Le Chick Rotisserie opens in Wynwood

Open Kitchen Concept | Photo by Nadia Bouzid

Address: 310 NW 24th Street, Miami, Florida 33127
Neighborhood: Wynwood Arts District
Property Type: Street Retail
Commercial Use: Restaurant and Bar
Tenant: Le Chick
Opening: March 2018
Size: Approximately 4,700 square feet at opening
Lease Term: 10 years
Landlord: Block Capital Group
Executive Chef: Victoria Delloca
Founders: Coco Coig and Jorge Sanchez
Managing Partner: Max Van de Put
Design: Vertical Design Studio
Lease Announced: July 2016

Le Chick has been coming to Wynwood for so long that I almost stopped asking when it would open. Its ten year lease at 310 NW 24th Street was announced in July 2016, with an opening planned in time for Art Basel that year. More than a year and a half later, it is finally close.

The finished restaurant measures approximately 4,700 square feet. There is a counter overlooking the kitchen, a dining room, a full bar and a lounge that can be closed off with curtains later at night. It is a large space with enough room to move from dinner into drinks without making the entire restaurant feel like the same experience all evening.

Exposed Ceilings | Photo by Nadia Bouzid

The name sounds French, but the inspiration came from Amsterdam. Coco Coig and Jorge Sanchez discovered Rotisserie Amsterdam in 2015 and liked its combination of rotisserie chicken, burgers, cocktails and late nights. They brought their version to Miami with managing partner Max Van de Put and executive chef Victoria Delloca.

The location is part of the story. Wynwood’s early restaurant traffic gathered around NW Second Avenue, where Coyo Taco, Joey’s and Panther Coffee became anchors. KYU later brought people onto NW 25th Street. Le Chick now places a 4,700 square foot restaurant and bar one street south.

People still think of NW Second Avenue as Wynwood’s main restaurant street, but a neighborhood begins to feel larger when there are reasons to turn onto the streets around it. One busy restaurant can pull people beyond the route they already know. If Le Chick develops its own following, NW 24th Street becomes part of the evening rather than a street people cross on the way somewhere else.

Bathroom Tiles | Photo by Nadia bouzid

Block Capital Group owns the property and agreed to a ten year lease for Le Chick. When the lease was announced, the landlord had assembled more than 20,000 square feet of contiguous land along this section of NW 24th Street. Block Capital was already discussing the possibility of eventually building vertically on the assemblage.

The ten year lease sits inside that larger land play. Le Chick gives the property an active restaurant and bar in the present, and the land remains part of a longer plan for the block. This is the part of Wynwood real estate that is easy to miss when everyone is looking at the new restaurant.

The time between the lease announcement and the opening also says something about restaurant real estate. Le Chick was announced for Art Basel 2016 and is opening in March 2018. I do not know what happened during those twenty months, but the difference between signing a lease and opening a restaurant is clearly not a small one.

Now I want to see what Le Chick does to NW 24th Street after dark. Opening week will bring people through the door. An ordinary Tuesday several months from now will tell us whether the neighborhood has made it part of its routine.

Lighting Design | Photo by Nadia bouzid

Mural by Richard Guaty | Photo by Nadia bouzid