La Sponda will open Sept. 19 at Vita at Grove Isle, adding a new waterfront Italian restaurant to one of Coconut Grove’s most closely watched residential projects. The concept comes from Gioia Hospitality Group, the team behind Daniel’s Miami and Daniel’s, A Florida Steakhouse, and will debut inside CMC Group’s recently completed luxury condominium on Grove Isle.
The opening gives Grove Isle a new dining anchor at street level, extending the hospitality component of a development that was positioned from the start as more than a residential tower. La Sponda is also notable as Gioia Hospitality’s first Italian restaurant concept, pairing the company’s fine-dining experience with a menu and design direction inspired by Thomas Angelo’s family roots in southern Italy.
CMC Group founder Ugo Colombo said in the report that the restaurant fits the company’s vision for Vita at Grove Isle, which was designed to bring a new luxury offering to the island while reconnecting the property with the broader Miami community through dining and waterfront access.
| Project Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Restaurant | La Sponda |
| Opening Date | Sept. 19, 2026 |
| Location | Vita at Grove Isle, Coconut Grove |
| Operator | Gioia Hospitality Group |
| Developer | CMC Group |
| Seating | About 120 guests |
| Design | Martin Brudnizki Design Studio |
New dining concept lands at Vita at Grove Isle
La Sponda is scheduled to open on Wednesday, Sept. 19, with dinner service initially available Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations will be offered through Resy, according to the report. The restaurant is located within Vita at Grove Isle, the seven-story condominium developed by CMC Group on the private island just offshore Coconut Grove.
While the residential component of Vita at Grove Isle has already been delivered, the restaurant adds another layer to the project’s amenity and lifestyle offering. In South Florida, more luxury residential developments are incorporating destination dining into the property itself, especially in waterfront settings where food and beverage operations can help extend the identity of the building beyond its owners’ lobby and pool deck.
La Sponda is emerging as the latest example of that trend, but it is also being positioned as a standalone destination. Gioia Hospitality said the restaurant draws inspiration from Italy’s regional cooking traditions, with a menu shaped by the Angelo family’s years of travel, sourcing and research across the country.
Menu focuses on handmade pasta, seafood and Italian wines
The culinary program will center on handmade pasta, seafood, crudo, antipasti and a rotating selection of dishes inspired by different regions of Italy. Chef Danny Ganem is leading the kitchen with Thomas and Kassidy Angelo.
Among the signature dishes highlighted in the announcement are Spaghetti alla Chitarra al Tartufo with Burgundy truffles, cultured butter and Parmigiano espuma; Paccheri al Campagnolo with Aquanaria branzino, Datterini tomatoes, capers and olives; Branzino alla Vernaccia with Taggiasca olives, potatoes, tomatoes and basil; and an Australian L’Grow Ranch Wagyu Bistecca Fiorentina finished with rosemary, Balsamico di Modena and Gioia olive oil.
Wine & Beverage Director Daniel Bishop is curating a list built around Italian regions, including Barolo and Barbaresco from Piemonte, Tuscan labels, Etna reds from Sicily and wines from Puglia. The beverage program will also include French, Spanish and California selections, along with older vintages ranging up to 20 to 25 years, according to the announcement.
The cocktail list leans Mediterranean as well, with drinks such as Summer in Amalfi Spritz, Zio Tony and Garibaldi Fresca. The restaurant’s food and beverage direction suggests a format aimed more at special-occasion dining than a neighborhood casual concept, though Gioia Hospitality has emphasized that the service style will remain warm and approachable.
For readers following South Florida dining and hospitality openings, the best context is the company’s track record. Gioia Hospitality’s Daniel’s Miami was recently ranked the highest-rated Florida steakhouse on the World’s Best 101 Steak Restaurants list, while Daniel’s, A Florida Steakhouse has also earned Michelin Guide recognition, giving the group a high-end platform as it broadens into Italian cuisine.
Design draws from Italy, with Coconut Grove references throughout
La Sponda was designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, the London-based firm known for hospitality interiors that blend classical references with contemporary detail. In Vita at Grove Isle, the restaurant’s interiors were described as combining European elegance with a more relaxed Coconut Grove setting.
According to PROFILEmiami, much of the space was sourced from Italy, including handcrafted furnishings, imported stone, custom tables and artisan finishes. The dining room features white tablecloths, hand-painted architectural details, a baby grand piano and a private dining room. The restaurant will seat about 120 guests.
One of the more specific design details cited in the report is a set of custom lamps hand-painted by a local artist with illustrations inspired by Coconut Grove’s peacocks and tropical landscape. That kind of local reference is increasingly common in high-end hospitality interiors, where operators often pair a global design language with neighborhood-specific motifs to create a stronger sense of place.
La Sponda’s setting on Grove Isle is part of the appeal. The island has long been one of Coconut Grove’s most recognizable waterfront addresses, and the restaurant is intended to support both the condominium lifestyle at Vita and the island’s broader identity as a destination beyond private residential use.
The development backdrop at Grove Isle
Vita at Grove Isle is the first new residential development on Grove Isle in decades and one of the more significant luxury condominium projects to be delivered in Coconut Grove. CMC Group broke ground on the project in 2023, topped it off in 2024 and completed it in December 2025, according to prior PROFILEmiami coverage referenced on the publication’s site.
The project was planned as a boutique seven-story luxury tower on the 20-acre private island, with 65 units reported by PROFILEmiami when construction passed its halfway point. CMC Group also secured a $239 million construction loan in early 2024 from Bank OZK to finance the project, underscoring the scale of the investment behind a relatively small unit count.
That combination of limited inventory, private-island positioning and waterfront views helped distinguish Vita from larger condominium launches elsewhere in Miami. The opening of La Sponda extends the development’s reach by adding a hospitality amenity that is open to more than just residents, giving the property a stronger public-facing identity.
For CMC Group, the restaurant also reinforces a long-term branding strategy. Ugo Colombo has repeatedly positioned his projects around the idea of pairing architecture, location and lifestyle rather than simply delivering apartments. In this case, the restaurant becomes an extension of that formula, adding a refined dining venue to a development already marketed around privacy and waterfront access.
Why the opening matters for Coconut Grove
Coconut Grove has seen a steady pipeline of residential and mixed-use investment, but the neighborhood still maintains a more intimate scale than Brickell, Edgewater or Downtown Miami. That has helped make Grove Isle and surrounding waterfront properties especially attractive to developers trying to offer a quieter luxury product.
La Sponda’s opening adds to that equation by bringing a destination restaurant into a market where high-end dining remains an important part of the lifestyle proposition. For residents at Vita at Grove Isle, it adds convenience and amenity value. For Coconut Grove more broadly, it creates another waterfront dining option in a neighborhood that has long balanced local character with upscale hospitality.
The restaurant will also be watched closely because it comes from a hospitality group with an established reputation for ambitious dining concepts. If La Sponda proves successful, it could further strengthen demand for restaurant-led residential environments in Miami’s premium waterfront submarkets, where developers increasingly use food and beverage programming to differentiate projects.
At the same time, the opening is a reminder that luxury development in South Florida is increasingly about the experience surrounding the units themselves. In this case, the restaurant’s debut is part of a broader life cycle for a completed condo project: the building is delivered, the neighborhood context is set and the hospitality component helps define what daily life on the property will feel like.
What happens next
La Sponda is expected to begin service on Sept. 19 with dinner only, Wednesday through Sunday. Reservations will be accepted through Resy. Additional service hours, if any, have not been publicly announced.
With the opening, attention now turns to how Gioia Hospitality’s first Italian concept performs in Coconut Grove and how well it integrates with the broader life of Vita at Grove Isle. For CMC Group, the launch marks another milestone in the evolution of a project that began as a residential tower and is now adding a hospitality destination with its own identity.
