The Miami New Times reported nearly two years ago that Groot Hospitality’s David Grutman had acquired Miami Beach’s The Forge restaurant and would reopen it, citing a report by The Real Deal showing the acquisition.
“The restaurant at 432 West 41st Street closed temporarily in 2019 with plans to reopen, until it was reported in December that the restaurant auctioned off its items,” read the The Real Deal coverage. “It was the second-oldest restaurant in South Florida after Joe’s Stone Crab, according to Malnik’s website.”
The reopening process has since remained unclear for the restaurant, which is known for having once been frequented by organized crime figures, and which boasted a 300,000-bottle vintage wine cellar, purple chandeliers, stained glass, and other eccentric elements. And so the wait is still on for The Forge, which appeared in the New Times March 2023 Miami Restaurant Openings and Closings, published on April 4, under “Coming Attractions.”
We’re awaiting a further update not only on The Forge’s reopening timeline but on its menu as well. As the New Times pointed out in its original coverage of the news, Groot Hospitality already owns and operates South Beach’s Papi Steak. The New Times has said it is “not confirmed whether Grutman will diverge from the steak-house concept.”