Giselle Miami

Curtains drawn, yet a warm breeze peels them open. Hazy light filters in across her face. The silk shirt? Sure, but even that feels like too much. A hint of perfume behind her neck, a final glance in the mirror. She is ready to shine. 

She said to meet her on the rooftop. Would she be waiting? No, she prefers to make an entrance; everybody pretending not to notice that the air just got a little more – charged. A drink, of course. No ice, just a little too strong. Food from around the world, but she likes the taste of the ocean, the salt on her lips to start. 

A beautiful, vibrant crowd stirring; long lost lovers, no longer strangers, friends for life or just for the night, still vibrating from the energy downstairs.

Giselle offers an elevated dining experience in a dazzling, panoramic setting in the heart of downtown Miami.  She is sophisticated yet eclectic, seductively captivating, edgy, and extravagant. Blending Asian, Mediterranean & French-inspired cuisine, elevated cocktail programming, and exquisite design, Giselle serves up a journey to remember. Upon arrival, guests are transported in a private elevator up to the main entrance of the indoor-outdoor restaurant featuring a fully retractable roof, where they are invited to step into the sultry fantasy world of Giselle.

Interior design done by Tristan Du Plessis. The South African interior designer’s latest project is a spectacular rooftop Supper Club called Giselle. It opened in March and is located  in downtown Miami’s bustling District 11.

The latest of these is in Miami and it’s a space that has Tristan’s unmistakable stamp – part re-imagined classism-with-a-twist-of-Deco, part retro-futurist, and a little bit of a rock ‘n roll edge in there somewhere too. We chatted to Tristan about Giselle – a new restaurant located above E11even – one of the biggest nightclubs in the USA.

Over-the-top and unapologetically glamorous dining experience, providing lots of eye-candy and moments of discovery.

The client wanted to have a dynamic outdoor space that could close in a few seconds when rain came and open right back up when it cleared. They also wanted an intimate internal fine-dining area that felt like a dreamscape from which you could comfortably view the madness that is downtown Miami’s nightlife.

The design was largely driven by the location, E11even is a high-energy, star-studded nightclub with the biggest rappers and DJ’s in the world performing every weekend. It’s highly theatrical and extremely high-energy, so Giselle was intended to be a complimentary  pre-cursor to the late-night Miami experience.

We wanted the space to feel glamorous but with a gritty edge beneath the surface. The bathrooms are a good example of this … we flew New York-based street artist Bisco Smith to “vandalize” every surface in the bathrooms, which feels more akin to walking into an art installation than a restaurant toilet.

The walls were panelled in traditional French Boiserie installed in a very untraditional way, and then further blown way out-of-proportion in the fine-dining room. We wanted to lean into expected luxury features and twist them into something new and unexpected.  The branding was created by our longstanding collaborators Jana+Koos; and we also wove graphic elements into the design, like the hand-painted motifs on individual tiles with Kalki Ceramics in Durban. 

We worked with Cape Town-based Guideline MNF to custom-make most of the Furniture, along  with some of Haldane Marti’s chairs on the terrace. We used fabrics from Dedar Milano, wall lights from Paris-based Garnier & Linker, pendant by Lee Broom from London, as well as lamps by Apparatus Studio in New York (on the bar) and LA-based Kelly Wearstler (on the chef’s counter)  to add touches of sophistication in this over-the-top space.