Gulf Coast Chefs

Horacio Rivadero

RESTAURANT The Dining Room (Read a review)

LOCATION Miami Beach, FL

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s making exquisite, gimmick-free Latin food with passion and precision.

BACKGROUND Ola (Miami Beach)

MUST-TRY DISH Braised pork with white bean puree, radishes and green mustard sauce.

HOMETOWN DESSERT Rivadero was born in Argentina; his playful take on baked Alaska is called baked Patagonia: pistachio cake with dulce de leche ice cream, passion fruit sauce and gorgeous meringue.

DOUBLE DUTY Rivadero also oversees the kitchen at Ola for his mentor, Nuevo Latin cuisine pioneer Douglas Rodriguez.

Photo © Brian Lieberman.
 

Vishwesh Bhatt

RESTAURANT Snackbar (Read a review)

LOCATION Oxford, MS

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he returned to his adopted hometown to cook French-influenced Southern food and make his own charcuterie for what he calls his "Bubba Brasserie."

CULINARY SCHOOL Johnson & Wales University (Miami)

BACKGROUND City Grocery, Harvest Café (Oxford, MS); Black Water Café (Jackson, MS); Full Moon Grill (Boulder, CO)

MUST-TRY DISH Fried boudin balls with house-made grainy mustard.

INFLUENCES Bhatt was born and raised in Gujarat, India, and learned how to cook from his mother.

Kevin Cory

RESTAURANT Naoe (Read a review)

LOCATION Previously Sunny Isles Beach, FL; new location opening in Miami, FL March 2012

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s making über traditional and personal omakase meals in a tiny two-person operation.

BACKGROUND Siam River (North Miami Beach, FL), Kawai Ryokan (Toyama, Japan)

MUST-TRY DISH Monkfish liver with sake-marinated persimmons and soy.*

MENTOR His tireless uncle Yasushi Naoe, who spent decades cooking kaiseki ryori (Japanese haute cuisine) in Toyama. “His passion would continue to keep him running and sliding all around the kitchen all day, then he’d speed walk back home to do more sit-ups, dumbbell arm curls, twisting and stretching before going to sleep.”

FAMILY BUSINESS The artisan sake served at Naoe comes from Cory’s family brewery in Japan, Nakamura Brewery, where his family has worked for generations.

INSIDER TIP Cory’s family also produces shoyu (soy sauce) that will soon be available for sale at the restaurant.

Alex Harrell

RESTAURANT Sylvain (Read a review)

LOCATION New Orleans, LA

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s doing a whimsical, French-Southern play on the gastropub, pairing hand-cut fries with Champagne.

BACKGROUND Mustard Seed, High Cotton (Charleston, SC); Galatoire’s, Bayona (New Orleans)

MUST-TRY DISH The Chick-Syl-vain sandwich of buttermilk-fried chicken with house-made pickles, an homage to fast food chain Chick-fil-A.

CHEF IDOL “Dead? Antonin Carême. Alive? Jacques Pépin.”

HISTORICAL SPACE The restaurant is housed in a former brothel whose madame was reputedly a William Faulkner muse.

FAVORITE NONWORK ACTIVITIES Fishing or playing soccer.

Jeff McInnis

RESTAURANT Yardbird Southern Table & Bar (Read a review)

LOCATION Miami, FL

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s bringing food that’s unabashedly Southern and homey to glitzy Miami.

CULINARY SCHOOL Johnson & Wales University (Charleston, SC)

BACKGROUND Gigi, DiLido Beach Club at the Ritz-Carlton, Norman’s (Miami); Fossett’s (Keswick, VA); Azie (San Francisco); Asolare (St. John, Virgin Islands)

MUST-TRY DISH Fried chicken with herb-and-cheddar waffles and watermelon salad.

BEST KNOWN FOR Being the sexy Southerner on Top Chef Season 5.

FAVORITE NONWORK ACTIVITIES Boat fishing, wake boarding, surfing.

PERK OF RUNNING HIS OWN KITCHEN “I [can] play loud country music, rock or gangster rap during the middle of service if I feel the urge.”

Jose Mendin and Sergio Navarro

RESTAURANT Pubbelly (Read a review)

LOCATION Miami Beach, FL

WHY THEY’RE AMAZING Because they’re revitalizing Miami’s Sunset Harbour neighborhood with their boisterous, Asian-inspired gastropub.

CULINARY SCHOOL Mendin: Johnson & Wales University (North Miami, FL). Navarro: Hotel Escuela (Madrid).

BACKGROUND Mendin: Mercadito, Nobu, Veranda (Miami); SushiSamba (Las Vegas). Navarro: SushiSamba (Las Vegas), Nobu (Miami), La Broche (Miami, Madrid).

MUST-TRY DISH Ramen in lemongrass and miso broth with bean sprouts and poached pork belly.

MINI-EMPIRE Mendin and Navarro are feverishly working on two more openings in the same building as Pubbelly. One will be a Catalan bistro, inspired by Navarro’s Spanish heritage; the other, a sushi joint from the two Nobu alums.

HOW THEY GOT INTO THE FOOD BUSINESS Navarro: He grew up in the Basque region of Spain, an area known for its rustic, seasonally focused cuisine. “I learned about culinary aromas and Spanish flavors from my mother. A passion for cooking was something I identified with as a young kid.” Mendin: He still has his professionally trained grandmother’s frayed cookbook, but he wasn’t always keen on cooking: “Before I decided to become a chef, I never cooked [a day] in my life. My parents took me out to dinner every Sunday. My dad would look at the new restaurant reviews in the Puerto Rican newspaper, and we would go all over the island to try these places.”

James Petrakis

RESTAURANT The Ravenous Pig (Read a review)

LOCATION Winter Park, FL

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s bringing world-class gastropub cuisine and monthly haute pig roasts to central Florida.

CULINARY SCHOOL The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY)

BACKGROUND Luma on Park (Winter Park, FL), Seasons 52 (Orlando, FL), Atelier (New York City)

MUST-TRY DISH Caw Caw Creek pork belly with quince puree and bacon streusel.*

INSPIRATION New York City gastropub the Spotted Pig.

MOST POPULAR COCKTAIL The Ravenous Pig old-fashioned, made with bacon-infused bourbon and candied bacon.

Hari Pulapaka

RESTAURANT Cress (Read a review)

LOCATION DeLand, FL

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because the India-born chef is making modern fusion food with an amazing sense of spice.

CULINARY SCHOOL Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts (Orlando, FL)

BACKGROUND Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge (Denali National Park, AK), externship at Canoe (Toronto)

MUST-TRY DISH Moghlai chicken curry with basmati rice and garlic naan.

ALTERNATE CAREER Pulapaka’s day job is as a mathematics and computer science professor; he cooks on the restaurant’s line each night. “It’s very hard balancing both jobs, because I’m a perfectionist.”

HOW HE GOT INTO THE FOOD BUSINESS Pulapaka was up late and saw a commercial for Le Cordon Bleu. “My goal was to get educated, then to travel and cook and have cool experiences.”

Alon Shaya

RESTAURANT Domenica (Read a review)

LOCATION New Orleans, LA

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he broke with New Orleans’s Creole-influenced Italian traditions to create satisfying regional Italian food.

CULINARY SCHOOL The Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY)

BACKGROUND Besh Steak (New Orleans), Antonio’s Ristorante (St. Louis), Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas)

MUST-TRY DISH Cavatelli with salty fennel sausage, beans and kale.

RESTAURANT RESEARCH “I went to Italy for a year knowing that when I came back, I would be opening Domenica. It was a chunk of my life given to research, and the menu is my life story of cooking Italian food, with a little bit of an Israeli influence, since I was born in Israel.”

SPECIAL DELIVERY Shaya custom-ordered a Pavesi pizza oven from Italy; he uses pecan wood to fire it for pizzas like the cotechino, with pork sausage and scallions.

HOW HE GOT INTO THE FOOD BUSINESS Washing sheet pans at a local bakery, starting when he was 14.

Simon Stojanovic

RESTAURANT Altamare (Read a review)

LOCATION Miami Beach, FL

WHY HE’S AMAZING Because he’s using his native Australian seafood sensibility to enliven Miami Beach’s dining scene.

CULINARY SCHOOL Carine Technical College (Perth, Australia)

BACKGROUND Nemo, the Setai South Beach (Miami Beach); Michael’s Genuine (Miami)

MUST-TRY DISH Grilled octopus over warm farro, chorizo, grilled lemon and smoked paprika aioli.

ON MIAMI’S NEW CULINARY SCENE “Working for Michael [Schwartz], I saw a sort of change in the Design District. Michelle Bernstein moved over there, Jonathan Eisman and Fratelli Lyon. Those four have been a driving force in the Miami cooking scene today.”

ON HIS VERSION OF FISH-AND-CHIPS “Growing up in New South Wales, Australia, I used to love eating a big bundle of fish-and-chips—the fish always being local shark.”

NEXT PROJECT Tikl, a small-plates restaurant set to open in April 2012.