Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a cozy new restaurant is coming to north Macon.

Miramar Raw Bar & Tapas will open its doors Feb. 13 in the Vineville Crossing shopping center near one of its sister restaurants, Brasserie Circa at 4420 Forsyth Road.

“This place is very sexy to me, it’s very sleek,” said bar manager Josh Howard. “In my opinion, this place will be the best to bring a date to.”

Howard was unloading bottles of liquor Friday at the bar where he will be serving up specialty Spherification cocktails with tiny beads of flavor mixed into the concoctions.

“I wanted to upgrade the cocktail program here, but not scare anybody off at the same time,” Howard said.

Brian Adams, one of the owners of Miramar, said masonry artist Tanner Coleman cemented tiny shells into the smooth, dark bar countertop that stretches down the left side of the restaurant.

Chef Jacob Workman, who recently served as one of the cooks at Natalia’s restaurant, is excited about creating small plates, or tapas, for the Southern palate.

“I wanted to do tapas in an approachable way with Southern ingredients that are very common, but doing it in an elevated way,” said Workman, who was born in Texas and raised in Florida before moving to Atlanta and Macon.

The menu shows fresh oysters, shrimp, salads, soups and a variety of tapas including baked lobster mac & cheese, empanadas, roasted vegetables and a duck confit quesadilla.

Macon-Bibb County commissioners approved Miramar’s liquor license this week and P&Z signed off on the zoning compliance last month.

Miramar is the latest restaurant from local owners who have ties to Circa, Downtown Grill, Piedmont Brewery, the Lazy Susan and JAG’s, which is under renovation in Mercer Village.

JAG’s owners combined their initials to name the renovated pizzeria with a new bar that is going into the old Sauced pizzeria location at 1635 Montpelier Ave.

“It’s totally overhauled and we can’t wait,” Adams said.

Adams and his partners also have connections to the Kinjo Kitchen + Cocktails, a Japanese style ramen noodle restaurant and bar that will open next month at the corner of Second and Poplar streets in downtown.

Revision of proposed Bowman Road assisted living facility

The developer of a proposed assisted living and memory care facility on Bowman Road has altered plans in an attempt to secure rezoning approval Monday.

In early December, Braemar Partners’ original proposal to rezone nearly 10 acres of a 102-acre tract at 5171 Bowman Road, met with opposition from nearby homeowners concerned the 82-unit building would be too close to their property line. Others are worried about adding vehicles to the two-lane street that clogs with traffic during rush hours.

That original plan also included two outparcels for medical or professional offices, but the developers have scrapped that from the design, which will reduce some of the proposed traffic increase.

In late January, the applicant submitted a Traffic Impact Study by Wilburn Engineering showing the revised plan would add 213 vehicle trips per day, including 16 in the morning rush hour and 21 in the evening peak hour, which is on the low end of the estimate provided by the zoning staff.

Macon-Bibb county’s traffic engineering department has already concluded the intersection of Bowman Road and Wesleyan Drive currently has unacceptable delays during evening rush hour, according to the report.

The Wilburn report suggests a single lane roundabout to ease traffic and the county engineering department agrees.

The applicant’s traffic study and report did not address the expected traffic backup when cars are turning left into the facility and trying to leave.

The proposed land use is consistent with the Suburban Residential designation in the 2040 Future Land Use Plan, the zoning staff reports.

The proposed rezoning from Single Family Residential to Planned Development Extraordinary District would not be a departure from the districts in the area, the zoning staff also concluded.

The revision calls for a new tree line buffer along the eastern edge of the parcel that borders the Wesleyan Hills subdivision.

There will be a 100 ft. minimum building setback from the property line, which will include a 50 ft. undisturbed buffer from the border to the 25 ft. of planted buffer.

The building size increased from 60,411 sq. ft. to 62,504 sq. ft.

P&Z will hold a hearing on the proposal beginning at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Terminal Station.

Church proposed for Bloomfield shopping strip

The Ekklesia Christian Worship Center wants to hold services inside a south Macon strip shopping center.

Senior Pastor Shawn Cooper is seeking conditional use approval for suite 400 of 4930 Bloomfield Road, near the intersection of Log Cabin Drive and Chambers Road.

The Bloomfield Center shopping strip currently houses a convenience store, event venue and tax office.

The church plans Sunday services from 11 am. until 1 p.m. and on Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Contact Civic Reporting Senior Fellow Liz Fabian at 478-301-2976 or [email protected].

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