Miami Spice Lures Coworkers out of the Office and into the City’s Best Eateries

Every Friday during August and September, Blake Johnson and his coworkers leave their desks, extend their lunch break and try a restaurant they have never visited.

They call the tradition “Project Cuisine.”

“A couple members of our firm started a tradition, code name Project Cuisine, where on Fridays during August and September we take a longer lunch and try a new restaurant every week,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely a lot of fun to try these new restaurants and get out of the office and our normal routine.”

For Johnson, 24, an analyst at Applied Risk Capital (ARC), the experience is about more than finding a good meal. It offers an opportunity to step away from work and form stronger relationships with his coworkers.

“What I enjoy most is taking a break from office talk and connecting with my coworkers outside of the office,” he said.

Johnson is one of the many South Florida diners participating in the 25th edition of Miami Spice Restaurant Months. The annual program, originally scheduled to run from Aug. 1 through Sept. 30, has been extended through October for the first time in its history. It features three-course prix fixe menus at more than 300 restaurants across Greater Miami and Miami Beach. According to the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, participating restaurants offer savings of at least 30%, with brunch and lunch priced at $40 and dinners ranging from $50 to $65.

The program began in 2002 with 56 restaurants as an economic development initiative intended to support the local restaurant industry during Miami’s quieter summer months. Twenty-five years later, restaurant owners still see it as an opportunity to reach customers during a traditionally slower time of year.

Mattia Cicognani, owner of Cotoletta, San Lorenzo and San Marco – three gourmet Italian restaurants – joined Miami Spice for the first time this year. He said the program gave his restaurants a chance to welcome guests who might not have discovered them otherwise.

“The goal is not simply to bring someone in once during Miami Spice, but to turn that first visit into a relationship that can continue well beyond September,” Cicognani said. “For us, hospitality is everything, and Miami Spice gives us another way to introduce ourselves, build trust and hopefully turn new guests into loyal customers.”

Each of Cicognani’s Italian restaurants offers a different experience, and he wanted their Miami Spice menus to reflect those individual identities.

Cotoletta centers on cotoletta alla Milanese, a traditional dish featuring a thinly pounded, golden and crispy breaded veal cutlet scented with rosemary and lemon. Cicognani associates the dish with family, community and the experience of sharing a meal. San Lorenzo focuses on the feeling of welcoming someone into a home, while San Marco draws inspiration from an Italian trattoria, with simple food done well, sincere hospitality and, above all, a focus on the guest.

Cicognani said he did not want the Miami Spice selections to feel like reduced versions of the restaurants’ regular menus.

“If someone comes during Miami Spice and leaves feeling that they have genuinely discovered and experienced one of our restaurants, then for us, that is exactly the result we wanted,” he said.

Johnson’s experience suggests that the approach can work. He said the lower-priced menu allows him to evaluate a restaurant’s food and atmosphere without “dropping a paycheck.” When the experience meets his expectations, he is more willing to return and pay full price.

The affordability is particularly important in a city known for expensive dining, Johnson said. He believes Miami’s growing population, tourism industry and influx of wealth have contributed to higher restaurant prices, especially during the winter.

“Spice makes the restaurants more affordable and accessible to those with less means,” Johnson said.

For NOE Sushi Bar, which serves Japanese-Ecuadorian cuisine in South Miami, participating in Miami Spice is an opportunity to reach beyond its usual customer base.

Franchise owner Ricardo Ordoñez said NOE relies heavily on regular customers and residents from surrounding neighborhoods. Since Miami Spice began, he has noticed new guests coming from other parts of the county to try the restaurant’s food.

“Miami Spice is an excellent way for people in other areas of Miami to know that we exist,” Ordoñez said.

Still, Ordoñez questions whether the program creates as much excitement as it once did.

“In the past, Miami Spice had a huge impact because it was new and fresh,” he said. “After 25 years, I don’t think it has the same appeal to clients that it did in the past.”

His experience reflects both sides of the program. Miami Spice may no longer feel new, but it continues to bring first-time customers through NOE’s doors during a slow season.

For restaurant owners, those first visits can be the beginning of relationships that last beyond the Miami Spice season. For diners such as Johnson, the program provides an affordable reason to break from familiar routines and explore another part of Miami’s restaurant scene.

And for the members of “Project Cuisine,” it also gives them something new to look forward to every Friday.

San Lorenzo on a night out during Miami Spice. (Photo courtesy of Mattia Cicognani)