A night in Manhattan — unexpectedly — in Sunrise
Dimly lit for all those jazz-loving cats and kittens, All That Jazz in Sunrise is an intimate space for live music, jam sessions and food with inspirations from the Big Easy and the Big Apple.
“In New York you play a lot in very small spaces around Greenwich Village and all over the city. So when the opportunity came up to do this, the idea was to make it feel like you were in downtown New York in a small jazz club or in a small restaurant that you really love,” said owner and musician Michael Kolber.
Kolber worked on cruise ships playing music in the mid ‘80s and early ‘90s. He also played throughout New York City’s five boroughs. After moving to Florida, he opened the New York Music Academy in 2005 at a strip mall on Hiatus Road north of Oakland Park Boulevard. But he says it was hard to find a venue where people could enjoy a meal while listening to live jazz.
And that’s when he opened All That Jazz in the same space as his academy. It was music school by day, live jazz dining venue every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
“My brother and sister-in law opened the restaurant with me from the very beginning in 2013,” said Kolber, who says he also has a passion for cooking and creates many of his menu’s recipes. “We love serving people wonderful madefrom-scratch foods.”
The menu offers New York Italian
influences like chicken parmigiana with linguine ($18) and garlic bread sandwiches ($17-$20), but he also offers jazz-loving Louisiana-style dishes including jambalaya with shrimp, scallops, chicken and andouille sasuage ($23) and New Orleans spicy pasta with Cajun sausage in a light cream sauce ($23).
We go into the kitchen and try a few of these dishes with Kolber’s sister-in-law and chef, Ileana Kolber, on this week’s Let’s Go, South Florida.
Just before the pandemic Kolber moved All That Jazz into its own space at the same strip mall as the music school.
“Our family did all the work. We could not pay anyone. Barely any money was coming in. So we had to do it all,” the musician said.
All of their employees, however, are now back on staff. And so is their loyal fan base.
All That Jazz is at 3491 Hiatus Road, Sunrise. It’s open 5 to 11 p.m. Thursday Saturday.