Today we’d like to introduce you to Abbe Diaz.
Hi Abbe, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Owner/ operator Abbe Diaz has worked in the restaurant/nightlife industry for over 35 years, with fine-dining stints for some of the most prominent restaurateurs in New York (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Eric Goode, Brian McNally) and bartending stints in some of NYC’s hottest spots (Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, and Club USA), just to name a few.
She is the author of PX This (Diary of the “Maitre d’ to the Stars”) published in 2004, and its sequel, PX Me, released in 2014.
She moved to Miami Beach in 2015, opening WATER LION Wine + Alchemy in December 2021, which snagged the coveted title of “Best Wine Bar 2022” by Miami New Times, and “Top Two Wine Bars in Miami 2025” by the international Star Wine List.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh boy. Well, my two partners and I had originally planned to open in 2020, but we were thwarted by COVID-19 (which obviously affected everything from funding, to location search, to staffing, etc).
Then we lost one of those primary partners about two weeks after opening during final negotiations.
And for the past two years, due to a lot of very difficult emotional circumstances, we have been dealing with the potential termination and/or restructuring of the current remaining partnership.
So no, definitely not a smooth road.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Right now Water Lion operates with only three people (less than half the staff we had at the start):
Joshua Gosline is our sommelier, and he primarily deals with everything vinuous, developing our specific and esteemed wine program and directly interfacing with the patrons, especially those who appreciate his elevated level of of wine knowledge and service (which also includes other discerning wine professionals).
Filip Trajkovic is our chef who handles everything food-related, and has an acclaimed and highly regarded attention to quality, detail, aesthetic, and charm.
We all share the creative responsibilities of our liquor program, and the rest of the standard daily service operations.
And I do pretty much whatever is left.
However, in Miami Beach I’m probably most known for being a tarot reader. (I was the primary psychic for the former Employees Only- Miami, and I continue to read cards for clients and patrons at Water Lion.)
Right now I’m most proud of the overall design in the creation of Water Lion. As I have been a designer since 1991 (first in graphics, then in fashion, and now apparently in commercial interiors), the visual design I implemented is the thing about Water Lion that brings me the most joy. But it’s the development of its meticulous concept, which was relatively new in South Beach in 2021, that brings me the most pride.
What sets me apart is most likely my extensive experience in New York fine-dining, which arguably sets a premier industry standard worth emulating. It makes me patient, personable, placid, and pragmatic, which collectively are qualities I personally find to be quite few and far-between.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was an only-child to a single working mother in a prestigious medical field; I was literally “latch-key” for a short time (hey, it was a different era). I was always creative and artistic, but it wasn’t something generally recognized in my family/ culture as being of value, so that aspect wasn’t really nurtured (I eventually got a Bachelors degree in Economics).
I ended up bartending in nightclubs, because after graduation I decided I really didn’t want to accept an entry-level position with a relatively large banking/ investment firm (Mama was THRILLED).
I decided instead to continue education by non-matriculating at the Fashion Institute of Technology, so I could learn how to sew and make dress patterns commercially. I started my own fashion label and opened a dressmaking shop in SoHo, New York City. Rent was very high; I made my landlord rich while I ate bagels for dinner. I closed the shop two years later to deal with exclusive-clients-only in the living room of my apartment overlooking the Hudson River. I worked in the hottest restaurants in town to supplement my income and meet rich/ famous people to elevate my clientele. Then 9/11 destroyed Fashion as we knew it for at least about a decade.
Yada yada, here we are. Wrote a book about it. Two, even.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://drink-joy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/water_lion
Image Credits
Abbe Diaz
