The husband-and-wife team behind Ophelia, the scratch-made pastry café that launched from a retrofitted RV in Coconut Grove just over a year ago, will open their first brick-and-mortar expansion at Huizenga Park in downtown Fort Lauderdale this fall.
Co-founders Ana De Sa Martins and Juan Vieira announced the move Aug. 10, calling the 3.6-acre riverfront park at 32 E. Las Olas Blvd. the right fit for a café built on daily ritual. The Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority designated Ophelia as its second concessionaire at the park, according to the Miami New Times.
"We didn't come to Fort Lauderdale looking for just any location," De Sa Martins told Modern Luxury. "We came because Huizenga Park is doing something rare: it's made people fall back in love with being downtown."
Co-founders honed their craft under Miami Beach chef Jeremy Ford
The couple met while working at Jeremy Ford's Stubborn Seed in Miami Beach. De Sa Martins, born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, trained at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and spent two years at Patisserie Chanson before moving to Miami during the pandemic to run Stubborn Seed's pastry program. She won the StarChefs Miami Rising Star Pastry Chef award in April 2025. Vieira moved to Miami from Colombia at age 3, started in kitchens at 16 and cooked at Barton G and The Surf Club by Thomas Keller before becoming executive chef at Beauty and the Butcher.
Grove café's RV origins drew a line within the first hour
They launched Ophelia on May 29, 2025, out of the RV at 2140 S. Dixie Highway.
A line formed within the first hour.
The Grove location is listed as open Wednesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a few seats under an oak tree beside the parking lot.
New location will serve signature pastries daily, grab-and-go style
The Fort Lauderdale outpost will serve grab-and-go breakfast and lunch daily, featuring the café's signature items: coffee-glazed cinnamon rolls, guava kouign-amann, gouda jalapeño scones and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a housemade English muffin. All breads, pastries, syrups and cold foams are made in-house.
Huizenga Park's $15 million makeover has drawn six-figure crowds
Huizenga Park reopened Jan. 22 after a five-year, $15 million transformation and has drawn more than 100,000 visitors in its first five months, according to the Downtown Development Authority. Fort Lauderdale Magazine named it Best Park and Best Outdoor Space in 2026. Ophelia joins Mr. Smash Burger, which opened inside the park in December 2025, and Sweetwaters, a 291-seat waterfront restaurant also due this fall.
Coconut Grove keeps building its reputation as a chef incubator
The expansion adds to Coconut Grove's growing track record as a launching pad for chef-driven concepts. The neighborhood has welcomed Chop Steakhouse at CocoWalk, Manoli on Main Highway and Miami Slice on McFarlane Road over the past year.
Jenni Morejon, president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority, said Ophelia's craft-focused approach fits the vision the authority has been building at the park.
A specific opening date has not been announced. Updates are posted on Ophelia's Instagram, @ophelia.miami.
