For us it's the art at Red Rooster Overtown
The front entrance of Red Rooster Overtown
by Roshan Nebhrajani Bransden
At the end of a dreary year, the yellow bulbs lining a red marquee lit up a neighborhood: Red Rooster Overtown had arrived. While known for their decadent oxtail, it’s the art that brought us together for a visit to the restaurant on February 20. Needless to say we were blown away with the amount of consideration, community and charm that made this place alive.
At noon on a Saturday, it was already bustling, with waiters zipping through the dining room and the gorgeous open patio — weaving through deep rooted and towering trees, built into the restaurant. It’s a symbol of how the folx behind Red Rooster exhibit a commitment to truly joining a community rather than razing it, and being all the more beautiful as a result. Our tour guide, the charismatic and knowledgeable curator and cultural ambassador Donnamarie Baptiste, handed each of us a hibiscus pink cocktail courtesy of Tito’s Handmade Vodka and took us on our way.
Even before opening its doors officially, Red Rooster was the outpost for Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, she explained, serving free meals to locals as the pandemic threatened their livelihoods. Through this process, the staff got to meet their neighbors, learning and serving those who made up the place they now too called home. That compassion and consideration extends to every part of the interior, and begs visitors to look around at the walls, to not only focus on their own individual tables and immediate needs — but to embrace and explore the space around them.
As we entered the front door, immediately to the right a collage of Miami entries into The Green Book lined the walls by multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams. Endearing photos of Black and Brown travelers in swimsuits and sunglasses, captured during a 1960s segregated Miami, was a statement that joy and leisure are radical acts of freedom.
As we continued through the restaurant, we stopped to appreciate the work of celebrated Overtown artist Purvis Young. Three wooden boards, with pastel tones in a style atypical and gentler than some of Young’s other work I’ve seen elsewhere, were arranged along a beam by a large open window.
Chicago-born Rashid Johnson had two different but equally stunning pieces on display, the first a photograph entitled “Young Afronaut” features a man looking straight out into the room (in our case the bar) and another shot of him overlayed looking up into the sky. It was both direct and aspirational, disarming and hopeful. We moved along and were lucky enough to also see an installation by Johnson — a black-tiled bathroom wall, texturized with Black Soap dripping like wax, a medium Johnson is known to use, and mementos perched upon shelves came together in an intimate piece that looked like a homage to a memory of what “home” means.
As we dipped into the private dining room, a delicious felt zebra-print lined the walls. I have to shout out Miami local Stephen Arboite’s piece in this room, which is a stunning portrait somehow made with a mix of coffee grounds, pigments and inks.
We traveled through the soon-to-be-opened ice cream shop up a stairway whose walls were collaged with historical advertisements and photos of great Black artists visiting and making their mark on Miami. Walking up the hallway, I was struck by how much care went into honoring Black life in Miami, sparing no detail. Donnamarie explained that they envisioned this upstairs room being a place where there would be live music and events, all programmed with the same care for their community as the art along the walls.
As our tour came to an end, we sat down for a good ole fashioned boozy brunch. I got a vegan/gluten-free twist on chicken and waffles and let me tell you it was so good I bought the damn cookbook. I was moved by what a special restaurant this was, and how it was a lesson in noticing. I felt lucky to have someone hold my hand through it this time, but left excited by the possibility of re-discovering familiar places for the things I may not have taken the time to appreciate before.
Roshan Nebhrajani Bransden is a Commissioner Collector and Alumna who generously shared her experience of our member event, “Red Rooster: A Curated Art Tour”. Photography by Andrea Lorena. Visit Red Rooster at redroosterovertown.com.
