At San Lorenzo, Miami’s New Waterfront Italian Spot, the Menu Is a Mystery
Written by Eric Barton | Photos by Scott Roth | May 30, 2025
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AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who splits his time between Asheville and Miami. He has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
In a city where restaurants routinely try to outdo each other with signature dishes showered with all manner of truffles and gold leafs, one of Miami’s newest concepts has decided to throw the menu out entirely. Literally.
At San Lorenzo, opening May 31 on a quiet stretch of the Miami River, you won’t be handed a laminated list of chef’s specials or QR code to squint at. Instead, your server will ask just one question: Carne o pesce? Meat or fish? Everything else—what you’re served, what you drink, how you feel about trusting strangers again—is up to them.
This is the latest trick from 84 Magic Hospitality, the team behind Coconut Grove’s Cotoletta, which similarly has a concept where the only menu choice is a veal chop the size of Sicily. At San Lorenzo, founders Andrea Fraquelli, Ignacio Lopez Mancisidor, and Mattia Cicognani are pushing that vision even further: an elegant, prix fixe dinner for two at $140, served without options or second-guessing. It’s Italian hospitality distilled into its most confident form.
Executive chef Giulio Rossi builds his dishes around old-world traditions and whatever’s freshest that day. There’s no big reveal, no course list, no “bites to begin.” You sit. You answer the question. And then you surrender to the chef’s whims.
That sense of ceding control extends to the wine and cocktail list too. Only one label per spirit. A short list of reds, because that’s what pairs best with the food they’ve chosen for you. A Negroni. A Bellini. That’s your choices.
Inside, the space seats just 44, styled like a Lake Como villa where the light somehow always looks golden. The bar channels a 1930s Venetian osteria. Outside, terracotta tiles lead to a 30-seat riverside patio lit by flickering candles.
Reservations are by phone only: 786-828-7136. Bring an appetite and a little faith.
