South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Davie’s newest hip millennial hangout
How new restaurants are redefining an iconic shopping center
Can an unremarkable shopping center in Davie become the area’s newest cool millennial hangout? Davie?
If South Florida is a sprawling suburban cliché, it also is sprinkled with the unexpected — a restaurant, a shop, an evolving scene that defies conventional opinion. Think of them as cultural Easter eggs.
Which brings us to Davie’s Tower Shops, near the busy intersection of I-595 and University Drive.
Tucked behind the obligatory Twin Peaks, Miller’s Ale House and Flanigan’s, and across a sun-baked parking lot from Home Depot and TJ Maxx, the shaded terrace of Crema Gourmet Espresso Bar is an oasis, slightly elevated, metaphorically speaking, the air spiced with a cosmopolitan soundtrack and coffee.
Crema, a brand associated with some of South Florida’s most stylish neighborhoods, opened this week at one end of a relatively new, L-shaped building at Tower Shops. In the same building, Trader Joe’s sits at the top of the L and a just-opened location of the buzz-worthy Tap 42 Craft Kitchen & Bar is at the center angle.
Set on the west side of the center, a block off University Drive, this
50,000-square-foot, stand-alone addition to Tower Shops, completed in 2016, has just 16 tenants, and nearly all seem aimed at a younger clientele and families.
Founded in downtown Fort Lauderdale with a vibe based on ambitious bar dining, modern aesthetics and pretty patios, Tap
42’s Davie location has surprised even management by its popularity in three weeks of existence. This week several large leather banquettes were placed by the door to handle throngs of wait-listed guests.
Crema and Tap 42 soon will be joined by the gourmet dessert chain Crumbl Cookies, sliding in between CycleBar and Misha’s Cupcakes, an upscale sweets shop based in Miami. Crumbl’s opening is set for late April or early May.
Existing tenants in the building include Delicious Raw Juice Bar, Bento Asian Kitchen & Sushi, GoPho and the Halal Guys, along with a few beauty and wellness shops. Several windows display Help Wanted signs.
‘Beautiful neighborhood’
Crema exudes European chic, with a minimalist black-and-white color scheme, chandeliers and a large, marble-topped espresso bar. Outside, there is covered seating on a 2,000-square-foot, tree-lined patio that wraps around the side of the building.
Ioannis Sotiropoulos, Crema owner and CEO, describes the shop as a “sophisticated breakfast place” with lunch and dinner options, a brunch menu on the way, breads and desserts, and an extensive menu of coffees, teas and juices.
The restaurant is part of a growing franchise that began with locations in South Beach and Coral Gables, soon to also include shops in Miami’s energetic Brickell neighborhood, the luxe Faena Miami Beach property, Doral and Hallandale Beach. Also on the drawing board is a location at the buzzy Society Las Olas in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Sotiropoulos, a native of Greece who got his start in the business operating bars and restaurants in Athens, Mykonos and other cities, also is a founder of SP Hospitality Group and owns two other Coral Gables hot spots: the craft cocktail bar Copper 29 and live-music venue Calle 23.
The 43-year-old was a frequent visitor to the area two years ago while working on a Davie construction project. While getting lunch one day at Bento, he noticed the storefront that he decided would be perfect for Crema.
“I saw it was a beautiful community. A lot of families, mothers, after the kids are going to school, doing yoga, going to Pilates, and then they are looking for a healthy place [for lunch],” he says. “And Nova [Southeastern University] is here. There are a lot of young people that want to enjoy something like Crema. They go to hang out, they have their laptop, they listen to great music in a beautiful environment, and they have affordable, great-quality food.”
Nova Southeastern
University, with 25,000 students and a new hospital and research center under construction, is one of several colleges within a mile of Tower Shops, along with Broward College, Florida Atlantic University-Davie, a University of Florida research campus and McFatter Technical College.
The day after Crema opened on March 22, the lunch crowd included more than a dozen female students, in three separate groups, from the NSU College of Dental Medicine.
Jennifer Barretta, a third-year NSU dental student, came to Crema with three fellow students after she saw a picture of some dishes on Instagram. She said she was impressed by the fresh, healthful food on the menu and the attractive surroundings.
“It’s very relaxing, very nice,” Barretta says.
‘Catering to locals’
According to a demographic report released last year by Tower Shops owner Federal Realty, the area within a three-mile radius of the shopping center is younger, more female and more affluent than surrounding communities.
Taking advantage of that trend is not new: Whole Foods Market opened on the other side of University Drive in 2015, about the same time as Trader Joe’s. More recently, the stylish Fresh Kitchen, with its exposed-beam ceiling and “living mural” of potted plants, opened in 2019 at 2853 S. University Drive, in the Shoppes of Rolling Hills.
“This is cool. This is like what they should have on Las Olas,” says Alex Santos, 34, seated under an umbrella in front of a bowl of noodles and vegetables
on the small deck in front of Fresh Kitchen. Santos and his wife moved to Davie three years ago from Wilton Manors. “University [Boulevard] is coming up.”
Old-timers will be happy to know that Ye Olde Falcon Pub, one of the area’s time-honored watering holes, remains a fixture a few doors down.
The Tap 42 in Tower Shops is different from any other location, says manager Mark Hunter, who came to the restaurant after working at sister locations in Miami.
“I’ve never seen so many kids in a Tap before. The number of families that come in is impressive,” says Hunter, acknowledging that the restaurant’s signature outdoor space has been popular. “It’s ridiculous. We didn’t expect to be doing the kind of sales we’re doing. I don’t think anybody did.”
Alex Rudolph, a partner and vice president for development with TapCo Restaurant Group, says the company sees demographics and dining habits changing west of I-95. Beginning a decade ago, TapCo’s first five Tap 42 locations were on the east side of Palm Beach, Broward and MiamiDade counties; it opened a restaurant in Coral Springs last year.
“People are moving out west for a multitude of reasons but, also, I don’t think it’s just the tourists on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach who are looking for cool stuff. Locals like the same kind of thing. Catering to locals and giving them reasons to stay in suburban markets is a great concept,” Rudolph says.
Rudolph acknowledges that Tower Shops has long been a draw for residents of Davie, Plantation and west Broward. He says Tap
42 is a perfect fit with the
“2021 lifestyle” theme of the building bracketed by Trader Joe’s and Crema.
“What they’ve done with this new development that we’re in is do a really good
job of putting in new, fresh, hip tenants,” he says.
Rudolph also cites the proximity to the NSU law school and business school. as well as the new teaching hospital and research center.
“We’re not necessarily a college bar, but we do pull the older college grad students, especially for brunch and happy hours. It’s kind of like the perfect fit for us,” he says.
Sotiropoulos, a resident of Miami’s popular Silver Bluff neighborhood, says the migration is coming from the south, too.
“We know a lot of people who have moved here, as they’ve been married and have families. Plantation, Davie. Because the cost of living is cheaper, but you get a good quality of life, and the schools,” he says. “In Miami, it’s super expensive. If you want to buy a house, you have to go to Kendall, West Kendall, or you have to go north.”