burrata arranged with gallery-level precision.
Chef Tolga Mutlu, who trained in fine-dining kitchens and draws inspiration from the Aegean Coast and Greek markets, leads the kitchen. He takes over from opening chef Alp Karataslioglu, who helped launch the Miami location before returning to helm the original in New York. The menu leans plush: housemade mafaldine with rib ragu, lobster pasta with cherry tomatoes, slow-roasted short ribs nestled into cauliflower purée. Even the chicken breast comes with a sweet potato purée and a side of self-respect.
At the bar, the drinks go off-script. There’s the "Amavi Affair," made with gin, soju, lychee, and Mandarin Napoléon; an espresso martini riff with mazagran coffee; and a mezcal-sake yuzu concoction called the "Miami Nipona." Even the mocktails have flair: lemongrass, aloe, Marrakesh tea, and names like “Lychee Cloud.”
The design cues come from the Mediterranean, with tall archways, Venetian plaster walls, and an illuminated walkway that turns from centerpiece to catwalk once the DJ kicks in. Amavi starts polished and ends up pulsing, a space that evolves as the night does.
Whether it becomes a local fixture or just a glossy new neighbor, it’s already changed my walk route.
