Not many restaurants can claim they’ve sold $20,000 of wine in a single evening, but on the opening night of La Sponda in Miami, high-caliber wine was exactly what guests were seeking out.
“We got to open up a lot of iconic Italian wineries: Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio, Giacomo Conterno, Bartolo Mascarello, along with Gaja,” says Gioia Hospitality Group’s wine and beverage director, Daniel Bishop. “I would love every night to be like that.”
La Sponda is the next step in Gioia’s steady rise in Miami—following the openings of the lavish steak houses Daniel’s Miami in Coral Gables and Daniel’s, a Florida Steakhouse, in Fort Lauderdale in 2025 and 2024, respectively. On Sept. 19, Gioia opened La Sponda inside Vita at Grove Isle, a new residential building curved to maximize views of Biscayne Bay on a private island. (Both Daniel’s steak houses are Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winners; the Daniel’s Miami wine list offers 1,800 selections.)
Gioia was founded by father-and-daughter duo Thomas and Kassidy Angelo, who have Pugliese heritage. The Angelos and their team traveled across Italy to gather inspiration for La Sponda. “Chef Danny [Ganem] and I went up and down the coast,” the senior Angelo told Wine Spectator. Highlights of their trip included Marche, Abruzzo and Puglia…