Segafredo Opening at Bayside Marketplace

Despite changing times for Lincoln Road, one bistro remains a constant for both locals and tourists alike. Segafredo L'Originale, which opened in 2000 and brings a bit of Italian café life to the pedestrian mall, serves cappuccinos and cocktails to people and their coiffed canines who frequent the outdoor spot as much for its prime people watching as for its pizzas. Segafredo remains one of the last remaining local hangouts on that South Beach strip.

Now, the restaurant is opening another location in another mixed-use tourist stomping ground. Segafredo Bayside, set to open September 2015, will be located at Bayside Marketplace, on the center's amphitheater waterfront plaza. 

The café will consist of a 580-square-foot kiosk complete with a self-contained kitchen and full bar. The kiosk itself will seat 25 people at the bar. An additional 2,500-square-foot covered space will seat another 65 patrons. The space will be decorated with red-and-white lounge chairs, for comfortable cocktailing.

Speaking of cocktails, a team of four bartenders will shake European-inspired libations like Aperol Spritz and Pimms' Cup. In addition to cocktails, Segafredo Bayside will offer local Wynwwod Brewing beers on tap. If it's hot outside (a sure bet in Miami), the Beer Froster, a special refrigeration unit, makes sure your beer is within a few degrees of freezing, giving new meaning to the term "I'll have a cold one." Segafredo Miami's menu will be basically the same as the Miami Beach location, serving up pizzas, salads, tapas, and wraps. 

Segafredo Bayside's partners, Luca Voltarel, along with Graziano Sbroggio of Graspa Group and Mark Soyka, decided to open a location at Bayside because of the marketplace's expansion plans. The center, which opened in 1987, was once a thriving waterfront entertainment complex that attracted both tourists and locals to its shops, restaurants, and marina. Now, the marketplace has become a kitschy stop where few locals dare to tread. Bayside, though, is poised for a comeback with a renovation that includes improved common areas and the hotly debated Skyrise observation tower.

Luca Voltarel says that he and his partners see the full potential of the project and the growth of the entire downtown waterfront area.

"Bayside is a beautiful site; one of the only waterfront malls in South Florida," he says. "It has been a destination for many years, not just for shopping, but for entertainment. With the current development in the area, and as Bayside undergoes a major refurbishing not only physically but also in branding, its appeal to us was threefold. We saw the potential to revitalize it as an untapped locals’ destination, and it's entertainment-friendly, since music is a key component of Segafredo. Finally, the waterfront set-up and the tremendous growth of the area is key."

It seems as though Segafredo is bullish about mainland Miami. The Graspa Group has announced that yet another Segarfedo is in the works, with the next location opening somewhere within the downtown, Midtown, or Design District areas by 2016. 

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