Francois Frossard has designed many of the hotspots in Miami. But he serendipitously landed his latest job on a flight from Dallas to Miami when he sat next to Forge owner Shareef Malnik. “We struck up a very energetic and natural conversation about hospitality design and our experience in the industry,” says Frossard, the founder of his Miami-based namesake firm. “A few months later, he asked me to come to the Forge, which was closed for renovations, to discuss ideas and design concepts.”
After a 10-day inspiration trip to cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Frossard was ready to delve into the redo of the Miami staple. “I like to think I created a template of vibrant optimism that was in part inspired by the Forge’s traditionally opulent and regal environment. The rest was inspired by our shared travels together, including our tour of Shareef’s father’s house in Palm Beach. Two of his father’s living rooms in particular caught my attention, as the paneling and millwork there arose from an old Paris hotel circa 1900,” Frossard explains. “In the end, we wanted the Forge to feel like a home; an elegant, opulent, and intricate home, but still a comfortable home where you can relax and be yourself. It’s also a good bit brighter in there than it used to be-warmer, fresher, livelier.”
To that end, the restaurant is divided into various rooms, which each seamlessly blend yet have their own unique attitude. It’s a mix of the old and the new, of warm and cold tones. Wood and mirrors are accented by stainless steel and chrome detailing. Walls are done in gold-lame wallpaper, golden-ash walls, and stained glass, while white chairs with colorful painted backs stand next to hand-etched glass tabletops. And the room sparkles thanks to multi-tiered glass chandeliers, a wall of uplit cascading glass balls, and twisted purple glass chandeliers.
The standouts? The glassed-in private dining room, featuring a massive table made up of three slabs of wood surrounded by oversized, Alice in Wonderland-like white leather chairs, and an image of a naked woman lays across bathroom stall doors.
“The space works perfectly now. From the time you enter and meet the hostess to when you first stroll into the restaurants, it’s like traveling from the past into the 21st century,” Frossard explains. “I worked on so many intricate, careful, creative-some might even say ‘hidden’-details to make sure that after going there the first time, you’ll be able to go back and discover something completely new the next time around.”
Next up for Frossard: Oro nightclub in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; a two-story lounge and nightclub in Chicago; a club and Todd English restaurant in Mexico City; and an indoor-outdoor lounge in Marbella, Spain.
