A restaurant closes as Sereia, a modern Portuguese address that didn't survive its second year. Fourteen months later, the same corner reopens as something with no ambiguity about where it's from.
At 3540 Main Highway, the space that was Sereia is now Manoli, run by Emmanouil "Manoli" Aslanoglou — a chef whose résumé runs through Michelin-starred kitchens on two continents. He trained at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire and at Arzak in San Sebastián, then went home to lead Vassilenas, the Athens taverna with a 1920s pedigree, before a stretch at Nammos in Southampton and a turn on MasterChef Greece. Coconut Grove, a neighborhood better known for sailing clubs and Cuban lunch counters than tasting menus, is where he chose to open under his own name.
The room seats 140 across a dining floor, a bar, and an outdoor terrace, done in white walls, light wood, and sculpted niches that read closer to a Cycladic guesthouse than a South Beach club — soft blue accents standing in for the sea the menu keeps referencing. That menu moves from the familiar (dolmades, saganaki, crispy feta in phyllo) to dishes built for the room: gyro tacos wrapped around Black Angus ribeye, a raw bar, avgolemono soup, housemade pastitsio, a whole roasted branzino, lamb chops, and an Athenian lobster dish that shares the spotlight with a tableside dessert trolley of baklava, profiteroles, and loukoumades. Beverage manager Fotis Mexi named the cocktail list after Greek tragedians — Hybris, Eris, Mira — rather than reach for the expected ouzo puns.
None of this makes Manoli exceptional on its own; Miami has no shortage of ambitious Greek rooms built around a chef's biography. What's worth watching is the address. Coconut Grove has spent years as the neighborhood everyone agrees is underrated and nobody quite commits to — the Design District took the flash, Brickell took the towers, and the Grove kept its tree canopy and its marina crowd. A chef who trained at Arzak choosing Main Highway over Brickell Avenue is a small bet that the Grove's next chapter is dining, not another rooftop bar.
Manoli is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 11.
— Camille
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