"If you look at the history of the Gateway, it's been through a thousand different operators and none have lasted terribly long."
Armand Daiguillon said that to Fort Lauderdale Magazine after his company, Paradigm Cinemas, took over the Classic Gateway Cinema. Fort Lauderdale Magazine called it the city's oldest continuous cinema. In the same interview he was blunt about what the theater needed. Families, younger people and film fans who had never been to the Gateway had to start walking through the doors.
The theater is still there. Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway at 1820 East Sunrise Blvd. has showtimes posted for October 6, 2026. In 2026 the plaza next door picked up the kind of tenants Daiguillon was describing. These businesses give people a reason to be at the corner of Sunrise and Federal for hours before the lights go down. For Victoria Park, which sits just south of that corner, the change is easy to miss because it is spread across several storefronts and several months.
A corner built for the traffic passing through
Gateway Shopping District sits at 1900 E. Sunrise Blvd. Its leasing broker describes its biggest asset as exposure to more than 60,000 vehicles a day along US-1 and Sunrise Boulevard. The same announcement lists the neighborhoods the plaza draws from: Flagler Village, Victoria Park and Coral Ridge.
Car counts are the usual language of retail leasing. Jaime Sturgis, CEO of Native Realty, represents Gateway's ownership, and his stated goal reaches further than that. "We are proud of our role in shaping the growth of Gateway Shopping District into a true 24-hour neighborhood destination," he said when the plaza's 2026 leases were announced. A plaza aiming to be a destination around the clock needs tenants who open at different times of day. The 2026 lineup does that.
Morning: a café and bookstore with a new name
The first of the new tenants opened early in the year as Pulp & Press. The announcement covered a 1,485-square-foot coffee shop that had just opened at the plaza. Owner Gina Cavendish founded it in 2026 as half coffee shop, half bookstore, under the slogan "Sip, Read, Gather."
On Saturday, September 5, it took on a new name, Amelia's All Day. A ribbon-cutting with City Commissioner Steven Glassman unveiled a freshly painted storefront, new interior art, new signage and a newly launched menu. The address is 909–911 NE 20th Ave. Sun Sentinel photos from that Saturday show the room crowded and breakfast being served. The paper placed the shop in Victoria Park.
The new name matters for the hours. "All Day" describes a business meant to hold a table from breakfast onward. Before 2026, mornings were the weakest part of the day for a corner whose best-known business was a movie theater.
Daytime: an atelier that runs on appointments
A few doors down, De la Fontaine Naturals, a natural perfumery that started in South Africa, leased 1,000 square feet. Its atelier and shop are at 1914 East Sunrise Blvd., shop 1914 in Gateway Plaza.
Visitors can test the perfumes on the shelf or book a workshop and blend their own fragrance. Workshops run at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The shop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and closed Sundays.
A fixed workshop schedule draws a different crowd than a café. It brings people to the plaza at set midday times and keeps them there for a sitting. The plaza also signed a long-term lease renewal with Stretch Zone in the same round of announcements, so another appointment-based business is staying put.
Evening: Piedmont before the late show
Barolo leased 1,500 square feet at Gateway for Northern Italian cooking. It now operates as Barolo Cucina D'Autore at 1910 E. Sunrise Blvd. The restaurant describes its kitchen as rooted in Italy's Piedmont region, with dishes from other Italian regions as well, and a curated wine list.
OpenTable lists its hours as 5 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The dress code is business casual.
The cinema has been at this corner the longest, and Barolo is the tenant that connects to it most directly. The 11 p.m. weekend close leaves room for dinner on either side of a film at Paradigm's four screens. In that 2023 interview, Daiguillon said he had added a full food menu to a theater already known for beer, wine and real-butter popcorn. He also planned to mix more Hollywood and family releases in with the arthouse films. With Barolo next door, there is now a sit-down dinner a few doors from the box office.
How the day fills in
Here are the published hours of the Gateway businesses with posted schedules, set side by side.
| Time of day | Business | Address | Published hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning onward | Amelia's All Day | 909–911 NE 20th Ave | Not published in our sources; check before you go |
| Midday | De la Fontaine Naturals | 1914 E. Sunrise Blvd. | Mon–Fri 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.–2 p.m., closed Sun |
| Midday | De la Fontaine workshops | 1914 E. Sunrise Blvd. | 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., Mon–Sat |
| Dinner | Barolo Cucina D'Autore | 1910 E. Sunrise Blvd. | Mon–Thu 5–9:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 5–11 p.m. |
| Evening | Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway | 1820 E. Sunrise Blvd. | Showtimes listed on Fandango into late October 2026 |
The table shows a gap. Barolo's OpenTable listing has no Sunday hours, and De la Fontaine is closed Sundays. Monday through Saturday, the corner now runs from the morning coffee crowd to an 11 p.m. dinner close on weekends. Sunday is the day the 2026 tenants have not covered yet, so the "24-hour neighborhood destination" is mostly a six-day one for now.
The pizzeria that is due any day
The next tenant in line could fill some of those open hours, though nobody has confirmed it is open yet.
Peppi's Pizza signed a lease for 2,101 square feet at Gateway. Chef and owner Ryan McKeown's New York-style pizzeria is bringing the brand to Fort Lauderdale for the first time. The original Peppi's is in Miami's Design District. It drew national attention after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy reviewed it in his "One Bite" series. McKeown also appeared in the first season of "Below Deck Down Under."
In early August, the Sun Sentinel reported that the Gateway location was expected to open at the end of September or early October. Edible South Florida gave the same window on September 11. As of October 5, we have not found any confirmation that it has opened or that the date has moved. The Peppi's website still links its ordering to the Miami location. Check before you walk over.
Peppi's lease was announced in June, months after the plaza's earlier round of leases. Sturgis tied the deal to a broader claim: "Gateway Shopping District has become the destination that premier brands choose for their first Broward County location." McKeown said Gateway "kept rising to the top" when he was deciding where Peppi's should go next.
The same pattern at the south end of Federal
Victoria Park's other Federal Highway edge is going through a smaller version of the same change. Chef Joe Anthony is opening Tonno Nero, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, at 510 N. Federal Highway in the former Tacocraft space. Browardist reported on September 7 that it was expected to open by the end of October. The building sits between Victoria Park and Flagler Village. Anthony said he chose it after scouting properties from Fort Lauderdale to Delray Beach.
Anthony worked at Restaurant Daniel in New York while it earned its third Michelin star. He was later culinary director at Gabriel Kreuther, where he spent eight years. He describes Tonno Nero as a restaurant where regulars ask, "Is Joe here?" Breads and pastas will be made in-house, and the menu will change with Homestead farm seasons. Weekend brunch is planned. If brunch starts on schedule, it would put a weekend daytime meal on Victoria Park's south edge, the part of the week Gateway's new tenants have not filled yet.
Anthony's description of the location also explains the north end. "We could really be in the midst of everything," he told Browardist. "And that's what we want to cater to. It's a mix of our community."
Changes like these at Sunrise and Federal also come up in our conversations with condo owners about pricing nearby. If you own along this corridor and want to know where your unit stands this fall, D'Angelo Realty Group will prepare a free condo market valuation with comparable sales from the buildings closest to you.
