Building Paradis

Over the past months, a nondescript building that has housed a computer rental place, a car repair shop and a dentist office has slowly been converted into a stylish burnt-orange Paradis Books & Bread. What was a parking area is now a patio with raised garden beds and edible plants in grow bags. Inside is a cozy space warmed by raspberry tiles, weathered wood and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

If it’s taken time to plant the gardens, fine-tune the sourdough and stack books before opening their doors, it’s because the team of friends behind the project wants to do it right. “We have waited years of planning for this moment,” says Bianca Sanon, who runs the wine program. She, Brian Wright and his sister, Audrey Wright, grew up in South Florida and went to college in New York, where they talked about wanting to open a restaurant. They added chefs Ben Yen and Joseph Chesson to the conversation and all agreed: Their restaurant couldn’t be in New York. It had to be in South Florida.