New Chef at A Fish Called Avalon

Avalon dining room

​The veteran Ocean Drive seafood establishment has hired Kal Abdalla as new executive chef. Abdalla, who replaces longtime Avalon chef Brian Cantrell, is best known for his lengthy stint as top toque of the Forge; he also helmed the kitchen at Prezzo Restaurant & Martini Bar for awhile.

The new menu will include, among other things, crab bisque with sage crème fraîche ($12); baby-back ribs in a watermelon-barbecue glaze with pineapple coleslaw and sweet potato gaufrettes ($27); and sautéed snapper with oranges, pecans, and asparagus in a Chardonnay citrus beurre blanc ($32). With dishes such as these, and a starter of spicy big-eye tuna tartare with kim chee, oranges, jalapeño, pine nuts, cilantro, and sesame oil ($16), we'll go out on a limb and guess that Chef Abdalla doesn't belong to the less-is-more school of cooking.

A Fish Called Avalon
700 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach
305-532-1727