‘It’s a total auction.’ The Forge is quietly selling off everything
The Forge restaurant in Miami Beach is auctioning all of its furniture and light fixtures. The iconic restaurant is undergoing a redesign and getting new management.
Would a blown Venetian glass chandelier from The Forge look good over your dining room table? How about a set of 6-foottall quilted leather chairs from the notorious Miami Beach restaurant?
In that case, it is the time to redecorate. The Forge, which closed in April 2019 with hopes of renovating and reopening, is
auctioning the entirety of its restaurant, from kitchen appliances to ornate chandeliers.
“It’s a total auction sale,” said Jay Sugarman, whose company is hosting the auction. “It’s everything from the back of the house to the front of the house.”
The one-day fire sale will take place Dec. 9, both online and in person at the restaurant, at 432 41st St. in Miami Beach. All the items are listed at the auction website, SugarmanAuction.com. A $100 refundable cash deposit is required to bid.
The future of The Forge is still under wraps, but there are plans to eventually reopen the restaurant under new management.
Shareef Malnik, whose father, Alvin, opened The Forge in the 1950s, still owns the building, but has leased the space and, apparently, The Forge name, to a new tenant that plans to remake the restaurant, according to a representative of the company handling the renovation.
The Forge appears to continue the trend of a major overhaul every 10 years. Alvin Malnik turned the property over to his son after a fire in 1991 and it reopened as a party-fueled refuge of Miami’s new and old money, thanks to a vintage wine cellar 300,000 bottles deep, estimated to be worth more than $3 million.
It was closed again in 2009, reopening in 2010 after a $10 million extensive renovation. Emails to company representatives for more information, including what will happen to the wine, were not returned Thursday.
“With nearly 50 years in service and 10 years since our last renovation, we feel it is our duty to constantly improve the brand and ensure we are always upgrading the service and high-quality cuisine that our loyal patrons have grown to know and love,” Shareef Malnik wrote in a release to the Miami Herald last year.
The new tenants apparently are keeping nothing about the previous look, other than the 9-foot-tall stained glass windows characteristic of the restaurant.
The firm overseeing the renovation, Amicon Management, has recently renovated other classic spots, including Soyka’s transformation into Lorena Garcia’s new restaurant, Chica, with the 50 Eggs restaurant group. Amicon also designed the instantly hot day club Joia Beach.