Chicago’s Mediterranean Restaurant Aba to Launch in the Bal Harbour Shops Miami
With its most recent expansion news—the launch this fall of Chicago's Mediterranean restaurant Aba on its first floor—The Bal Harbour Shops in Bal Harbour shows that it is more than just a place to shop. It arrives in Miami courtesy of former Top Chef contestant CJ Jacobson, senior partner Marc Jacobs, and Chicago-based hospitality company Lettuce Entertain You, which is working with Aba for the first time on a South Florida project.
Aba, a sister establishment of Ēma in Chicago's River North, features chef Jacobson's more casual approach to Mediterranean cooking. The cuisine emphasizes vegetables and offers a variety of dips, such as avocado hummus with Dungeness crab and carrot sunflower with sunflower tahini.
Other notable meals are the shawarma Spiced Skirt Steak with Black Garlic Mushroom Jus, the grilled Mahi Mahi with Roasted Garlic Yogurt, and the torched toro toro with watermelon and crystalized Castelvetrano olives.
A wine list that focuses on wineries that use sustainable, organic, and/or biodynamic farming methods was chosen by mixologist Liz Pearce and has cocktails that combine elements of the Mediterranean and Southern California.
Hebrew named Aba which translates as "Father," is a continuation of Chef CJ Jacobson's earlier eatery, Ema, which means "Mother." Chicago and Austin currently house the two Aba sites.
The first floor of the mall will include Aba, which will have an indoor dining room with more than 240 seats, a covered patio, a mezzanine bar, and a terrace. It goes without saying that it will be a spacious and much-needed contrast to the slew of other Mediterranean eateries that are opening this season, including the tapas-focused Mazeh, the stunning Lebanese Amal, and the modern Israeli restaurant Neya.
