Klaw Restaurant Officially Opens in Miami Woman's Club
International entrepreneur Sasha Krilov and global restaurateur Misha Zelman opened their doors of their newest joint culinary venture, Klaw Restaurant – on July 1st in the historic Miami Woman’s Club building. The restaurant’s culinary program is helmed by Brand Executive Chef Phil Campbell who has dedicated over five years to sourcing coveted King Crab from Norway’s Barents Sea as well as an exclusive global beef program that includes certified USDA Black Angus Nebraskan beef.
Reviving the 96-year-old Miami Woman’s Club, Klaw occupies 14,800 square feet in the historic Spanish Renaissance building. The five-story waterfront building is deeply rooted in Miami’s history as one of the first buildings in Florida to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Nestled inside, the highly anticipated restaurant spans from the fourth through the sixth floors of the building: rising from a grand dining room with massive colonial-arched windows and an adjacent private dining space, to a full-floor kitchen, and finishing off with Edgewater’s only rooftop bar that boasts breathtaking, unobstructed views of Biscayne Bay and beyond.
CULINARY PROGRAM
Klaw’s culinary program offers an unmatched land and sea experience even for Miami’s most discerning gastronomes. Spearheaded by Campbell, he is joined by King Crab expert Chef James Wright. Klaw’s sea program is a work of art offering only the finest delicacies. The King Crab served at Klaw comes directly from the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean north of Norway straight to the sunny coastline of Miami. Kept live in bespoke tanks as a design focal point of the sixth floor, the King Crab retains its maximum freshness and taste, right up until the time guests place their dinner orders. Klaw’s presentation of the King Crab is show-stopping, especially when these are served whole and deshelled tableside before being placed on the table – almost like a centerpiece – to be shared with the entire party. Other delicacies from the sea include caviar cones, sustainably-sourced bluefin tuna, hand-dived east coast scallops, East/West coast oysters, and more.
The culinary team at Klaw has also curated a beef rearing program entirely from scratch, allowing the restaurant to deliver flavors and cuts that are not only exclusive to the restaurant but also simply unmatched in the Magic City. Chef Campbell works closely with local and national farmers and suppliers, who follow distinct and sustainable practices for raising the cattle. From a thorough analysis of the cattle’s genetic makeup to curating a specific natural diet to match, providing stress-free living conditions, and then ensuring specific aging, Klaw’s beef program is achieved through a near-scientific combination of marbling, texture, and taste – the ultimate beef trifecta.
With specialty dry-aged cuts on display throughout the restaurant and the day’s specific inventory of cuts also highlighted and explained tableside, guests will find themselves in the unique position to choose their cuts first-hand from Klaw’s exclusive heritage menu featuring Florida Cattle Ranchers Beef and Florida Cracker beef – the latter of which nods to Florida’s long-standing cattle rearing history that began in 1521. Each cracker cattle is DNA certified back to the original herd that settled in Northern Florida over 500 years ago.
In addition to the exclusive cuts, Klaw will also serve Brasstown Beef (a blend of Black Angus and Braunvieh cattle), premium Angus Beef, and authentic Kobe Beef – one of only three establishments certified in Miami to do so.
BEVERAGE PROGRAM
As Edgewater’s only rooftop bar, Klaw boasts a world-class beverage program that marries classic concepts and modern cocktail techniques and adds a generous pour of breathtaking bay views. Having partnered with the best Wine and Champagne Houses from all corners of the world, Klaw unabashedly boasts over 250 labels of carefully handselected Old & New World wines.
The specialty cocktail menu at Klaw will seduce guests with the Mignonette Martini, crafted with Mignonette Brine; The Solstice, Klaw’s signature whiskey sour paired with Kirshwasser, a Cherry Eau de Vie, and blood orange to bring a fresh take to one of Americas favorite cocktails; and El Dorado, a tropical rum punch crafted with a blend of island rums, cherry, almond infused grappa and a whisper of ginger beer.
The most discerning of jetsetters and boating enthusiasts can also indulge in Klaw’s specialty craft sips by boat with dockage available along the Bay.
DESIGN
Klaw was designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, an internationally acclaimed interior architecture and design studio regarded as “one of the best restaurant and hotel designers of his generation.” The restaurant emulates a timeless design as an ode to the location’s historical roots. The fourth floor was designed to put Klaw’s grandeur culinary program on display with wine cellars and dry aging fridges filled with the best cuts Klaw has to offer. The extravagant dining space owes half its grandeur to the space’s high-scale 21’ tall ceilings and the equally expansive windows along its perimeter, while its remaining grandiosity comes courtesy of the contrast created between the rich tones, elegant chandeliers, spotlights hovering over tables, and sensual lighting that adorns the remainder of the space. A large, dark, wooden communal table that sits up to 20 commands most of the attention, again bringing the emphasis and conversation to what sets Klaw apart from the rest: not only the unmatched ingredients, but also the marvels Campbell conceives in the kitchen.
The fifth-floor mezzanine houses the restaurant’s ample state-of-the-art kitchen before opening to the sixth floor, where the restaurant blooms effortlessly into a rooftop that blends seamlessly into the Bay. The mood shifts just as quickly – but ever so smoothly – from rich and resonant to light and airy. Muted walls and beveled mirrors help harness and multiply the rooftop’s natural sunlight while also giving the impression of 360° waterfront views throughout. On this level, guests will also experience Klaw’s bespoke aquatic tanks with the famed King Crabs on display.
QUOTES
“Miami’s dining scene has matured precipitously over the last few years, and we noticed there was a need and exigency for an elevated land and sea experience,” said Misha Zelman, the global restaurateur behind Goodman Steakhouse, Burger & Lobster, Beast London, and Zelman Meats. “Our team has worked eagerly to birth this culinary dream for Miami, from the hunt for the world’s finest flavors to every detail and emotion that will be evoked by the restaurant’s design and layout. We are eager for gastronomes to experience our passion and courage firsthand, and to finally unveil the world’s finest flavors for Miami.”
“Klaw’s hallmark is the meticulous attention to detail: a philosophy that takes root at the very birth of the crab we catch in the depths of the Berents Sea in Norway to the very second we begin to rear our cattle in the valleys of Nebraska,” said Brand Executive Chef Phil Campbell. “That same dedication continues seamlessly throughout the placement of the last garnish on our plates. The local and global relationships we have cultivated with farmers and suppliers are instrumental as we seek to source top-quality sustainable ingredients, which will undoubtedly help us set a new standard in Miami’s culinary scene.”
Klaw is located at 1737 N Bayshore Dr, Miami, FL 33132 and sits up to 244 guests at a time. The restaurant will open Wednesday through Sunday for dinner (from 6 p.m. – 12 a.m., on the fourth floor of the building) and for drinks and bites (from 5 p.m. – 1 a.m., on the sixth-floor rooftop). To make reservations visit, https://www.sevenrooms.com/reservations/klawrestaurant or for more information, please visit ww.klawrestaurant.com and follow along on Instagram at @klawrestaurant.
MORE ON KLAW
International entrepreneur Sasha Krilov and global restaurateur Misha Zelman opened their newest joint culinary venture, Klaw – a premier land and sea concept – in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. The restaurant’s culinary program is helmed by Brand Executive Chef Phil Campbell who has dedicated over five years to sourcing coveted King Crab from Norway’s Barents Sea as well as an exclusive global beef program that includes certified USDA Black Angus Nebraskan beef. Reviving the 96-year-old Miami Woman’s Club, Klaw occupies 14,800 square feet in the historic building that was brought back into its former grandeur with interior design by world-renowned interior architect & designer Martin Brudnizki Design Studio. Klaw spans across three floors in the grand Spanish Renaissance building encompassing a grand dining room with massive colonial-arched windows, private dining space, a theater kitchen, and Edgewater’s only rooftop bar overlooking Biscayne Bay. Klaw is located at 1737 N Bayshore Dr, Miami, FL 33132. For more information, please visit www.klawrestaurant.com and follow along on Instagram @klawrestaurant.
MORE ON MIKHAIL ‘MISHA’ ZELMAN
Misha found his passion for beef the first time he tried steak in America as a young child. Having spent his childhood in Moscow cutting and drying wood with his father, he had a passion for creating special charcoals and sourcing alternative cooking equipment to traditional gas broilers. Once he uncovered Spain’s Josper oven-grill, it offered the perfect solution, completing his formula for exceptional steak cookery. He went on to open his first steakhouse in Moscow in 2004 and, years later, had 20 restaurants to his name in Russia. Misha strongly believes that a restaurant can be successful by focusing on just one product served perfectly every day. He expanded to London in 2008 and opened Goodman Steakhouse with the goal to source the best cuts of meat from England, Scotland, Spain, the U.S., and Canada. Misha’s obsession with searching for unique produce from all over the world, including the King Crab, comes from working with passionate chefs. This has been the key to his global success in operating 25 restaurants in over four continents.