The Restaurant Collector

L ike a jump cut into a Michael Mann movie, a foreboding doorman steps up to guard the unmarked steel door that leads to The Joyce, art dealer Andre Sakhai’s three-month old steakhouse inside Miami Beach’s Esme Hotel, a former Prohibition era hangout of Al Capone and his Outfit. The velvet-curtained dining room masks the restaurant’s dual purpose as a windowless brick vault for a wall-to-wall spread of boys’ club provocations from Sakhai’s private collection, including an early KAWS paintover of a Calvin Klein Underwear phone booth ad featuring Christy Turlington, two topless George Condo portraits—including Triple Playboy Bunny (2006)—and a triptych of unabashed facesitting drawings by the late Japanese femdom artist Namio Harukawa. Precious art and multiformat prime beef, including an off-menu double cheeseburger appetizer and $100 French dip, are served in daunting portions to the select few who are able to score a reservation in the 45-seat restaurant, all of whom appear to have left one seat open for the ever-present Sakhai, who made his fortune in New York as an early silent investor in brands from Chobani to Supreme.