Chariff Realty via Facebook

From left: David Martinez, Michelle Bernstein, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, Lyle Chariff, and Steven Perricone breaking ground.

​Chef/restaurateur Michelle Bernstein might be opening a new "to-go" version of Michy's in the same neighborhood as her flagship restaurant, Open Media Miami reported yesterday.

Chariff Realty Group posted the enticing rumor on its Facebook page. A picture of the groundbreaking ceremony of the 10,000-square-foot retail space currently under construction at 6101 Biscayne Boulevard shows Bernstein and husband/business partner David Martinez in hardhats alongside commissioner Marc Sarnoff, Lyle Chariff, and Steven Perricone, shovels in hand.

The caption under the picture alludes to a deal in place, "'another Done Deal' Michele [sic] Bernstein will be creating Miche's [sic] to go which is an Epicurean [sic] market of high end meals. We still have more space available."
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Ruiz leaves.

One of Miami's top chefs is leaving one of the town's best restaurants.

The higherups at the Biltmore had no choice but to bid farewell to chef de cuisine Philippe Ruiz -- a Chevalier de l'Ordre Du Mérite Agricole, two-time James Beard nominee for best chef in the South, and arguably one of Miami's top toques -- as he has handed in his resignation. "They were in shock," Ruiz says, "but they understood. We achieved so much together. It was better to leave while everything is going well."

Ruiz has worked for the Biltmore since 1999. In that time, Palme d'Or, the hotel's flagship eatery, earned prestigious awards, including best service, best production design, and best dish, along with numerous other mentions, from Zagat; the 2007 Golden Spoon Award from Florida Trend magazine; and two blessings from the Miami Herald, rating the restaurant "exceptional."
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Let's see if he makes lemonade.

​Looks like Essensia's chef, Frank Jeannetti, has left for greener pastures. With a C.V. that includes a New York culinary school degree and an internship with Boulud, and gigs alongside Eismann and Schwartz, he's sure to land somewhere good. (Check out our interview with him from March for more background.)

Jeannetti is popular with local culinary circles due in large part to his charity work and dedication to using only organic and locally sourced ingredients.

A hotel rep said she heard it was a "mutual parting of ways."
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Former Hell's Kitchen and Iron Chef contestant Ralph Pagano to leave STK for Gulfstream

​Rumor has it that celebrity chef Ralph Pagano, who's been chef de cuisine at South Beach's swanky STK restaurant inside the Gansevoort Miami Beach for the last year, just put in his two-week notice on Monday. The buzz is that he will take an executive position at Gulfstream Park's restaurants in Hallandale. PR contacts at both the restaurant and casino were unable to confirm or deny the news. We'll update with details as we receive them.

Pagano gained fame by hosting the reality cooking show, Pressure Cook on the Mojo Network; winning runner-up status on Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen; and wielding his knives against Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America.

The celebrity chef added his own Mediterranean flair to the steakhouse's succulent menu of prime cuts and innovative apps, like shrimp rice krispies and foie gras French toast.

It's not yet known who his replacement will be, but he or she will sure have big shoes to fill in the wake of this talented culinary king of the small screen.

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Have you seen this man?

​A little birdie tipped us off last week that Mike Sabin, whom most people think of as the head chef at Prime One Twelve, had left the kitchen to work at some burger joint in Virginia (Oh -- you didn't know about that place, either?). As it turns out, Sabin has sort of left the kitchen at P112. Just not entirely. We'll explain.

In an effort to verify his departure, we e-mailed P112's owner, Myles Chefetz, who quickly responded the that the rumor was "absolutely not true." Yet after Nemo was shuttered, despite gossip -- and published magazine articles -- indicating it was getting a second chance at life under the moniker Prime Fish, we started to wonder if there's trouble in paradise over at Myles Restaurant Group and we kept digging.

You may recall New Times labeled Chefetz Best Restaurateur earlier this year, but now two of his five popular eateries (Shoji Sushi being the second) are closed. Inquiring minds wanted to know wassup.

Then we got a voicemail from Sabin:
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Serendipity 3 plans to bring its over-the-top treats to SoBe.

​Iconic Manhattan ice-cream restaurant and celebrity hot spot Serendipity 3 is scheduled to open in South Beach, bringing Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and sundaes priced like mortgage payments to the rich and beautiful of South Florida.

Serendipity 3 has launched into a licensing program with Alloy Entertainment. The company plans to expand into confections, health and beauty (hot chocolate bubble bath, perhaps?), publishing, kitchenware, and desserts.
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Eden chef Christopher Lee still bullish on the bistro

Eden, the bistro that opened in the former Talula space on 23rd Street in South Beach, has been the target of a lot of rumor mongering lately.

Back in May, we got word of possible trouble. Police and an angry vendor were spotted there. At the time, Chef Christopher Lee assured us Eden was in business, "Eden is absolutely not closing. We have been and remain committed to providing an exceptional dining experience for our guests."

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Geoffrey Zakarian and Scott Conant at South Beach Wine & Food Festival

​Celebrity chef and restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian filed for personal bankruptcy after several lawsuits were filed against him by former restaurant employees and partners, according to The New York Times.

Zakarian, a judge on Food Network's Chopped and executive chef at several eateries, including the Lambs Club and the National Bar and Dining Room in New York has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on April 6 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, listing 179 creditors.

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Photo by Riki Altman

Was Zakarian at Burger Bash to gage interest?

Hopefully we'll have confirmation by the end of the week that Geoffrey Zakarian, chef/owner of New York's recent, yet notable Lambs Club, founding chef of the Delano's recently renamed Blue Door, and Food Network fave, will be putting his stamp on a rooftop lounge in Dream South Beach, a 108-room boutique hotel slated to open in a few weeks.

​Though a press release found online claims Zakarian is behind The Tudor, the name of the eatery to-be, a public relations rep for Vikram Chatwal Hotels, the folks behind Dream, say he "may or may not be involved" and a press release confirming his degree of involvement will be forthcoming by the end of the week.
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Has ACR left the building?

Miami New Times was alerted to a Twitter post announcing Chef Andrea Curto-Randazzo has bailed on her latest venture. "Former Top Chef contestant Andrea Curto-Randazzo is no longer part of The Water Club," @Miamitude reports.

There's no announcement on the restaurant's website and comments are hard to come by. Water Club, you might remember, is the ambitious and enormous North Miami Beach restaurant that Curto-Randazzo and her husband, Frank, took over a few months ago in what seemed an enormous jump from their highly praised but much smaller venture, Talula,

When we called her home number, the woman who answered this morning said she was "On her way to work." When we asked, "On her way to Water Club?" the response was, "No. She's on her way to Creative Tastes today."
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