Timbr’s grand opening in Fort Lauderdale was almost 6 years in the making: An oral history of how it came together

The name was easy.

That took less than two hours. Everything else took almost six years.

Timbre is the quality of a note and how it resonates. To strike a distinctive tone, and possibly for branding purposes, the owners of the new Fort Lauderdale restaurant dropped the “e.”

Yes, coming up with the name Timbr for Michael Tronn, Paul Brown and Max Van Fleet — the triumvirate behind SoFlo’s latest ultra-chic dining destination — was one of those ear epiphanies, they (under the moniker of 3 Hospitality) just knew it sounded right

“I had made a list of 1,300 names with corresponding concepts,” Tronn recalls. “So we had a roundtable … and I guess it probably took an hour or 90 minutes just to get through the list. And at the end, all three of us unanimously felt that Timbr was the name. I feel like the auspiciousness of all three of us, not even with a discussion, just singularly chose the one name … because it feels good to say it.

“There is a subtle wooden connotation. But it’s also the musical tone. So it’s really a word that, you know, doesn’t really mean anything, but hopefully brings forth the connotations on both of those things.”

Timbr, which is having a grand opening Wednesday, is in the space that formerly housed the nightclub Cash Only. Van Fleet was one of the investors, and Brown was brought in as a consultant. When Cash Only closed, Van Fleet thought the property and location (at the foot of the Andrews Avenue drawbridge across the street from The Wharf Fort Lauderdale and Velvet Taco) were too good to let go. He asked Brown to partner with him, and Brown brought Tronn aboard to totally reimagine the building.

That all happened in the fall of 2018. The trio got started creating what would become Timbr in March 2019.

So what kind of restaurant takes that long, from sketch to debut?

“The only answer that I ever come back with is … one that is a dream, one that is innovative, one that is inspired and inspiring, and has all these elements,” answers Tronn. “Because with … any of the projects that I’ve done before, I never had to build something from the ground up.”

There were also many building issues, including electricity and termite problems, “that we weren’t aware of,” Brown adds. “We did everything. I mean, the only thing that’s original from that space are the four walls. … The building being over 100 years old, it had to be brought up to code. … We had to rip out the entire second floor, rebuild it from scratch. And every time you do that, you need structural engineers. Your [municipal development plans] have to be redone again and resubmitted to the city.”

The team behind Timbr is made up of:

• Michael Tronn: Creative director and chief creative and marketing officer of Timbr; artist and nightlife impresario with Liquid and Crobar in Miami Beach as well as Ice Palace Film Studios in Miami; event producer for the likes of Madonna, Jean Paul Gaultier, Anna Sui; one of the originators of Wynwood Arts District and producer of the E! TV series “Rich Kids of Beverly Hills”
• Paul Brown: Chief operations officer; former operating partner and general manager for Blue Martini, overseeing 18 venues nationally as well as working with Big Time Restaurant Group, Radius Nightclub, Pawn Shop Lounge (in Miami and West Palm Beach), Baja Fort Lauderdale, Monarchy Nightclub and Spirits at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood
• Max Van Fleet: CEO and financier of 3 Hospitality and Timbr, as well as scion of Las Olas Co. family
• Robyn Almodovar: Timbr’s executive chef who won the Food Network’s “Chopped” and “Cutthroat Kitchen” and appeared in “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox TV; she was also a contestant on “Chopped Impossible” and “Camp Cutthroat” and a judge on “Food Truck Face Off”

Here is more about Timbr, from the major players, in an oral history edited for clarity and length.

THE KITCHEN

Robyn Almodovar: “When I joined forces with 3 Hospitality, Michael shared his vision with me of what the inspiration was for Timbr. And the inspiration was vineyard cuisine. So I took that — I meditated on that for at least a good week and a half to two weeks before I did my tasting to really find out what the concept was. I then took myself like The Jetsons and transported to California. And I put myself in a vineyard in California and said, ‘What kind of food would I order here?’ So then the menu popped up. And I brought it to Maryland, Martha’s Vineyard, New York, upstate New York, and I was like, ‘Let me go across the water.’ So I put myself into Paris, France, the countryside of it, these small towns of 1,000 people, Italy, Spain, and I said, ‘OK, I got it.’ Vineyard cuisine to me is fresh, local ingredients, wherever the region is — brought to you in a sort of nostalgia way. So we’re bringing old classic dishes and we’re going to modernize them and make it fun with the freshest ingredients that we can use.

“Everything on the menu is going to be exquisite, right, but we have our signature pieces. I have to do an homage to Gordon Ramsay, you know, on the shows, right? It’s a thing on the show: You can’t cook scallops, you can’t cook Beef Wellington. We’re going to have scallops and we’re doing Beef Wellington. But the Beef Wellington is going to be our signature thing. The way it looks, it’s Timbr-esque … mushrooms, cognacs and sherry, rosemary, shallots, garlic and cabbage. We have a spinach cream. …

“We’re coming in dessert-heavy. We want to make sure everyone has accoutrements. The cheesecake has a little dress on it. A little scarf, why should it go out naked or with a dollop of whipped cream on it?”

THE DESIGN

Michael Tronn: “Truthfully, from a design standpoint, I have never done anything like this. When Paul and Max and I were conceptualizing and talking, they were like, ‘Why don’t you design it?’ Because I had known the elements that I wanted …

“There were certain things that I knew immediately, which was the changing of the front room and the bar and the trees, and I think the wood tables came very quickly, also the front [windows], the whole exterior to [evoke a] European storefront. Because for me, what I always want to do is something innovative, but also something comfortable and warm and inviting. And I think that this really captures that, at least I hope it does.

“The tables are meant to have an outdoor, almost picnic-y kind of a feeling, a garden feeling. The word that I use to describe the whole thing is ‘enchanted.’ I like to feel like it is dreamy, inspiring.

“People say, ‘Is there art going in the place?’ And I’m, like, the place is the art. I’m not gonna put a painting on this wall. The minimalism is intentional and the maximalism is intentional. Let me tell you: All these little lights are directional. They are meant to illuminate the guests, so that the guest looks beautiful. And that is everywhere, everywhere you turn in here, you should look like your most sexy, beautiful, warm and fuzzy self, and you should feel fabulous.

“We could have done a closed kitchen with fluorescent lights, and it would have been an entirely different experience. No. Why would I? I would never want to do that to another human being. Every part of this restaurant is meant to to enliven and enrich … Even like the tiles, I mean, they are from Ann Sacks, which if you know about decorating then you would never put this in a restaurant, but I really wanted to. I love them. I think they’re communicating. And that’s really how I see this whole entire building and this whole entire stage, or restaurant … this whole entire experience. Every little detail communicates. That’s why the seats are the way they are. That’s why the tables are the way they are. … Everything is a note. It’s a symphony for the senses.”

THE VIBE

Robyn Almodovar: “Timbr is going to be different because we’re starting the culture from the ground up. … The things we’re going to be doing for the staff — self-help classes, meditation — we’re developing this because this is where we’re going to be for 12 hours a day. We need to get some kind of clarity inside of ourselves. We want everyone on the same page for cooking, from servers to busboys and bartenders to hosts to owners.”

Max Van Fleet: “One of [Paul Brown’s] first requirements was for the entirety of management staff to read a book called ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ written by Will Guidara, who was the operational manager and owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York, which is one the best restaurants in the world at one point. It is a fascinating read, and it’s something that I think should be emulated by any establishment that seeks to do hospitality. … Michael is always bouncing in some type of creative manner. … Robyn is always wanting to tinker with some culinary creation. She wants [guests] to remember it for years to come. So every aspect of us, I mean, we’re always looking for new, we’re always looking for better, we’re always looking for how to increase the guest experience.”

Paul Brown: “It’s beautiful chaos. Yeah, that’s what I call it. To me, it’s beautiful chaos. You know, I’m used to running big, big companies, organizations, high staff load, and you’ve got to keep all those people motivated and happy. My role in the company, as the operations director, is to make sure that when that vision is put out there, it’s done correctly, it’s workable, and my staff is happy, which in turn means our guests are going to be happy, and everything is operating at an optimum. It’s chaotic to get there. But the end result, if it’s done correctly, is absolutely beautiful.”

THE BACKSTORY

Max Van Fleet: “Funnily enough, when Paul and I first started the project, we were initially planning on just doing a bar rehab, because it was originally the Cash Only space. I took over that property, and we were going to move forward with just revamping, rebranding, doing a new type of venue there …

“Then, we came to the determination that the area didn’t need another bar … We’ve got plenty of those up and down the street. But at the time, and even so now, a good place to eat with a beautiful design is, quite frankly, something any city can use. You know, people love to go eat, it’s breaking bread. It’s one of the oldest human traditions.

“We decided we needed some good marketing. And [Paul Brown] suggested Michael. Now Michael’s on board. And as I was searching for designers, Mike was like, well, ‘I could design the place.’ And he had never had a chance to do something like this or something this ambitious. So we decided to give him a shot.”

Paul Brown: “We didn’t want to take this long. You know, we were just about to break ground. We all know what happened, COVID hit, and restaurants took a beating. We’re on Zoom calls … and I said, ‘Guys, we dodged the bullet. If we had spent all the money on training the staff and all that that entails and then we opened and then literally a month later, the government shut us down, can you imagine?’ The one bullet in our gun, which is the grand opening, would all have been lost. The momentum would have been gone. We would have to start again from scratch.”

Michael Tronn: “To have a property and vision, and then it’s only in your imagination, and then it becomes real, when I let that sink in, that is huge, because it’s a big accomplishment. I feel very, very fortunate and very blessed to have that be the reality. Five years is a very long time to stick with something, so everyone, particularly Max, who is involved in the creation and the expense of creating, is fortunately supportive and cares about the vision and cares about the integrity and cares about the future.”

THE FUTURE

Paul Brown: “If you don’t have a business plan for growth, your grand opening is just a countdown until your grand closing. You have to be able to expand upon that. We’ve already got another location that’s already been picked out. And we’re waiting on approval for that. But then after that … the idea is to have at least three or four in South Florida. We’ve got other concepts in mind. You know, Michael’s got an Asian thing brewing in his head.”

Timbr is located at 15 W. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-533-7621 or go to timbr-restaurant.com.