And the winners for best food are........
These great restaurants, where the chefs focus on providing fresh, local, sustainably grown food while donating time and money to help kids learn about food and the environment.
The night was windy. The kind of windy that ruins outdoor food events by blowing plates and cups to the ground and hair into mouths. Undaunted, about 35 local Miami chefs were at their stations on the Eden Roc Hotel’s pool deck, struggling with the plates while prepping and serving their signature creations for all of us attendees to taste.
The event was Snail of Approval, Slow Food Miami’s signature event. Chefs and producers committed to local, seasonal, sustainable sourcing come together to showcase what they make from this fresh food.
It’s a fund raiser for the organization whose mission is to help elementary school kids grow and eat food that is healthy and tasty, in a sustainable and affordable way.
It’s a friendly competition, where all attendees are given one token and told to drop it into a jar on the table of their favorite chef/restaurant/sample.
It’s an opportunity to taste creations from many wonderful chefs and really focus on the food - without being distracted by the ambiance and service and varying noise levels.
Here is my list of favorite foods and chefs
My winners’ token went to Chef Niven Patel’s Ghee Indian Kitchen.
I’m normally not a fan of Indian food; it’s a little mushy for me. But Chef Niven Patel, of Ghee Indian Kitchen, shared his Sweet Potato Chaat with chutney, chick peas and pepitas and it blew me away! (Not because of the wind:).
Chaat is an Indian street food, built around the potato, my favorite food in the universe. It’s basically a mash-up of ingredients and flavors. The base usually potato, followed by some vegetables and a topping. Chaat comes from the Hindu word meaning lick, as in lick your fingers, which is exactly what I did after eating this dish.
The base of Chef Niven’s was sweet potatoes, the topping was some finally chopped pepitas. A bite produced a distinct blend of sweet and sour and spicey and earthy flavors. The texture wasn’t at all mushy; in fact it was a delicate dish finished with a satisfactory crunch.
Chef Niven is a warm and friendly guy. He owns Ghee as well as Playa on Miami Beach. The Playa folks shared a citrus-y crudo that was also light and refreshing.
Chef Niven is so committed to the value of local food that 35% of the produce at his restaurant comes from his own farm in Homestead. He says the local climate is very similar to India’s, which means the vegetables and herbs he uses are quintessentially fresh.
PS: Ghee Kitchen has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for three consecutive years. The Bib honors restaurants offering affordable refined cuisine.
My runners up were Boia De, Rosemary’s and Kotjin.
Boia De means “OMG!” in Italian and it’s definitely the right name for this sought after restaurant in Miami. It was the first table we hit after entering the pool area of the Eden Roc. Everyone loves Boia De and for good reason - the food is outstanding. Voting for Boia De would have been a no brainer.
They served a ricotta gnocchi with local cherry tomato pomodoro that was perfectly cooked hot, and layered in flavored, despite the windy conditions. However, it was just too easy to vote for an already highly and widely acclaimed restaurant, don’t you think?
Rosemary’s is a new restaurant in Miami/Wynwood, with sister locations in New York. They offered up a Yellowfin Tuna Crudo with citrus, bronze fennel and an herb puree that was light, complex, refreshing and delicious. The restaurant has a small garden on site. Kind of cool! I’m excited to go and visit.
Kojin, in Coral Gables won my vote for most unusual treat. Kojin is the Japanese god of fire, the hearth and the kitchen and the restaurant serves American food inspired by Japanese flavors and techniques. At Snail of Approval, they served a tamarind cake with fish sauce toffee.
Yup, you heard that right. A tamarind cake with a fish sauce toffee on top.
It is utterly and completely delicious. It is like an understated, softly spicey, not too sweet cupcake. There is no fish taste whatsoever, but there is that tantalizing and somewhat addictive unami sensation. It is such a crazy concept, at least in my mind, that I went searching for the recipe. If you are interested in seeing the ingredients, click here. I think I’m going to give it a try!
And then there is Chef Allen!
Chef Allen Susser is a special guy on the Miami Food scene. A Brooklynite by birth, he’s been in Miami a long time, owned several eponymous restaurants, used to host monthly communal vegetarian dinners outside of the Arsht until all the highway construction started. He now serves as a chef and consultant and is both a guide and grounding force in Slow Food Miami.
Here he is at the dinner making and serving pan roasted mushrooms with a truffle Romanesco sauce.
Snail of Approval is an annual event worth your time and money.
Wandering around the tables on this windy night, I was struck how, in a city that moves fast and builds faster, Snail of Approval asks us to slow down, take small bites, and experience what food is, where it comes from and how it celebrates connections - to the land, other people, and an organization that honors both.
Slow Food is a national organization you can check out. Each city has its own Snail of Approval event. No matter where you live, you can check out their amazing work.es
My winner and runners’ up list:
Ghee’s Indian Kitchen
63NW 24th St (Wynwood)
Miami, FL
305-395-3431
Boia De
5205 NE 2nd Ave
Miami, FL 33137
786-209-6310
Rosemary’s
322 NW 25th St. (Wynwood)
Miami FL 33127
(305) 486-2424
Kojin
803 Ponce De Leon
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(786) 747-1404