On Friday, October 16, the outdoor deck at Habibi Miami will stop looking like a Miami riverfront. The supper club is marking its second anniversary with a Marrakech souk, built from rugs, lanterns and drummers, before the evening moves indoors and the dinner crowd becomes a late-night one.
The club opened on the Miami River in October 2024. Ahead of that launch, <a href="https://www.timeout.com/miami/news/a-french-moroccan-supper-club-is-opening-on-the-miami-river-this-summer-052024">Time Out Miami reported</a> that the project came from Roman Jones, Ikam Rebaia and Aris Nanos, the team behind neighboring Kiki on the River, with a 200-seat room designed in a pink and teal, Wes Anderson-inspired style. Executive Chef Wladimir Arévalo, a former sous chef at Doya in Wynwood, was named to lead the kitchen, as Miami New Times reported at the time. The venue has since operated as a dinner theater, with nightly entertainment that has included belly dancers and live percussionists.
Habibi Miami Rebuilds Its River Deck as a Moroccan Marketplace
The night starts outside. According to the venue, guests will arrive to a cocktail reception on the deck, which will be dressed as Habibi's Marrakech Souk. The setting is built around richly patterned rugs, glowing lanterns and Moroccan décor, with a perfume stand and a henna stand set among them. Cocktails and passed hors d'oeuvres are part of the reception.
Sound is the other half of the set. Arabic darbouka drummers will perform in a roaming format throughout the reception, the venue said. The darbouka is a goblet drum used across North Africa and the Middle East, and the point of sending players through the crowd is to put the noise of a market on the water.
Then the program shifts. After the riverside portion, guests will head indoors, where Habibi moves from dinner service into its late-night party, according to the announcement. VIP bottle service is planned, along with expanded theatrical performances featuring belly dancers and what the venue called additional special entertainment. It did not say who else will perform.
MASHALA Sets Up a Fine Jewelry Pop-Up Inside the Habibi Miami Anniversary
The secondary draw is retail. MASHALA, a fine jewelry and precious metals brand, will run a pop-up during the celebration. The company describes its work as pieces in 18k and 22k gold, natural diamonds and precious gemstones. The selection will include gold and diamond jewelry for both women and men, and the venue said pieces will be available for purchase on the night.
It is an unusual pairing on paper: a jewelry counter in the middle of a cocktail reception on a deck. It also fits the souk concept, where the browsing is part of the entertainment. Perfume, henna and gold are staples of a traditional Moroccan market, and the lineup at the anniversary follows that logic.
Two years in, the format is the story. Habibi Miami sits a few steps from Kiki on the River, so a Friday night on this stretch of the Miami River is a crowded proposition. The anniversary program answers that with set dressing and live performance rather than a headline name. Whether a souk on a deck gives the club a repeatable template for its third year is something the October 16 turnout will start to show.
