When Michael Dolatowski met Juan Salazar at Miami Beach’s Barry’s Boot Camp in 2017, Dolatowski says it was “flirtation at first sight.” A few weeks of Instagram DMing led to their first date at East Miami hotel’s rooftop Sugar lounge, followed by dancing at Twist. But it was a late-night walk on the beach that made the pair ready for more.
“Our conversation on the beach cemented my interest in Juan,” says Dolatowski. “I liked his ambition, energy, thoughts on career and life, and love of travel.”
Salazar, a music and entertainment marketing professional, agrees that the romantic beach walk was what made him fall for the designer. “Mike is adventurous, and I have fear,” says Salazar, founder of 9F Creative, which boasts a roster of clients like Sony Music Latin and Amazon Music. “He has no fear. I liked that Mike has become my wild side.”
A year later, after spending most of their free time together, the men were married at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. Soon after, they began to pursue their love of travel, often bringing objects home to decorate their Belle Isle condominium. In fact, Dolatowski encouraged his husband’s interest in celebrating the design side of Christmas, the magical season that each remembers fondly from childhood.
“I have always been a lover of Christmas and was able to get Juan more into the spirit over the years by developing our own take on the season,” says Dolatowski, who recently opened his eponymous studio where he designs for commercial clients such as Sana Skin Studio and Jolene Sound Room, plus residential clients around the United States.
Dolatowski, who was born and raised in Wisconsin, waxes poetic about the Christmas seasons he spent with his family as a child—the mystical snow showers, frost crunching beneath his feet, blasts of arctic air, and towering Christmas trees. “We always had an 8-foot-tall Christmas tree that my parents put inside our home’s bay window,” he says. “It was beautiful; you could see it from outside. My mom had a large collection of Santa figurines she displayed from her trips around the world.”
Dolatowski says his family background has been “important in his adult life, especially during the holiday season.” He remembers waking up with his siblings on Christmas morning to open presents, and then driving to Indiana to visit extended family, where the group would dine on ravioli and his grandfather’s homemade wine.
Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Salazar spent most Christmases at his grandmother’s house. He remembers the family’s religious figurines and partaking in the Novena de Aguinaldos—a Catholic practice that saw Salazar and his family praying during the nine days leading up to Christmas. “We ate, sang carols, and enjoyed seeing other family members,” says Salazar. “We always opened presents at midnight on December 24.”
While these are pleasant memories for Salazar, he didn’t get into the design and festive aspects of the holiday until he met Dolatowski, who convinced him that it wouldn’t be Christmas without decor. As the pair merged their lives, they began to merge traditions too, including their Christmas tree, holiday collectibles, personal stockings, and festive foods.
“Since we are a multicultural home and have a nontraditional family, we naturally take influences from many places, including our own backgrounds,” Dolatowski says.
Typically, in their Miami Beach condominium, they like to keep it simple and understated. They are most influenced by a past trip to Norway at Christmastime where the “simplicity was striking and elegant,” Dolatowski says. “This year, we trimmed the tree with reindeer and other ornaments that we bought in Norway, and a star I designed as a kid.”
For a recent holiday soiree in their home, the couple invited a handful of creative friends who “feel like family” to share the Christmas spirit. Since Salazar’s birthday is the day after Christmas, the celebration was a natural part of the evening’s festivities. “I always get excited before guests arrive because I like to see our friends in different and more relaxed settings,” says Salazar.
Guests kicked off the festive evening with Aplós martinis—a drink made using the CBD-based, nonalcoholic spirit brand founded by their friend and party guest David Fudge. The drinks accompanied appetizers from Miami Beach’s Bebito’s, including endive salad, lentil hummus, and burrata.
Chef Joe Drazenovich (who grew up eating classic lechon or turkey proteins for Christmas dinner with sweet potato and walnut pies) prepared the evening’s meal. “The holidays now are more about the gathering, the preparing, and feasting, and less about the typical iconic flavors and dishes,” Drazenovich says. “So being Latin and living in Miami, I enjoy the diversity more than the traditions. Michael and Juan agreed.”
The hosts served Denver steak with horsey sauce; Parisian red snapper with yellow bell pepper, almonds, aji amarillo, and capers; beets in goat cheese soubise topped with pistachios and fresh herbs; zucchini prepared with miso, white wine, spicy granola, and mint; and crispy sweet potatoes on a bed of crème fraîche. To end things on a sweet note and celebrate Salazar’s birthday, there was a special burnt Basque cheesecake and monster-sized chocolate and walnut cookies (both from True Loaf Bakery), as well as the chef’s walnut pie.
“Our families are from all over the world,” says guest Teddy Mayer, creative director and vice president of design for Virgin Hotels. “Here in Miami, Michael and Juan have become our chosen family. We love being invited to their home any time of the year, but it’s super special during Christmas. This was a night to remember.”
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