The Michael Tronn Company

"I approach concept creation like a composer writes a symphony. Each element plays its part — blending materials, colors, textures, aromas, sounds, and flavors into an experiential composition."

— Michael Tronn

"One of the 50 Most Powerful People in Miami"

— Miami Sunpost

michael@michaeltronn.com

A Symphony for the Senses

The Vision Behind TIMBR

Michael Tronn is no stranger to creating immersive, multi-sensory experiences that captivate and transport guests. As the visionary behind TIMBR, he has meticulously orchestrated every detail — from architectural design to culinary philosophy — to craft a space that is as enchanting as it is innovative. More than just a restaurant, TIMBR is a living, breathing composition, where nature, art, and storytelling blend seamlessly into a symphony of the senses.

Dan Lindblade, Debbie Danto, Steven Glassman, Michael Tronn, Paul Brown, and Mayor Dean Trantalis

Miami Living: Your meticulous involvement in every design detail of TIMBR is evident. What drives your passion for such hands-on creativity?

The entire project of TIMBR, from the concept to the cocktails, can be summed up in two words: "magic" and "enchantment." Every aspect of TIMBR communicates to guests, creating a non-verbal form of expression that resonates with them. Its design is not just aesthetics; it is immersive theater, a production that speaks to who people are now, who they want to become, and their inner child.

As a designer, producer, and businessperson, I approach concept creation like a composer writes a symphony. I refer to my design philosophy as "A Symphony for The Senses" (also the title of my forthcoming book). Each element plays its part, blending materials, colors, textures, aromas, sounds, and flavors to create an experiential symphony.

Unlike designers who focus solely on aesthetics, I create for people's minds, bodies, and spirits on four levels: conscious, subconscious, psychological, and emotional. I genuinely care about people and aim to enrich their experiences. Every interaction — whether with a place, an object, or another person — is a relationship, and I strive to make each one memorable. Great design goes beyond the experience itself; it lingers in memory, evoking emotions that bring people back. My goal is to inspire, uplift, and spark creativity, offering a sanctuary of innovation and wonder.

Miami Living: The Parc Dining Room features indoor trees, seamlessly blending nature with dining. What inspired this natural element?

When I first saw the space, it felt like an enormous cavern. I knew I had to use its airspace as a canvas. Growing up in New York, I developed a deep love for modernity, art, and architecture, but my appreciation for nature came later. I now embrace both passionately. I love using trees in my designs. Indoors, they take on an otherworldly quality, grounding and energizing a space. Organic elements bring life, which is why TIMBR is filled with them — from live-edge tables to denim upholstery and firefly lights. This fusion of familiarity and unexpected contemporary design makes TIMBR both innovative and comforting.

Miami Living: With its glass pyramid and floral decorations, The Atrium offers a unique ambiance. What was your vision?

Passing through The Parc, guests enter an enchanted garden. The Atrium is covered in 90,000 flowers, creating a lattice above. The transition space leads to an explosion of color, lifting spirits and igniting curiosity. The blue flagstone-inspired floors are actually custom-molded cement, ensuring the perfect color. The tables evoke picnic tables, and the pergola-covered bar enhances the feeling of being in a European vineyard garden.

Miami Living: The Lounge exudes a mysterious aura with its multicultural influences. What inspired its atmosphere?

The Lounge is my interpretation of a Tiki bar, but with a broader, more sophisticated global narrative. I incorporated craftsmanship from multiple cultures to create a sultry, seductive cocktail lounge. While inspired by Polynesian elements, I unified everything with a monochromatic scheme of greys and blacks for depth and mystery. Venetian plaster walls, dark Italian parquet floors, and black furniture set the stage.

The tree trunks behind the bar were inspired by those in Careyes, Mexico. The ceiling beams reflect patterns I saw in a Philippine school. The arches are influenced by Indian temples, while the pedestals and zebra rugs nod to Africa. The bar itself uses a Japanese Sugi-ban wood-burning technique. Amethyst geode cocktail tables were mined in Brazil, and the wall tiles compose my poem "Stardust," written in the near-extinct Tibetan dialect Phags-pa.

Miami Living: TIMBR's exterior resembles a vintage European storefront. Why this architectural style?

The goal was authenticity. This style is familiar but uncommon in South Florida. It is timeless, elegant, yet not overly ornate. I meticulously designed each brick with a brickmason to ensure a weathered, authentic look. The terrace railings reflect an Art Deco motif, modified for a vineyard-inspired touch. We insisted on real wood instead of PVC, ensuring authenticity. The result is a facade that immediately tells a story of history and discovery.

Miami Living: You've introduced the concept of "Vineyard Cuisine." What does this mean?

Vineyard Cuisine is an idea I've imagined for many years but the name came to mind while designing TIMBR. It embodies the warmth of home cooking, but elevated — classic dishes prepared with the same thoughtfulness as the venue itself. It draws from Napa Valley, Sonoma, the Northeast, the South, and Europe. Every dish is homemade, beautifully executed, and served with love. I describe it as "like fairies in the forest made it."

Miami Living: Your background spans art, fashion, and nightlife. How has this influenced TIMBR?

Everything I have ever done has led to this moment. My education in art history gave me a visual language to communicate through colors, shapes, and textures. Fashion instilled a sense of drama and theatricality, as all fashion is a form of personal expression. Nightlife, meanwhile, taught me about the magic of after-dark experiences, community, and celebration. As a lifelong student of culture and human behavior, I've absorbed and analyzed everything — from ancient celebrations to modern-day revelry. This understanding allowed me to shape TIMBR as a response to our times, a space that offers both escape and belonging.

Miami Living: You aim for guests to leave TIMBR feeling inspired. What specific design elements evoke this feeling?

Every design element in TIMBR is intentional, from the wooden floor of The Parc to the butterfly motif on the menus. The staff uniforms, glassware, cutlery, and estate-style kitchen all contribute to the larger vision. Nothing exists within TIMBR without playing its part in the symphony. Guests feel its warmth, its balance of modernity and comfort, and its ability to transport them. Many have called TIMBR their "new favorite place," some returning multiple times a week.

Miami Living: What are your plans for the future?

TIMBR is one of 1,300 names and concepts I originally shared with my partners at 3 Hospitality, Max Van Fleet and Paul Brown. Now that it has proven successful, expansion is in motion. We believe it fills a void and it is one we are excited to fill. We are also looking forward to building some of the other concepts — an innovative Asian idea, over the top bakery, cleverly done coffee house, and far beyond, as well as moving into larger projects. With TIMBR being the culmination of our collective careers, the sky is the limit!

By ML Staff · Photos / TIMBR

City & Shore Magazine · First Look

Mega-Tronn

He calls it his masterwork, this high-concept dining experience called TIMBR that Michael Tronn is creating in a century-old building in Fort Lauderdale. Coming from the multidimensional nightlife luminary who's staged over 1,000 events for celebrities like Madonna and Gaultier, that's saying something.

By Greg Carannante

What'll make a diner want to go to TIMBR as opposed to one of the many other restaurants in the area?

One of the things that makes TIMBR very special is that it is very high-concept. From our marketing all the way to our offerings of food and drink, and really everything in between is very thoughtfully curated. The design is unique but it's also meant to be very warm and inviting. So it's the combination of the familiar and the innovative that really goes together. So you'll have what I refer to as an enchanted experience in terms of the environment. And then you will have food that is equally on par.

When you say 'familiar,' what are you referring to?

For example, our facade is designed to look like a European storefront. There are obviously no European storefronts in Florida because we're in Florida. So I took design elements from Paris and London and parts of New York. Those cities have the same kind of turn-of-the-century storefronts, right? So we have gone to great lengths to create this experience that begins before you've even entered the property. Every brick has been meticulously crafted. All of them had to have that hundred-year-old weather-beaten feel with multiple layers of paint so that nothing is aggressive. It's all very smooth. It's all very comforting. The way I imagined it is like a pie crust has been placed over these bricks and it just looks inviting. It obviously took a lot of effort to create that sensation.

Then once you step into the place, it's almost a surrealist experience insofar as the front dining room has a lot of trees in it. So it's like a twilight, park picnic experience. And that's one of the things that makes it feel enchanted, experiential, environmental and warm. All of our tables are live-edge. Our beautiful floor had to come in from Italy, and of course it was a fortune. Every little thing is authentic. There's no faux anything. It's all natural and beautiful and handcrafted.

The Parc Dining Room

And the back room is garden-like?

It's called the Atrium. It does resemble a garden. There are florals around all the walls and ceiling. There's also a glass pyramid on top to let in natural light. That's designed to give you a feeling of a courtyard of a country estate, either in Napa and or Tuscany or any of the French wine regions. We just decided to do something sort of magical. This is a place where you can go on a date. This is a place where you can go with your friends. You could totally hang out and make this your joint, so to speak. But it definitely also lends itself to a romantic rendezvous. And the lounge is really sensual, actually. It's the dance of even falling in love, I suppose. So you have your first-date room, but then you have your more romantic room. And then upstairs, you know, you can have your seduction.

The lounge seems very different from the dining rooms.

It is a completely different environment, except that what ties it all together are the natural elements. It's based on travel and adventure and some mysticism, except that all of these elements are coming together in a palette of black and gray. So it's super high-style in the color and the lighting, but it's also very exotic. There are Tibetan, Indonesian, African and Mexican elements — a lot of world components.

You've spoken so much about the feeling. What about the food?

The food and the spirits will accompany the venue harmoniously. We will have a wide array of offerings that are homey and warm and comforting. I've created a new culinary style, which I have dubbed, 'Vineyard Cuisine.' The way I would describe it is a rustic, high-end farm-to-table. I think people will find it to be an embrace.

"I think the cornerstone of TIMBR is how you feel in it."

— Michael Tronn

That's quite a metaphor. Is there a price range at this point?

We're looking at being comparable to other restaurants on Las Olas. So if you want to have a comfortably priced meal, you can absolutely have that. And if you want to have a high-end experience, you can have that too, because we will have wonderful wines and champagnes.

What does the name signify?

Funny you should ask. Using this spelling of the word, it has two connotations. One, of course, is that there are loads of wooden elements, but it's not 'timber' like wood. And if you put an 'e' on the end of it, then it's 'timbre,' like the resonance for music. We're not a live music venue — although we may have the occasional live music experience — but it's the resonance of the experience.

That sounds like an artist talking.

Well, that's my background.

I understand you came up with 1,300 ideas or names for the restaurant? Can you tell me one that almost made it?

That's really funny. I will tell you this much. I had an entirely different design and concept, even with the same name originally, and it was more modern in every way. And then I shared with my partners that I was having this feeling in my heart that we needed to do something different, and they understood that and we changed it. So the name didn't change, but the design and the intent definitely changed.

Is your process for TIMBR different from your other projects?

The way I do any kind of creative endeavor is by feeling. So I think the cornerstone of TIMBR is how you feel in it. Not only the feeling that we want to give to the guest, but what it does for you psychologically and emotionally. All of those kinds of things that are not typical design elements are taken into account. And from there, the design can be crafted to evoke the emotional response. It's a kind of heart-driven feeling.

How does TIMBR feel compared to your previous productions?

I feel like they're very similar things. Producing any kind of experience to me is producing any kind of experience. So whether it's a nightclub or a special event, or a fashion show, or an art exhibit, or a TV show or a film — and I've worked in all of those mediums — it's all production. It's about the feeling. It's 'UX,' an immersion. It's theater, but you are in the show as opposed to just watching the show. So they're all immersive, theatrical, orchestrated experiences. You're in the symphony. You're in the TIMBR, if you will.

By Greg Carannante · City & Shore Magazine · Photos / Michael Tronn

"Every interaction — whether with a place, an object, or another person — is a relationship. I build those relationships and communities for the projects I choose to champion."

— Michael Tronn

Prepared for

Robyn Almodovar

& AAO

Terms of Engagement

Robyn Almodovar

& AAO

Thank you for reaching out. I see this project is an opportunity to create something special that is intentional, expressive, and feels deeply personal—something that reflects who you are and where you're going. I'm excited by the chance to shape not just a restaurant, but a holistic atmosphere with a vibrant point of view—a place that is warm and inviting, to complement your personality and cuisine, and built to succeed. Let's do this!