Opinion | ‘King Charles’ Khabouth expands his restaurant empire in Miami

“In Toronto, it is burgundy. In Miami, we have Flamingo Pink.”

Handing me the colour scheme spiel, Charles Khabouth was showing off his latest restaurant, Sofia, in the Miami Design District — a sister to his Sofia back in Canada and one of five spots he has now in the Dionysian metropolis of Florida.

Taking a seat the other day on its rosy patio, located inside a primo courtyard in what is now most definitely Miami’s answer to Rodeo Drive, I was taking in the sights: the upscale restaurant is mere steps away from the Tom Fords and the YSLs, backs right into Bulgari, and is dwarfed by a ginormous, pièce de résistance glass sphere called Fly’s Eye Dome. I was also enjoying an easy afternoon stracciatella. Cherry tomato, olive oil, aged balsamic, some ciabatta … and a lot of Jonas Bro.

As it happens, yeah, Joe Jonas and his “Game of Thrones” wife, Sophie Turner, were sitting right across from me, enjoying their Sofia with some Aperol Spritzes.

Somewhere in the metaphysical distance, too? I could hear Gloria Estefan singing “Come on, shake your body, baby, do the conga.” No, really, I could. Khabouth’s new restaurant, as I learned, sits where a restaurant that Gloria owned sat before it closed.

“Nobody would talk to us. Nobody.” Khabouth had shifted to talking about his experience trying to open a spot here in Miami, 30-plus years ago when his empire was still nascent, and when he tried scoping the city with his then collaborator, Franco Prevedello, a renowned restaurateur of yesteryear. Dismissed as Canadian hicks! All these years later, he would personally woo Craig Robins, the whiz who created the Miami Design District, and he was in. Even landing the contract for events happening in the wider courtyard.

It being the eve of Art Basel Miami — the biggest art bacchanal in America — Khabouth was also telling me about some of the bookings expected at his spots. Something with Chanel. Van Cleef & Arpels. A bunch of galleries. So many dinners. “It is going to be crazy.”

The restless restaurateur. A showman of hospitality. Having opened (and closed) more than 40 clubs and joints in his decades-long rise — Toronto Life just put him once again on their annual 50 Most Influential list — the Lebanese-Canadian 60-year-old (who slept in his car for a bit when he moved to Toronto as a lad) clearly shows no signs of slowing. Is, in fact, laser-focused on a mirror empire down south (where he has kept a residence in a spiffy Philippe Starck highrise for a decade, along with his Lamborghini).

Snowbirds from Toronto have been going to Miami forever, of course. Now they can pack a distinct déjà vu, restaurant-wise, too.

It started with Byblos, his Eastern Med brand that Khabouth cloned in a handsome house on buzzy Collins Avenue some eight years ago. The post-pandemic era — and the new energy that has powered Miami in the last couple of years — brought, however, a renewed focus, with him choosing to open a new Amal here quite recently. (A version of his popular restaurant on Bloor Street West, this latest one, located in the elegant enclave of Coconut Grove, is his most beautiful yet, in my opinion. The lighting, the design, the clientele: it all looked like something out of a Slim Aarons photo when I dropped in there later.)

Other Khabouth stand-alones in Miami include Dalia inside the Gabriel South Beach Hotel, right on Ocean Drive, and Level 6, a Spanish rooftop aerie atop Amal. Phew. And, of course, he is not done. Khabouth tells me he really wants to collaborate on a new Akira in Miami — a doubling down of the destination Japanese resto that sits in his Bisha Hotel in Toronto. Indeed, there is also talk of an expansive new deal in Las Vegas.

His head is in many different places at once. And so is his phone. As we are catching up at another point, he takes a call from his son, Charlie (who is working with him), and asks, “How was Drake?” (Drake, it turned out, was at Amal in Toronto the night before, a place where he is a regular.) This, as his phone is also vibrating with other news: turns out Jonas and Turner returned for dinner last night at Sofia Miami (this time with their daughter). Bzzzz. In comes another text: the niece of Domenico Dolce — of Dolce & Gabbana — was also in.

All the while, his eyes are everywhere. At one point, he is concerned that the avocado on one table is a shade too brown. When he walks into Level 6, he immediately pans the space and motions to a server: the lights are out at two tables in the back. Take care of it.

There are different rhythms to the cities he is now operating in now, of course. In Florida, notably, there is a “season,” which effects staffing and the churn of customers: “Come June 1, Miami dies down.”

It also takes longer to build in Miami and there is a lengthier gestation period for projects, Khabouth says. The heavy Hispanic demographic is another factor, naturally, and Khabouth says he is trying to learn Spanish. Those demographics manifest in other ways, too: consider that his Amal in Miami has much the same menu as the Toronto one except for three particular dishes. And that is because — unlike in a Toronto or Montreal — Miami does not have any special Lebanese butchers to prepare them.

We cover yet more ground. He shows me a photo on his phone of him chopping onions at a McDonald’s as a young thing, all curly-haired and rosy-cheeked. He reminds me of the 50th birthday party he once threw for Mick Jagger, back at his old monster club Guvernment in Toronto. He talks about food: how he has just ordered the new book by Yotam Ottolenghi (whom he admires) and about the sanctity of some dishes. “You can f— with a lot of things but you do not f— with burrata,” he says, making me laugh.

However does he keep his mojo going for so many new ventures at once? This King Charles tells me, finally: “I am more excited now than before. Than I ever was. It is what I do.”

Shinan Govani is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist covering culture and society. Follow him on Twitter: @shinangovani

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