Food

A new luxury Mediterranean spot from the creators of Mila opens in Coconut Grove

By Connie Ogle

Updated November 19, 2025 9:10 AM

The main dining room at Ava MediterrAegean restaurant in Coconut Grove. Alex Tarajano

Coconut Grove is poised to take yet another big step into the world of culinary luxury.

The creators of the upscale dining experiences Casa Neos, Claudie and Mila, which was named one of the most beautiful restaurants in the country in 2024, are bringing a new high-end concept to the neighborhood. Opening Nov. 20 on McFarlane Road is Ava MediterrAegean, a Mediterranean restaurant with a private members-only club that has its own Japanese-inspired menu and private cellar.

This is the second location of Ava MediterrAegean; the first opened in 2022 in Winter Park near Orlando.

The dining team at the Miami restaurant is made up of Riviera Dining Group partner and head of culinary chef Michael Michaelidis and executive chef Frédéric Aumeunier, who has worked in such Michelin-starred kitchens as Per Se in New York (three stars); La Maison Pic in Valence, France (three stars); and Pineapple & Pearls in Washington, D.C. Aumeunier has also worked with French chef and restaurateur Alain Ducasse.

The interior of Ava MediterrAegean restaurant in Coconut Grove. Alex Tarajano

At Ava MediterrAegean, the menu focuses on dishes from the Cycladic region, a group of islands in the southwestern Aegean Sea that include Santorini and Mykonos. You’ll find seafood dishes like tuna ceviche, yellowtail crudo with fig leaf vierge, caviar and watermelon Mediterranean sea bass carpaccio and Chilean sea bass, as well as dishes to share like a whole branzino spetziota or prawns Kadaifi with black garlic emulsion.

There’s also lobster pasta and a 32-ounce Tomahawk and a lamb moussaka served tableside as well as smaller mezze plates and salads.

Designer Lazaro Rosa-Violan uses natural Mediterranean material — plaster, travertine, limestone and coral stone — in the restaurant’s design, along with tones of white and sand, the idea being to evoke the look of the islands. There are also commissioned artworks all around the indoor dining room from tapestries to silk works and sculptures.

The outdoor terrace at Ava MediterrAegean restaurant in Coconut Grove. Alex Tarajano

Gregory Galy, founder and CEO of Riviera Dining Group, said that the restaurant’s “exceptional” food, design and atmosphere are a good fit for the neighborhood, which is home to other upscale concepts like Amal and Carbone Vino and the Michelin-starred Ariete.

“Ava Coconut Grove marks the evolution of our vision — a flagship that brings the soul of the Mediterranean to one of Miami’s most storied neighborhoods,” he said.

The Riviera Dining Group made its Miami debut in 2020 with Mila in Miami Beach, then followed with Casa Neos on the Miami River in 2024 and Claudie in the Brickell neighborhood earlier this year.