Le Specialità Serves Up Milanese Glamour in the Miami Design District
Rockwell Group channels midcentury Italy’s radical spirit for the Milanese trattoria’s first international outpost, where light and crispy pizzas complement artisan-crafted furnishings and a world-class collection of contemporary art
Le Specialità has endured a cornerstone of Milanese dining culture since the late 1970s, when the cozy Porta Vittoria hotspot began serving up its legendary wood-fired pizzas in a convivial, home-like atmosphere beloved by locals. The trattoria’s opening arrived on the heels of an optimistic period within the Italian design capital as “architects pushed against social inequality and political upheaval and incorporated art, music, and performance into their work and ideas,” explains designer David Rockwell, who was tasked with envisioning the storied pizza kitchen’s first international outpost, fittingly located in Miami, a city also known for its artistic flair.
The prolific New York architect dialed into that widely influential midcentury design epoch when conceiving Le Specialità’s glamorous interiors, which commingle classic Milanese sophistication with the Magic City’s penchant for bold gestures. “We felt that this playful, hopeful, artistic spirit was appropriate for the Miami of today,” Rockwell says, noting how both cities share an affinity for color, conviviality, and mischief. That manifests through sweeping curves, supergraphics, and a collision of textures that conjure feelings of unmitigated delight while serving as a lavish portal to the Milan of yesteryear—all while not overpowering the pizza.
That much is clear based on how Andre Sakhai, founder of Spicy Hospitality Group, vividly collaged vintage Italian photography across Venetian plaster banquette walls to conjure an atmosphere of “retro-chic” decadence. It joins a smattering of blue-chip art from his personal collection, spanning pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rashid Johnson, Peter Saul, Joel Mesler, John Wesley, Takashi Murakami, Cameron Welch, and Richard Prince. “The art sets the tone for the space; it’s what brings personality and depth,” Sakhai explains. “We wanted pieces that felt authentic to Milan but still made sense in Miami—something timeless, bold and unexpected.”
Rockwell’s lavish interiors capture that sense of authenticity and buzz. Guests immediately encounter a red lacquered host stand and green lavastone bar backdropped by a glowing mirrored wine display with champagne nickel accents, nodding to the Italian Radical Design movement’s iconoclastic use of color and texture. Striped leather booths, meanwhile, reference vintage Ferraris. Terrazzo floors embedded with metal stripe inlay echo diagonal wooden beams above—a sly nod to Milan’s Supergraphic era. The pièce de résistance is easily the pizza oven, a dazzling artistic feat of black-and-white terrazzo mosaic framed by a wood butcher block chef’s bar that offers guests front-row seats to the action. “These materials create a tactile environment,” explains Brad Zuger, a partner at Rockwell Group. Such bold gestures, he continues, feel “grounded in Italian craft and also at home in Miami’s sun-drenched landscape.”
As do the restaurant’s stylish furnishings, the majority of which Rockwell sourced from Artemest. “Working with them allowed us to bring the best of Italian craftsmanship to Miami,” Rockwell says of the lighting, furniture, and decorative objects, which were fabricated from the design marketplace’s robust network of Italian artisans. Oxblood stools upholstered in sumptuous Italian leather, for example, gather around the entry bar; the same decadent shade echoes in the dining room’s lacquer-and-leather chairs, which complement lavastone tabletops.
Those, of course, are where Le Specialità’s signature light and crispy pizzas—among them the margherita, truffle pizza, and piccantissimi with chili pepper pesto and pine nuts—are served up with classic Milanese craftsmanship courtesy of executive chef Cameron Magee. Secondi offerings pay homage to timeless Italian preparations, with dishes such as branzino alla Siciliana, dover sole meunière, and veal Milanese executed with balance and precision. Pair them with the restaurant’s robust 260-label wine list, which spans Italy’s most renowned regions to select vintages from Burgundy and Bordeaux.
“[This] marks a major milestone for Spicy Hospitality Group,” says Sakhai, who hints that even more exciting concepts to come in Miami, New York, and California following Le Specialità and The Joyce, a shiny South Beach steakhouse that opened in the spring. “The restaurant has long been a cornerstone of Milan’s dining culture and the Miami Design District is the ideal setting for its American debut, reflecting our vision to build a collection of restaurants that embody the creativity, ambition, and energy of this city.”
Le Specialità is located at 40 NE 41st Street, Miami.