Café Crème and Rotisserie Chicken Concept Coming to Buena Vista and Little Haiti

Just a year after debuting Café Crème in North Miami next door to the Museum of Contemporary Art, owners Claude Postel and Cory Finot have announced the opening of an outpost in Buena Vista. The founders of the popular Buena Vista Deli sold their French bakery and café after the location became too expensive, but they've always wanted to return to their old neighborhood. So when the developers of Upper Buena Vista, a 60,000-square-foot mixed-use center just north of the Design District, approached Postel and Finot about becoming tenants, they jumped at the opportunity.

Café Crème's second location will measure only 500 square feet and won't have its own kitchen; it will be a point of sale for items delivered daily from the much larger original spot. Rest assured you'll be able to find their signature homemade French pastries, breads, quiches, and sandwiches. Outdoor seating will be available, and because many of the neighboring businesses are green and organic, Café Crème will also offer healthier options such as açaí bowls, Finot says.

The plan is to open in January 2018, and the hope is the venture will help expand the Café Crème brand. Finot says in one year, the North Miami location has already generated better sales than Buena Vista Deli. Both partners are excited to be a part of the Upper Buena Vista project, which is being billed as a green and lively community-oriented development. Their neighbors will be as diverse as a hair salon and an African art store.
As if planning a Café Crème outpost weren't enough, the two French restaurateurs and business partner Romain Breton are launching another concept next month: an organic rotisserie chicken eatery in Little Haiti. Sixty10 Miami will begin as a takeout-only concept offering whole, half, and quarter birds, as well as chicken sandwiches on Portuguese rolls; chicken salad; and fries. That said, Sixty10 occupies a massive space that can seat up to 600 diners outside. Once takeout operations have been honed, the concept will become a full-service restaurant. There will also be a small trailer parked outside serving coffee and fresh juice. Finot says the tree-filled venue boasts a beer-garden vibe.

Five years ago, Postel bought a gas station with an adjoining restaurant in Little Haiti, and now the partners are renovating the kitchen so they can use it for Sixty10. The casual eatery will be located across the street from Magic City Studios: developer Tony Cho and investor Bob Zangrillo's 45,000-square-foot "innovation district" between NE Second Avenue and NE 60th and 64th Streets.

Since the project was announced, observers have been calling Little Haiti the next Wynwood. Finot, who used to work for Wynwood mastermind Tony Goldman, invited well-known Haitian graffiti artists Serge Toussaint and Astre74 to paint murals on the restaurant. In an homage to his mentor, who was the visionary behind Wynwood Walls, Finot calls the art project "Little Haiti Walls."

"The chicken concept is going to be very unique," Finot says. "For us, it’s in memory of Tony Goldman and the link we want to make between Wynwood and Little Haiti."

Prior to coming to Miami, Claude Postel, a two-Michelin-starred chef in France, was a highly respected toque in Montreal. Rotisserie chicken is hugely popular in that Canadian city, and he learned many secret rub recipes. One item the restaurateurs are particularly excited about serving at Sixty10 is an organic chicken and potato sandwich where the potato is drenched in the chicken's rich juice.

Café Crème. 5010 NE Second Ave., Miami; cafecrememiami.com. Opening January 2018. Sixty10 Miami. 6010 NE Second Ave., Miami; sixty10miami.com. Opening date to be announced.