New Chefs (Miami)

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

A Fish Called Avalon - Brian Cantrell, a veteran of South Beach's Nemo as well as restaurants in Nantucket, New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham and Palm Beach, has been named executive chef and general manager.

Sushi Samba- Carlos Barillas formerly of China Grill, Ago and Nobu Miami and Las Vegas, is the new chef de cuisine. He replaces Jose Mendin, who's been sent to Las Vegas to open the seventh Sushisamba.

[The Chowfather]

Mario Tolentino is now chef de cuisine @BLT Steak. He won Chopped (never seen)
He replaces Sam Gorenstein who moves to Michael Schwartz's new venture at the Raleigh

Jeffrey Brana will be in the Kitchen with Norman Van Aken at the Miami Culinary Institute's new restaurant pastry chef is Max Santiago http://tuyomiami.com/

Miami gets another solid one-two punch with the additions of Jordi Valles (Adria/Arzak trained) and pastry chef Antonio Bachour who will head the kitchen at the new St Regis in Bal Harbour.

[The Chowfather]

Sean Bernal is now executive chef at Blue Door Fish formerly of Oceanaire

Marco Ferraro- Wish- out. No new chef names and no dinner through fall.

Miguel Aguilar now executive chef at Wynwood Kitchen & Bar via Alma de Cuba in Philly.

[The Chowfather]

Some chef shuffle updates

Michael Bloise- out at American Noodle. Will be at yet to open Sushi Samba Coral Gables.

Jeff McInnis- out at Gigi. Opening Yardbird Southern Table (south beach)

Charles Lutka- takes over at Gigi. Prior experience at Marea, WD-50, Ritz Carlton, South Beach.

Clay Conley (in case you missed it) left Azul and opened Buccan in Palm Beach
Joel Huff- takes over at Azul. He served as Chef de Cuisine at Saam at The Bazaar by José Andrés in Beverly Hills and trained at the popular Minibar by José Andrés.

John Critchley- left Area 31 and is now at Urbana in DC.
Michael Reidt takes over at Area 31. Past experience at Restaurant Zinc and Bomboa in Boston. Wish (star chef rising star), Sevilla, Ca. (best new rest 2005- Esquire Mag) B&O American Brasserie, Balt.

John DeLucie- The Royal @ The Raleigh via The Lion and The Waverly Inn NYC.

John Suley- out at Gotham Steak. Not sure where he is going or who took over.

[Frodnesor]

Andrew Balik, formerly at Azul (sous chef?), now chef at Pied a Terre in the Cadet Hotel on South Beach.

Todd Erickson, formerly sous chef at Zuma, now chef at Haven on South Beach.

Geoffrey Zakarian (NY) opening Tudor House in Dream Hotel on South Beach.

[The Chowfather]

Balik out at Pied A Terre.

[IDGuofM]

What happened there?

[The Chowfather]

DeLucie out at The Royal

Jamie Derosa- executive chef at Tudor

Todd Miller- executive chef at Gotham Steak

[Frodnesor]

Not quite a "new" chef, but Jeff O'Neill (who was briefly at Gibraltar in Grove Isle, and before that, Mar-a-Lago, L'Escalier at the Breakers, Le Bernardin and Daniel Boulud) is now at Villa by Barton G (in the Versace Mansion).

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Barton G Restaurant
1427 West Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[The Chowfather]

Marc Vidal is no longer at Solea (W South Beach) He's in NYC now.

Gonzalo Rivera is no longer at La Marea (Tides South Beach) fans can find him at the Boca Raton Hotel.

David Werly (Le Cirque, Vegas) takes over at the Setai.

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Setai
101 20th St, Miami Beach, FL 33139

South Beach Cafe
121 5th St, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[Icantread]

Funny, I just ate at La Marea for the first time a couple weeks back and thought the food was outstanding. Very odd setup they had there, unfortunately.

[Icantread]

Jeff McInnis (Top Chef, Dilido) will be heading Gigi in Midtown

[Frodnesor]

While we're at it ...

Chef Chris Lee (a Charlie Palmer protege, most recently at Aureole NY) is supposed to be coming to a new venture in the (recently closed) Talula space to be called Eden.

And Chef Clay Conley (Azul) is leaving to head up to Palm Beach for a new venture there.

[The Chowfather]

Dena Marino is out at Devito's

[The Chowfather]

Chef Jonathan Wright's last day at the Setai is September 3 (heading to Sandy Lane Resort in Barbados) His last day at the Setai is September 3. No word on his replacement.

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Setai
101 20th St, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[lax2mia]

Confirmed by both New Times and Herald, new chefs (head and pastry) at Soyka. Both seem to be expats from Joe Allen. Main improvement: hopefully the ridiculously good sticky toffee pudding makes it's way over the causeway and closer to my house.

http://www.the55thstreetstation.com/s...

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Soyka's Restaurant Cafe & Bar
5556 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33137

[Frodnesor]

The sticky toffee pudding is indeed mentioned in another press release on the website. Also on the updated menu ->
http://www.the55thstreetstation.com/s...

I'd still probably rather go to Joe Allen.

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Joe Allen Restaurant
1787 Purdy Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[lax2mia]

"The sticky toffee pudding is indeed mentioned in another press release on the website. Also on the updated menu.." along with Haagen Dazs ice cream and sorbet. Who the heck touts that they carry mass market ice cream on their menu?

[mikek]

Agree. Why places like this, or Burger & Beer joint that boasts about it's ice cream counter do not either make their own or support local business and work with the Frieze is beyond me.

[Frodnesor]

Maybe the chef had a special Haagen Dazs connection from his work at Joe Allen.

Hey, I remember when Michael's Genuine first opened he had Ben & Jerry's ice cream on the menu. Hedy Goldsmith to the rescue!

[genuinechef]

Most modest start ups cannot afford a commercial ice cream machine (5-7K), and some don't have the space. So the choices in my opinion are quite limited when you look at whats available to work with. There is not one good locally made ice cream thats high quality and affordable for a restaurant to serve. All the gelato places use way too much artificial color and ingredients, the Frieze ice cream is mediocre at best (although the sorbets are much better). There are 1 or 2 small scale local producers that are pretty good but inconsistent. So then you look at premium large scale producers and what do you have? And yes! Hedy to the rescue (and the ability thankfully to buy that machine)!

[Frodnesor]

We're a long way from the days of Ben & Jerry's on the menu at MGF&D (I'd always order the chocolate cremoso anyway). And truth is, both Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs make fine ice cream.

But Soyka's is far from a modest start up. Burger & Beer Joint too for that matter.

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Soyka's Restaurant Cafe & Bar
5556 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33137

The Burger & Beer Joint
1766 Bay Road, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[lax2mia]

It's not that it's a sin to offer, and tout on your menu, mass market ice cream. To me it's that a big deal is being made of a respected pastry chef joining Soyka's ranks. It's all over the press release. If they weren't stressing their dessert menu I could maybe understand showing you serve Haagen Dazs, but if you're now saying you've got a serious pastry chef, then it's a little hokey to show HD as your "house ice cream". Kinda like getting a serious wine program and having La Crema as your house Pinot. It's good, but if you're serious you could do better.

As a side note, does anyone remember a gelato place in South Miami that used organic ingredients and agave nectar instead of processed sugar? It was right off Sunset. The name escapes me, but I remember their ginger sorbet was really really good.

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Soyka's Restaurant Cafe & Bar
5556 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33137

[mikek]

The place right next to pizzeria blu and across from Sunset Tavern?

That place was awesome, but SO expensive.

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Sunset Tavern
7232 SW 59th Ave, South Miami, FL 33143

[Icantread]

Soli organic ice cream? It was very good~sometimes. We had an awful experience there one time.

[MRPR]

Offering ice cream and sorbet from Gaby's Farm (http://gabysfarm.com/) would be a no-brainer. It's incredibly good, local, and interesting. Maybe a bit pricey compared to Haagen Dazs/Ben & Jerry but if you're a Miami restaurant who isn't able to make their own ice cream, why not offer Gaby's Farm?

[Frodnesor]

Soyka's has its place in the restaurant universe, but that place has never exactly been on the bleeding edge of locavorism. New pastry chef or no, I don't exactly expect that to change.

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Soyka's Restaurant Cafe & Bar
5556 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33137

[mikek]

Agree with Soyka, but this extends beyond that specific restaurant.

At the same time, until local non-chain restaurants commit to local purveyors of these sorts of goods, Miami will stand idle in its culinary landscape. Throughout this, I have been thinking of the creamery in SF that works with Chris Consentino to make the prosciutto ice cream. There are no places down here to do that with, in part because local restaurants continue to look to mass marketers for these sorts of goods.

This also goes to charcuterie makers and specialty producers along those lines.

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Soyka's Restaurant Cafe & Bar
5556 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33137

[taiga]

the sorbets at the Frieze are delicious

[Frodnesor]

Chef Dena Marino, formerly chef/owner of a restaurant in Aspen, is new exec chef at DeVito South Beach.

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DeVito South Beach
150 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139

[Frodnesor]

The good news: Paula DaSilva (currently at 3030 Ocean in FTL) is to become exec chef at the Eden Roc. The bad news: it's going to be a steakhouse (just what Miami Beach needs; because there's clearly not enough steakhouses).

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/shorto...

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3030 Ocean
Harbor Beach Resort Marriott, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

[HabaneroJane]

how thoroughly disappointing. She should stay at 3030 Ocean if she wants to cook!

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3030 Ocean
Harbor Beach Resort Marriott, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

[LilMsFoodie]

I will assume this is a Marriott directive. They manage the Eden Roc through their Renaissance chain. What is it with the steakhouse thing. I guess that is one way to raise the average check..pricey meat requires better wine or expensive booze. Oh well.

I always liked 3030 Ocean and thought it didn't get the attention it deserved due to its location in the Ft. L Marriott. LMF

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3030 Ocean
Harbor Beach Resort Marriott, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

[Frodnesor]

I had a good meal at 3030 Ocean as well. Hadn't occurred to me that this is a move within the Marriott family for DaSilva.

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3030 Ocean
Harbor Beach Resort Marriott, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

[HabaneroJane]

Eden Roc is a Renaissance resort which falls under the Marriott umbrella

[The Chowfather]

Per Herald
"Gabriel Fenton, a Mina Group veteran, is the new executive chef at Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak in Aventura.

Luca Taretto, a native of Turin, Italy, who cooked in Milan and London among other spots, is the new chef at TiramesU, 721 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach, which has doubled its kitchen size and added outdoor seating by taking over the space of its defunct sibling, Le Bon."

[The Chowfather]

Per Lee Klein at Short Order
"Gonzalo Rivera Jr. has been named as the new executive chef of The Tides South Beach. Rivera will be responsible for all culinary operations at the recently redesigned La Marea and Coral Bar, as well as the hotels' other catering functions. Rivera earned a Bachelor of Science in Gastronomy from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco in 2003, then spent over five years at various restaurants within the acclaimed Mina Group."

Sounds promising

[The Chowfather]

Chef Michael Gilligan, has left the Conrad Hotel to open the new Solea restaurant at the W Hotel in South Beach. No word on who took over at Atrio (Conrad)

[The Chowfather]

Arthur Artiles, ex Exec. at Brosia is now Chef de Cuisine at Solea. (Gilligan is the executive chef)

[Icantread]

way cool. Has anyone eaten here since Gilligan took over?

[lipur]

Antonio Bachour, ex Pastry Chef Scarpetta, Devito and Talula is now the Executive Pastry Chef at Solea.

[The Chowfather]

The new chef de cuisine at Table 8 South Beach is Ilde Ferrer. prior stints include Fontainebleau and BLT Market in NYC. They are doing a three course dinner for $45.00 but I couldn't locate the menu

[The Chowfather]

Per Lee Klein at Newtimes

Jason Smith, chef de cuisine of Table 8 accepted position as chef de cuisine of the Starr-restaurant "W" in Ft. Lauderdale.

Table 8 has tapped Ilde Ferrer to run the kitchen

[The Chowfather]

The Stephen Starr place is called Steak 954 and is opening soon,

[The Chowfather]

per miami herald
Alejandro ''Alex'' Pinero has been named chef de cuisine at Fratelli Lyon. Pinero, 35, comes from Casa Tua.

[Icantread]

interesting. Very different concepts. Anyone have an inside as to whether we should expect changes at Fratelli Lyon?

[Frodnesor]

Doubt it. My impression is that this is really Ken Lyon's show. Keep in mind Ken Lyon's first restaurant was French (Lyon Freres) and the original chef at Fratelli Lyon, Brian Morales, also had a French background - Boulud, Trosgrois, Pascal's. In other words, I don't think the Fratelli Lyon menu has much to do with the chefs' prior training and history. I think they had an idea and a theme and they've executed it as they want it.

[Frodnesor]

Herald reports new chef at Blue Door in the Delano ->
"Havana-born Maria Manso, a veteran of kitchens in Denver and New Orleans who worked for Miami's Norman Van Aken and China Grill Management before opening her own restaurant in California's Marin County, is the new executive chef at Mami Beach's Delano Hotel and its Blue Door restaurant."

[The Chowfather]

Newtimes is reporting that Christian Delouvrier is gone from La Goulue in The Shoppes at Bal Harbour.

[The Chowfather]

Antoine Camin, a native of Paris and a 16-year veteran of La Goulue in New York, is the new executive chef at La Goulue Bal Harbour

source: Miami Herald

[The Chowfather]

Executive chef Hiro Asano and chef de cuisine Gerdy Rodriguez, who has worked briefly at numerous South Florida restaurants including, most recently, 1 Bleu, are the new culinary team at Abokado in Mary Brickell Village.

[The Chowfather]

Mark Militello, the James Beard Award-winning chef who shocked long-time fans with the May closing of Mark's Las Olas, is the new executive chef at The Regent Bal Harbour, 10295 Collins Ave., Bal Harbour. Militello, 52, will be in charge of the luxury hotel's 1 Bleu fine-dining restaurant and The View Bar plus spa, catering and room service.
Expect starters ($8-$19) such as Florida tomato gazpacho with peeky-toe crab and entrees ($20-$46) such as crispy-skinned yellowtail snapper in bouillabaisse as well as house-made pastas and risottos on the dinner menu beginning Nov. 14,

[Debbie]

I had heard Mark Militello was about to open in Bal Harbour from several of his former employees who are now scattered about. Glad he's back. I have missed Mark's Las Olas. IMO, it was always a sure thing.....

[dlgc]

The new menu for all the food outlets will begin on the 19th of November.....Mark will be doing a Thanksgiving Day buffet also. We are so looking forward to the reopening of the restaurants, and with Mark in charge, it will be wonderful.

[lax2mia]

It's a beautiful space but was always empty. Hope Mark helps.

[Frodnesor]

I was just there this past weekend to have a drink (which inexplicably took nearly 20 minutes to make), and it was indeed a beautiful, empty space. It's really sort of out-of-the-way there.

[dlgc]

We are hoping that the restaurants will be really busy, and everyone gives Mark a try. The views from the restaurants are amazing, and sitting down at the pool for lunch is really nice.

I just saw the menu for Thanksgiving and looks good. We will be celebrating at the Regent this year....hope some others will join us and support Mark and this beautiful Hotel.

Frodnesor, do you really find this so out of the way......

[Frodnesor]

I'm in North Beach so it's not like it's a long drive for me. But it's got the same issues many other hotel restaurants do (at least hotels other than in the heart of South Beach) - it's off by itself, it's not in the "main drag" of Bal Harbour even (which is not a very sizable community itself), you've got to valet the car, you'd have no reason to even know it existed unless you were staying at the hotel or read about it ... unless you're staying at the hotel, you've got to REALLY want to go there to end up there. For whatever reason, particularly as a local, that kind of hotel dining is rarely what I want to do.

I just figured that Mark Militello would want to do something with a little more visibility to bounce back from the closing of all the Mark's Place restaurants - or perhaps not. I guess the nice thing about a hotel gig is that at a certain class of hotel, you HAVE to have a restaurant of a certain class because your guests expect it, even if the traffic isn't there (the hotel seemed dead too). Maybe it'll provide a chance for him to regroup and re-energize. For whatever reason, I don't see him staying there too long.

[dlgc]

Six of us had lunch there today and everyone enjoyed.......tuna tartar, salads, fish sandwich, burgers and fries etc. Mark is in the kitchen now and it showed, what a huge diffrence already!

We have heard that Mark has signed a multi year contract, and we are looking forward to having this delish restaurant under our roof. We couldn't ask for anything more, and thank Regent for bringing Mark in.

[lvnddream]

anticipation regarding the upcoming reopening of the Fontainebleau Hotel - from what I hear - 11 Restaurants including NYC's Gotham Grille (Alfred Portale), Scarpetta (NYC's Scott Conant) - this should really raise the bar on the S Fla dining scene

[tpigeon]

You forgot Hakkasan - which is the one I am looking forward to most. I have never been to the one in london but there are those who say it is the best dumpling house on earth...

[lvnddream]

word has it that Hakkasan will open Jan '09 - should be well worth the wait...

[Frodnesor]

"best dumpling house on earth"? I doubt it. Possibly one of the slickest-looking and the food there was good (I went to the original in Soho a few years ago), but I wouldn't say best on earth (indeed there was a more old-school dim sum place we ate at in London which I thought was better). Don't get me wrong, it was very good food, I think they've done a good job of upscaling and making contemporary Chinese food (similar to what Nobu did for Japanese here in the U.S.) and I'm excited to see it come to Miami, but I'm not quite ready to bestow "best dumpling house on earth" honors yet.

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

Nemo's- After many years as Mark Militello’s talented chef de cuisine at Mark’s South Beach and a short stint at Mark’s Las Olas, Larry LaValley is now Executive Chef at Nemo’s

It should also be noted that Chef gerdy Rodriguez is no longer affiliated at 1Bleu (Regent Bal Harbour)

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

The Food Gang- Chef Paul Anthony Morello, formerly of Mezzaluna in Ismir, Turkey; Vinton Townhouse in Coral Gables, FL; and Café Chauveron in Bay Harbor.

Baleen- Chef Jesse Souza via Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley, CA, Chispa and City Cellars

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

David Mullen has been appointed executive chef and Paola Hutto has been appointed pastry chef at Bourbon Steak

Mullen was chef de cuisine at Angle at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach and worked with Julian Serrano at Masa’s and Picasso, Wylie Dufresne at 71 Clinton Fresh Food, Daniel Boulud at Daniel, and Laurent Tourondel at Cello.

Paola Hutto previously worked at Mesa Grill at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

Michael Bloise has left Wish. No info on where he is going or who will be taking over.

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

Update- Brana is gone from The Raleigh.

See last paragraph
http://miaminewtimes.com/2008-04-03/d...

[mialebven]

Sounds like summer is coming.

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

The Raleigh Hotel- Chef Jeffrey Brana formerly of Restaurant Brana and Norman's.
Harrison's Steakhouse is now Jason's at The Harrison (SoBe)- Chef Jason McLain formerly of 8 1/2.

[mikek]

Sobe, do you know the actual name of the restaurant at the Raleigh or the link to their menu? Thank you in advance!

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

I don't recall ever seeing a menu online. Their website doesn't mention the name either. If you go, grab a martini at the bar. Best in town and a great spot for a drink
http://www.raleighhotel.com/features/...

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

Tuscan Steak- Chef Benjamin Rottkamp, past credits include Joachim Splichal’s Zucca Ristorante and, most recently, a chef de cuisine post at Frank and Andrea Curto-Randazzo’s Talula.

Bond St- Mike Hiraga, former sushi maestro at David Bouley Evolution (and, before that Hiro’s Yakko-San), has replaced Hiro Asano (moving to new restaurant Abokado at Mary Brickell)

[Frodnesor]

Was wondering where the Bouley sushi guy would end up. I like Bond St. but they keep the menu pretty limited. I'd (1) like to see what Hiro can do with more leeway; and (2) wish Bond St. would expand the menu a bit.

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

It appears that Jason McLain is no longer at Jason's at The Harrison.

[Frodnesor]

Which would seem to suggest a name change is in order - perhaps "Jason's Not at the Harrison."

[lync0091]

Does anyone know where jason went or who took his place?

[The Chowfather AKA sobe]

I think Jason is/was involved with Andu. Not sure to what extent though. Consultant? Not sure about Harrison's current chef.

[Frodnesor]

Gayot reports that Jason McClain did the menu for Andu and that the chef is Nate Martin, who was his sous at 8 1/2.