ZeyZey Pops Up in Little Haiti With Live Music

Josh Hackler, along with partners Sebastian Vargas and Pili Restrepo Hackler, who also happens to be his wife, has had a whirlwind couple of years as part of the Grassfed Culture Hospitality team. After moving south from New York City and opening Krüs Kitchen and Los Félix in Coconut Grove, Hackler and his team have shown the city what excellent hospitality looks like — devoid of gimmicks or celebrity branding. Los Félix, in particular, has become a culinary hot spot, earning countless accolades, including a Michelin star.

So with two successful restaurants under its belt, what's a white-hot hospitality team to do?

Enter ZeyZey, a pop-up music venue opening on July 14 at an outdoor spot along the eastern edge of Little Haiti in the Magic City Innovation District. (The venue's name comes from the Iku word for "happiness" and is the language spoken by the Arhuacos, an indigenous community in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, the area where Vargas' family is from.)

"We had been interested in diving into the music scene in Miami," Hackler says of how the idea for the pop-up came together. "We had sort of serendipitously been talking to [Isabella Acker]."

Anyone familiar with Miami's music scene should be familiar with Acker at this point. The Atlanta native moved to Miami around 2007 to study hospitality management at Florida International University. Since then, she's established herself as a cultural force in the city, lately with her record label and brand Tigre Sounds, which focuses mainly on alternative Latin music that U.S. audiences might not be familiar with.

"It started as a much chiller endeavor — like a patio and acoustic," Acker says about ZeyZey. "Now it's like a full-blown arena sound system and moving lights. It's gone from 1,000 percent this a concert venue to more than just someplace to hang and catch music."

For Acker, the aspect that excites her the most is the project's commitment to its music programming.

"Every five years, [there is] this cycle of venues closing," Acker says. "Miami's music scene is this three-legged table of a scene that kind of needs to cultivate to become a scene people hear outside of Miami."

With a 1,000-person capacity, ZeyZey, even if temporarily, has the potential to fill a much-needed void of midsized venues that the city lacks. Acker is excited to work with local promoters and artists to program the space.

"The infrastructure that the Grassfed team is creating is really going to be more than just a trend," Acker adds. "I'm really excited to be able to program a diversity of talent. We're engaged with so many amazing people across the city, from the Dude Skywalker guys to Poplife to the Afro-Cuban funk staples. There's a whole diaspora of Latin, global, indie, [and] electronic but still keeping the lineup in the theme of what we are doing. Just a general, more alternative approach feels really exciting."

ZeyZey's music program kicks off July 14 with Rum & Coke, an Afro-Caribbean Latin dance party, followed by Tato Marenco y los Hijos de Mamá Cumbé, an eight-piece folk-Colombian band. The late-night programming features a Colombian discotheque with Sinego at 11 p.m. On July 15, it's Deep House Disco with Atomyard, followed by Sinego Live with DJ Timbales and hometown favorites Locos Por Juana.

Anchored by a large banyan tree, ZeyZey is made up of three different spaces: the main outdoor stage, a vinyl listening room with more than 3,000 records, and a bungalow space for DJs to spin well into the evening hours.

And because this is a Grassfed team concept, food will play a role in the venue. The culinary program, overseen by Vargas, will see the Maiz Project, Mana Table, Gutenberg Burger, MintyZ, and La Guaguaseria by chef Alejandra Espinoza as part of the opening lineup. The idea is to have a rotating selection of food vendors when the venue is open.

"They are friends of ours, at the end of the day," Hackler says of the opening roster of vendors. "You have [Pedro Lara] from Coney Burger and Richard Ortega from Maiz Project, who is also a good friend. We have some very good local up-and-comers that we really want to give a voice to, and that's also what it's about."

Hackler sees ZeyZey's culinary program as a way for local chefs and entrepreneurs to experiment and test their fare with the general public. There will also be a beverage program crafted by beverage consultant and recipe developer Esther Merino and the Grassfed team that promises to offer a creative twist of traditional cocktails, natural wines, and beers.

"It's very thought out and intentional with the food and beverage," Hackler adds.

Ultimately, ZeyZey isn't popping up to lure tourists away from South Beach or Wynwood. The Grassfed team is focused on catering to locals with the project.

"In a city that's become so expensive to live in, the idea of being able to go out and enjoy an evening and let loose for a little bit and have fun is becoming more difficult," Hackler says. "We really want this place to be a home for people to have a really tasty drink and a bite and listen to some music in their home city."

Acker adds: "It was an insular experience just doing my own recordings [with Tigre Sounds], so I feel like that fact that we're going to be able to provide experiences twice a week, every single week from local, international, and touring talent reminds me that this is work that matters, that it's important. It keeps us connected to our city and our music scene."

ZeyZey. 353 NE 61st St., Miami; zeyzeymiami.com. Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. to late.