Miami’s Brickell neighborhood has become one of the city’s hottest dining neighborhoods, as more restaurants move into the area once dominated by office buildings. The newest entrant is Salty Flame, a concept that’s described as a “vibe-driven approach to fine dining” and that combines a traditional steakhouse with Asian influences.
Salty Flame comes from the portfolio of V&E Hospitality Group, which was founded in 1996 and operates more than 20 restaurants across Miami and Las Vegas, including Paperfish, Havana 1957, Cafe Americano, and Mercato della Pescheria.
“Salty Flame transcends the ordinary steakhouse, offering a fun dining experience infused with an enticing Asian fusion twist, creating an exceptional ambiance that truly sets it apart,” Jamil Dib, cofounder and owner of V&E Hospitality, said.
Executive chefs Michael Asalie and Alex Martinez created Salty Flame’s menu, which highlights premium meats in a variety of cuts, including rib eye, filet mignon, and wagyu striploin, all sliced in shareable portions, along with sides like stir-fried bok choy and kimchi truffle fries.
Other dishes include Korean fried chicken glazed with sweet gochujang and topped with scallions, sesame seeds and kimchi aioli; and steamed striped bass served in shaoxing broth (made with the Chinese cooking wine), and topped with scallions, ginger, cilantro, and Fresno chiles. The menu also features soups, dumplings, sashimi, rolls, rice dishes, and noodles.
Salty Flame covers 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, including an open kitchen. The main dining room has 130 seats, while two private dining rooms can accommodate up to 12 and 40 guests, respectively. The rectangular bar is a focal point, lined with velvet emerald-green bar stools, green and black velvet booths, and high-top tables.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, staying open until midnight on weekdays and midnight on weekends, and happy hour is served daily from 4 – 7 p.m. A DJ booth and a high-tech sound system pump music throughout the space to keep the vibe-dining element alive as day turns into night.
V&E has a couple more projects in the works, both in Las Vegas. The restaurant group is about to start a full renovation on Cafe Americano, a 24-hour cafe that serves American cuisine with a Latin twist. It’s located inside Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and is slated for completion in Q4 of this year. The company is also expanding its Havana 1957 concept, which has multiple locations in Miami, into the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, with plans to start construction soon and open for business in the first quarter of 2025.
To date, V&E Hospitality has chosen to focus on Miami and Las Vegas rather than to dabble in more markets across the country. CEO Matias Pesce said that this strategy allows the company to leverage its existing strengths, while exploring new opportunities that will diversify the business, increase volume of sales and profit, and mitigate portfolio risk. He added that it’s important for V&E to find balance when considering new projects and where to operate, and that everything they do takes into account the impact on brand value, the ability to create long-term profitability, and how to best allocate their resources.
