Popular rum bar from New York opens Caribbean restaurant at Miami Beach hotel
On New York’s Lower East Side, Las’ Lap is a popular rum bar, known for creative cocktails.
At a Miami Beach hotel, it hopes to be even more.
With a name inspired by the last hour of Carnival, Las’ Lap Miami is now open at the Daydrift Hotel in South Beach. It’s a restaurant with a patio along the Collins Canal, a rooftop bar, a haven for rum-based cocktails — and the first expansion for the brand, which opened in New York in 2018 and quickly became a scene.
Bringing a rum-based experience to Miami made sense for the Las’ Lap team, according to partner Bryce Sheldon.
“West Indian culture already runs deep in the city’s food, music and spirit,” he said. “Las’ Lap fits into that cultural fabric while adding something distinct.”
That distinction comes in the form of chef and partner Kwame Onwuachi, known for his Afro-Caribbean cuisine and appearance on “Top Chef.” The force behind such New York restaurants as Tatiana in Lincoln Center, he earned the Rising Star Chef of the Year award from the James Beard Foundation in 2019.
Partnering with the New York Las’ Lap team for a Miami version of Las’ Lap “just felt right,” he said.
“Everything about this space was intentional,” he said, adding that the restaurant offers the opportunity to honor his Trinidadian grandfather. “I’ve always been drawn to places with personality and purpose. Our visions aligned. This intimate setting adds something new to South Beach. It’s low-key, late night and detail driven.”
As well as evoking the spirit of Carnival, the menu will highlight Onwuachi’s heritage, including Creole, Nigerian, Jamaican and Trinidadian flavors. Dishes will include caviar service with roti; Escovitch crab claws with pickled onion and carrot; and snapper with guacamole and tostones. Other dishes include jerk mushroom yakitori and wagyu griot.
As for the rum, well, it will be well represented. Las’ Lap aims to serve the most extensive rum selection in Miami, with curated collections for Jamaican and Trinidadian distilleries, rare Brazilian cachacas (a spirit distilled from sugarcane juice) and select bottles from Japan.
Cocktails include the Las’ Lap Punch, with white rum Bacardi Superior; Bacardi Ocho; orange juice, pineapple juice, lime and Grenadine; Palma, with coconut-infused rum, coconut water, pineapple juice, lime, agave and saline; and a spicy melon margarita with jalapeño-infused tequila, melon juice, lime, Grand Marnier, syrup and melon-jalapeño salt.
Las’ Lap
Where: Daydrift Hotel, 2216 Park Ave., Miami Beach
Hours: 5 p.m.-late Wednesday-Sunday; closed Monday-Tuesday
Reservations: Resy
More information: www.laslapmia.com
