Miami Food Blog

Sean Brasel

​Sean Brasel is the chef/co-owner of Miami Beach's sultry steakhouse known appropriately as Meat Market. The restaurant sits in the space formerly occupied by Jonathan Eismann's Pacific Time [You know it's now in the Design District, right? Yeah. Thought so.] and, seemingly, being there has provided some good juju in weird economic times. 

Ingrid Hoffman

​Now here's a chef who knows the meaning of caliente. For those of you who may not recognize this hometown girl (which rock have you been living under, huh?), she's the host of Food Network's Simply Delicioso, as well as Galavision/Univision's hit series, Delicioso, and she's authored cookbooks of the same names. Or perhaps you recently spotted her premiering a new, vivid kitchen products collection with a Latin twist, Simply Delicioso by Ingrid Hoffmann, during HSN Cooks.

But Hoffman wasn't always the successful, graceful, talented gal we know today. "As a teenager working for my mom's catering company doing the inaugural ball of the governor of the Netherlands Antilles, I went to hang these flowers from the chandelier above the sweets and champagne table and lost my balance from the ladder and held myself from the chandelier only to come down with the chandelier," she recalled. "I ripped it from the ceiling while dangling over the table, then crashed through the table, champagne flutes, desserts, etcetera, 10 minutes before the party began. Mom fired me on the spot!"

We're glad she lived to tell the story. And even though we now know perhaps she's a bit of a klutz and she likes to eat ants and (more about that below), we still find Ingrid Hoffmann incredibly appealing. Here's what she had to say:

New Times: If you came back in your next life as a food item, what would it be and how would you like to be served?

Ingrid Hoffman: A mango, because it's sweet and tarty also an aphrodisiac, and would like it plated in a sexy way, like a Mango Rose Water Sorbet in a martini glass and decorated with edible rose petals.

Jacob Katel

Ezequiel Canul spends his day in a freezing room breaking down fish.

​A sea butcher is the knife artist behind the filet of fish on your plate. In the case of the Oceanaire Seafood Room, the sea butcher is Ezequiel Canul, a.k.a. E-Z.

He 9-to-5's his way through the day in a freezing cold seafood walk-in where he breaks down all the seafood products that require it for the whole restaurant, or about 150 pounds a day.

E-Z says, "I learned with the company. I used to be a cook, working the grill. Then I got a promotion and they trained me."

So what happens to all the fish heads, skins, bones, and tails that get left behind when a filet is cut? Executive Chef Sean Bernal says, "We make a stock about once a week. The rest of the time we give it to the dishwashers. This is a family. The Haitians, they make a big pot of fish head soup with it and feed their families. They don't make a lot of money so we look out for them."

Here are some more pictures.

Come to us Todd.

​Still not announcing any concrete plans to move into our neighborhood, Todd English continues to make us swoon from afar. Now that he's got da Campo Osteria in Fort Lauderdale, Figs in Palm Beach Gardens, and Wild Olives coming to Boca in the old Opus 5 location (oooh--was I supposed to let that cat out of the bag?), I'm willing to bet it's just a matter of time before he gets a hankering for the Miami lifestyle. Of course, there's also the matter of him being a singleton again... surely he knows all the hot chicks are down here, right?

In the meantime, as I yet again am encouraged to visualize him glistening from the sheen of olive oil (read on to understand where that comes from), here are this sexy celeb chef's top 10s:

New Times: What was your most embarrassing cooking-related moment?

Todd English: I was in an off-Broadway production called Chef's Theater where I actually sang and cooked on-stage, and at one of the performances I was so into singing my Dean Martin number--You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You--that I knocked over the dish I was cooking onto the stage.

NT: What food/utensil/technique still confounds you?

A rolling pin for pizza dough--it's gotta be hand-tossed baby!

Jacob Katel

Prospective Top Chef contestants shoot the shit while they wait their turn to see the casting director.

​Top Chef 7 is officially on its way to your signal box, and Magical Elves, the production company behind the hit Bravo series, was in Miami on Sunday looking for talent. Prospective contestants turned up for a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. casting call at Club 50 in Brickell's Viceroy. Chefs from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Coconut Creek, Tampa, Orlando, and even Jamaica showed up for the chance to compete for $100,000, fame, and glory.

So what does it take to get on the show through a casting call? Applicants must create a home tape, fill out an entry form, have their picture taken, and meet the casting department. If they like you, they'll call.

Short Order asked Top Chef season 7 casting director Hunter Braun about the most outrageous home tape he's seen. "Last year, believe it or not, we had two people put octopus on their heads. It was like a running motif. Neither of them knew each other, they were just...I don't know it was really bizarre. One of them almost made it on the show."

Here are some of the folks who tried out for Top Chef season 7.

Brustman Carrino PR

How does your garden grow?

​The chef who has defined farm-to-table dining for South Florida since 2006 at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District (130 NE 40th St., Miami; 305-573-5550) is keeping his eyes on his bread and butter, with people happily eating every last crumb. But Michael Schwartz is also looking ahead. He's interested in more than just the trend toward serving local products, called locavorism.

"I think it's just become a trend without really people understanding why those things are important," he says, "and making a commitment."

It's not easy to cook local, Schwartz stresses. There's the unpredictability that comes with seasonality, the expense, and logistical hurdles like deliveries not exactly running like clockwork. And of course, one must be flexible with the menu. Food companies like Sysco have begun offering locally-sourced products, which makes buying easier, but he has reservations.

"It's almost not fair when it's Sysco easy," Schwartz points out. "The next level for me is to grow my own stuff, and yeah, I'm moving towards that. I used to raise chickens, 11 hens. So next is to go do it. To go and fish, you know."

Norman Van Aken

Staying on his game in Orlando (here with "Cuba Libre" Pork Belly Biscuit for its Taste of the Nation,) things are looking mighty tasty.

​Norman Van Aken and his '180' team, including Chefs Philip Bryant and Justin Van Aken, are operating under a three-word mantra when it comes to their goals for the new restaurant slated to open in Coral Gables before the end of the year: "Desirability, Sustainability, Community." 

Poised to re-enter the South Florida restaurant scene after a two and a half year hiatus, he has indulged us with a taste of his forthcoming menu and its inspiration.  Look for Van Aken's profile, including more insight into his evolution as a chef since flying the coop in 2007, in our Fall Arts + Eats guide, hitting stands October 1.

Jackie Sayet

Marie Antoinette's gaze beholds the dining room. Behold, Villarroel's muse?

​The question is not, is three Michelin star restaurant-experienced Chef Elida Villarroel ready for Coral Gables, but rather, is Coral Gables ready for her?

Pensive and profound, yet uncomplicated.  Calculated with a penchant for impulse. The mother of two and a half year old Andrea at home, whom she refused to name Charlotte (despite a love for the name) since it sounded "too snobby," is a lover of contrasts.

To understand how Villarroel arrived at Charlotte's Bistro, her "other baby," ironically parked on the Mile next to Le Provencal's new home, you need to know a few facts about her journey. It was a sprint to the finish, but to get here, a beautiful story, chapters taking their own sweet time to unfold.

Hailing from Caracas, Venezuela, our Miss Universe has traveled the world, studied the philosophy and literature of its greatest thinkers, and lived in some of its grandest capitals like London and Paris, to now rest her box of souvenirs in Miami a mere six months ago.

publicity shot

Bernie Matz with fish and crew.

​Books are like glasses, people think they make them look smart. South Beach's version of reading is eating at a book store on Lincoln Road, hence the success of Books & Books Cafe (927 Lincoln Road), now in its fifth year.

To celebrate they're offering specials on lunch for $18.09 and dinner for $28.09 through September.

Is that special? Sounds expensive to someone who considers sardines and Doritos to be fish-and-chips.

The restaurant was probably cheaper back in the day, in its first incarnation as the Wet Paint Cafe, Chef Bernie Matz's pioneering Lincoln Road eatery where OLA's Chef Douglas Rodriguez got his start.

Short Order dialed up Matz, here he is commenting on the old days....