Dubai-Born Gaia Brings Its Simple Yet Glamorous Mediterranean Flavors to Miami

Gaia, which will make its United States debut when it opens its Miami location in March, is a glamorous, globally minded restaurant where everything just blends. 

Gaia launched in Dubai in 2018 and has expanded to Monaco, Doha, London and Marbella; it serves Mediterranean food with an emphasis on Greek flavors. The restaurant is led by Nigerian-British chef Izu Ani, who cooked at some of Europe’s most avant-garde and elite restaurants before realizing he wanted to do something simpler and more nourishing. 

Gaia, which is complemented by a late-night lounge called Nyx at all its locations, has attracted A-listers like Tom Cruise, LeBron James, Naomi Campbell, Roger Federer, Idris Elba, Lewis Hamilton, Peggy Gou and the Dubai royal family. It makes sense that a restaurant with this kind of clientele will open on South Pointe Drive in Miami Beach’s buzzing South of Fifth area, where lively blockbuster restaurants like Joe’s Stone Crab, Carbone and Catch call home.

“At the end of the day, the essence of what we do is good food,” Ani tells Observer. “And when we built the concept, from day one, it was all about building something that would last. It’s not about being fashionable. We have a festive restaurant. We have a vibe in our restaurant. But that’s not the basis of our restaurant. We need to build something of substance.”

Ani loves the “simplicity” of Greek food and thinks Miami will appreciate the way he cooks.

“Miami suits our kind of food,” he says. “It’s a happy place. It’s a sunny place. It’s a place where you want to eat a Greek salad. You want to eat a grilled fish. You want to have tzatziki. You want to have the sea bream carpaccio, the food that keeps you light. Not food that weighs you down. People are looking for great food that’s healthy. Miami really fits our kind of food and culture.”

Gaia’s sea bream carpaccio is a beautiful example of how Ani’s food is simple while also being technique-driven, globally influenced and exquisitely plated. The exacting knifework on every sea bream is inspired by Ani’s love of Japan.

“I’m a big fan of Japanese culture,” Ani says. “It’s about the preciseness, but also the less is more. Everything is minimal. That’s what I love about it. I’ve designed my home to be Japanese because I hate clutter. I like to see less things so I can enjoy the things I see.”

What guests might enjoy seeing most at Gaia is its signature “ice market,” with a daily selection of fish and other seafood. You can choose the fish you want and how you would like it prepared, with options including raw, baked (with spiced tomato, Greek herbs and potatoes), grilled (in a charcoal oven with lemon oil), salt-crust, harissa-style and pan-fried.

Ani cut his teeth at modernist restaurants like Arzak and Mugaritz in Spain, but he wants to do something much more straightforward for a mass audience at Gaia. 

“Our food is all based on ingredients,” Ani says. “It’s about leaving as much alone as possible.”

At the same time, “I added my Nigerian heritage, which is spice, to the Greek cuisine because I felt that sometimes you need a little heat to wake up the palate,” Ani adds. “If you’ve ever tried the broccoli at Gaia, it’s with chili, ginger, lemon and oil. That’s it.”

Ani always considers the setting he’s in when he opens a restaurant, so he’s thinking about palm trees, the beach and the diversity of residents and visitors in Miami.

“Miami is a place that is vibrant with a lot of international people,” he says. “Whenever we choose a location, it has to fit the soul of what we’re trying to offer because the food is eaten by the environment. If food goes into an environment where it doesn’t belong, it doesn’t have the same impact.”

Ani’s looking forward to cooking with seasonal ingredients in Miami, and letting the ingredients take the lead.

“We adapt to the environment because we want to be part of the environment,” he says. “We do not impose our will. If a tomato is different in Miami, we will adjust. It might be a bit sweeter, so maybe we will give it a bit more acid. One thing I’ve learned is that your palate changes everywhere you go because of the different mixture of oxygen in the air. We’re going to adapt with the ingredients we find in Miami because the soil is different. You work with nature. You don’t work against nature.”