March 28, 2024
Culture Shock - Florida chefs meld unlikely combinations

Photo: Gabriel Gutierrez

Eileen Andrade serves "Seoul food" - a combination of Latin and Korean dishes - at Finka Table & Tap in Miami

Golden Spoon Awards

Culture Shock - Florida chefs meld unlikely combinations

Chris Sherman | 11/19/2015

Florida’s newest generation of chefs is experimenting and cross-pollinating with more passion and wit than ever, running shockwaves of fiery Korean through Colombian cuisine or piling Southern comforts onto a wood-fired pizza.

That’s a big change from the more refined, delicate fusion pioneered 25 years ago by the California chefs who carefully melded ingredients and style from Japan, Italy and Mexico, often using classical French technique. 

No longer. In the new millennium, cooking and dining have turned more casual, artisanal and sometimes downright rustic. Chefs are exploring more authentic flavors of the American farmhouse and bar and regional variations of every ethnic stripe. 

The 2015 Golden Spoon restaurants feature chefs reaching out to Peru, Turkey, Korea and other regions — fusion 2.0 from food truckers, small-plate nibblers and a generation of ethnic restaurateurs who just want to have fun. 

All the new combustions are boosting Florida’s energy level, so fasten your seat belts. The earth is turning faster than ever. Stick your tongue out the window, and you can taste the world. Some highlights:

Finka Table & Tap (Miami) Korean fried chicken and boniato bread

Finka Table & Tap, Miami: Eileen Andrade comes from a family that’s been in the Cuban restaurant business for 30 years, but she calls her menu “Seoul food.’’ At base, it’s the home cooking of Latin Florida: Oxtail, churrasco steak and pork masitas, but why stop there? Make it more exciting with vaca frita beef on glass noodles or arroz con pollo with gochujang or black beans added to Korean bibimbap. 

717 South, Tampa: Odd combinations aren’t unprecedented. Tampa restaurateurs created 717 South more than 10 years ago, with a menu split with Asian on one side and Italian on the other so diners would have a choice of two popular cuisines, says chef Robert Masson. “I came along later and just happened to be Korean and Italian.’’ So he makes risotto and cioppino plus miso grouper and pu pu platters plus his own duck burgers and house bacon.

Noble Crust (St. Petersburg) Buttermilk biscuit, country ham, heirloom tomatoes

Noble Crust, St. Petersburg: The combination of Southern cooking and pizza at Noble Crust is hard to explain. While its creators may have just fused crowd-pleasing pizza with the fashion for new Southern, there’s also a common theme of old-fashioned simplicity. Perhaps it’s a shared love of bacon and pork or the fact that farm fresh ingredients for any Florida restaurant must come from the south. Both Italians and Southerners love tomatoes, but Noble Crust makes caprese salad of mozzarella and fried greens.

Fooq’s, Miami: New restaurants with roots in the Middle East and beyond also show new broad borrowings. Fooq’s combines a rare taste of Persian flavors with Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, Moroccan beans, burgers and turkey chili. 

Byblos, Miami Beach: Inside the art deco Shorecrest, Byblos does not make just one stop in another cuisine, but trips widely around the eastern Mediterranean. Sprinkles of dukka, za’atar, charmoula and barberries transport diners to Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Morocco. 

Tags: Dining & Travel, Golden Spoons

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Florida Trend restaurant editor Chris Sherman stuck his finger into Key lime pie 20 years ago and has eaten his way up, down and across the sunshine state. Florida sets a big and constantly changing table, so when you find a great new restaurant or have a grand meal, let Florida Trend know.

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