Where Caviar Meets Conversation
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A NEW, INTIMATE DINING EXPERIENCE MEANT TO CONNECT
If you’ve been keeping up with the Gables dining scene, you may have noticed a growing trend of curated dinner series. IRL Miami owner Victoria Shahbaz and Raameel Anwaar, owner of The Bakery and 1-800-VintageNow, wanted to bring that idea to life by introducing Common Ground, a dinner series where the focus is not just on the food but on engaging in conversation and networking during an exceptional meal. The format features rotating chefs presenting 12 courses, with each dinner highlighting a different cuisine.
IRL is the internet term for “In Real Life,” referring to events in the physical, offline world, in contrast to online activities like texting, social media, gaming etc. It means face-to-face interactions rather than virtual communications.
Shahbaz, with over a decade of experience working with community organizations, built IRL Miami around that simple but powerful idea: to cultivate intimate social interactions through creative classes, entertainment spaces, and professional networking opportunities. Her IRL facility on U.S. 1 is a combination social club, yoga studio, indoor basketball court, classroom and co-working space, with an upstairs wrap-around bar that serves as the dining area.
Anwaar, meanwhile, built his name on Miracle Mile with The Bakery (a smoke shop with unique snacks from around the world) and its attached 1-800-VintageNow shop, which offered curated vintage clothing and rare collectibles. He has since moved his operation to a pop-up shop inside Tequila Town, an immersive tequila-focused event space in Hialeah, but he can’t seem to stay away from the Gables.
Together, Shahbaz and Anwaar inaugurated Common Ground last month with an omakase-style dinner featuring sushi. Entering IRL, we relaxed first in a comfortable lounge before heading up a spiral staircase to a marble countertop table with seating for eight. The intimate format drew a curated crowd for the evening, including viral Instagram personality Peakacity, a handful of food influencers, and retired pro basketball player Jeff Coby (formerly of the Knicks and Spurs).
For this evening, chef Marco Levy (owner of Miami-based Yubi Box Sushi), led the experience – and simplicity was never an option. He opened with a Bluefin Tartare dish where seafood and dairy were combined. The preparation included honey, sesame oil, buttermilk, and caviar. Caviar, as guests discovered, appeared as a recurring element in nearly every course. Conversation followed easily after we were served a Mexican Paloma made with Don Londres Tequila.
The second course was another surprise: Stone Crab Elote, fresh crab meat mixed with brown butter hollandaise, parmesan, and (you guessed it) caviar. We are not sure how, but the mix of ingredients worked seamlessly together, helped by copious amounts of fish eggs.
The nigiri flight came next, first with a Bluefin Akami and then a Salmon Shishito paired with a Sauvignon Blanc. The overall highlight of the evening was the Toro, thinly sliced, resting on a small portion of rice and finished with caviar. The progression moved to the Mini Don, warm rice with chopped salmon, then to the 7-11, a kimchi egg salad sando with caviar inside, and finally the eel sushi, finished with a sweet soy glaze.
Common Ground will begin offering two seating times, with pricing starting at $110 per person depending on the theme of the night. Details for volume two have yet to be announced, but you can stay up to date by following @irlmiami and @thebakerycoralgables on Instagram.