Miami Men of Taste: José, Jean-Georges...

Jean-Georges Vongerichten
J&G Grill at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort

In many ways, Vongerichten represents the very essence of international cuisine. Born and raised in the Alsace region of France and trained both in France (under the venerable chefs Paul Haeberlin, Paul Bocuse, and Louis Outhier, no less) and in Asia (Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong), this culinary icon is constantly evolving as a chef and restaurateur with fresh new concepts that both impact and adapt to the global culinary landscape.

Why Miami?
I have always been attracted to Miami’s warm weather and diverse international population, which made my decision to open a restaurant at the St. Regis a no-brainer. The availability of product such as fresh seafood from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, citrus and vegetables, along with the Cuban and Spanish influences, provided me with the ingredients and inspiration found throughout the menu.

What is the most underrated spice?
Fenugreek. It is a common ingredient in curry powder used mostly in Indian and South Asian cuisine. I like this spice because of the great fragrance and use it in broth as seasoning.

Which word(s) in the English language do you most despise?
Back in my first English class in Alsace at 12 years old, my teacher made us learn the phrase, “There are three trees in the street.” To this day, I still have a hard time saying the phrase and pronouncing words that start with “th.”

What is your favorite holiday to cook for, and what are your go-to dishes?
I love cooking for Thanksgiving. One of my favorite dishes is my stuffing made with bread, chestnuts, mushrooms, shallots, and herbs. A few of my other go-to dishes include roasted Brussels sprouts with rosemary and garlic and Marja’s mac and cheese. This year, Oprah tweeted a sweet potato recipe that I tried. It was delicious! For dessert, I make a gooey chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting.

If you could invite five guests (living or deceased) to dinner, who would they be?
Salvador Dalí, because he is my favorite artist; Ali- Bab, because he is my favorite chef; Bhumibol Adulyadej, the reigning king of Thailand, so I can show him all the things I can do with Thai ingredients; my great-grandma so she can taste my food; and Jacques Cousteau, because he shares the same love for the water as I do.

Rainer Becker
Zuma

This German cofounder, CEO, and chef of the celebrated Zuma brand certainly knows a thing or two about the tastes of international palates. Becker first established wildly successful outposts in London, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Dubai, and Bangkok before bringing his singular approach to Japanese cuisine (inspired by informal izakaya-style dining) to Miami in 2010. His light and vibrant cuisine not only surprises with its complex flavors but also satisfies Miami’s discerning international crowd. A stunning setting at the mouth of the Miami River doesn’t hurt, either.

Why Miami?
Miami has an amazing energy as a city. People here may be demanding, but they also know how to have a good time. It was a great fit for Zuma.

Favorite dining scene from a movie?
9 1/2 Weeks—you figure it out.

If you were stuck on an island (with a power source) and had to create a meal, what one tool would you bring?
You don’t need power for a knife, but it would have to be a knife. As an appliance, I would also bring a stove.

What is your most memorable bite of food?
My first visit to Japan, when I tried uni sea urchin. It was so fresh and incredible.

Which now-defunct restaurant do you wish you had dined at?
In the US, that would be Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago—it was on the bucket list, but unfortunately I never found the time, and now it’s too late.

What is the most underrated spice?
Nothing is underrated if you use it properly.

Which word in the English language do you most despise?
“No.”

What is your go-to food when throwing a party?
Always barbecue. I love having friends over—the wonderful thing about barbecue is that you can prepare everything before everyone arrives and then cook together and enjoy one another’s company.

Which adjective pays food the biggest compliment?
“Delicious.”

What food trend do you wish were over?
Judgment by people who call them food trends. Let chefs do what they want. If customers like it, they will go back, and if not, they won’t. There is no right or wrong approach to cooking as long as it’s done well and tastes great.

Is there anything you will not eat?
I have tried almost everything and haven’t found a thing I wouldn’t at least taste.

What profession other than your own would you attempt?
I love to race, so a racecar driver.

What scent and taste bring you back to your childhood?
Roast chicken. I remember the anticipation of waiting for my dad to carve the bird and serve. I loved it all the more for the wait.

Scott Conant
Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach

Conant brings a deft touch and unwavering passion to creating food with soul. After 23 years of cooking, he opened Scarpetta in New York in 2008 to rave reviews and an enthusiastic following that to this day has established him as one of America’s preeminent Italian chefs. Conant’s travels to Italy have elevated his craft even further to create remarkable dishes that blend beautifully with Miami’s cosmopolitan scene and culture.

Why Miami?
I’ve had an apartment here for around 10 years. I consider Miami my second home. Being in the Fontainebleau now, with its constant nod to iconic Miami, makes me feel to a certain extent that I get a taste of that lifestyle, but with a modern sense.

What is your favorite dining scene from a movie?
There’s a scene in a limited release of The Godfather where Sonny (James Caan) is dealing with his father (Marlon Brando) getting shot: He walks into the kitchen, and there’s a pot of tomato sauce on the stove. He grabs a piece of bread and dunks it in the sauce and eats it. I think this is very indicative of having grown up in an Italian family. That pot of sauce has been a source of comfort for me so many times in my life. Love that!

If you were stuck on an island (with a power source) and had to create a meal, what one tool would you bring?
Induction burner or a hammer to open coconuts.

What are the top three cities you like to visit and why?
I always enjoy spending time in London because it’s so ethnically diverse and I’ve eaten great Indian food there. I’d like to visit Beijing because of the amazing culture and history in China. Lastly, I’d love to take a trip to Cape Town for the gorgeous views and amazing fruits and vegetables.

What is the most underrated spice?
Fennel seed because it works equally well in both sweet and savory preparations.

Which word in the English language do you most despise?
“Can’t.”

What is your favorite holiday to cook for, and what are your go-to dishes?
It’s funny how the perspective of the holidays changes when you have children. I love cooking on Christmas with the whole family around. There’s a black truffle lasagna that I love to cook every year.

Which description do you believe pays food the biggest compliment?
A “feminine touch,” meaning it’s delicately prepared, thoughtful, and everything on the plate is in harmony.

Name the food trend you wish were over.
Avant-garde cooking techniques in the wrong hands.

Is there anything you will not eat?
I will not eat insects, rodents, and durian.

What profession other than your own would you attempt?
I’m too old to be a baseball player, so maybe marketing.

If you could invite five guests (living or deceased) to dinner, who would they be and why?
Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King Jr., and Don Rickles. The conversation would probably be the most enlightening experience, and Don Rickles would add levity to all of it.

What scent and taste bring you back to your childhood?
The smell of sausage cooking in olive oil. Also, pine and juniper berries cooking reminds me of the holidays. My mother used to make zucchini blossoms that I can still eat like popcorn.

Nobu Matsuhisa
Nobu at the Shore Club South Beach

Known simply as Nobu, this highly acclaimed fusion chef is also one of the world’s busiest restaurateurs, with 30 restaurants in 26 different cities spanning five continents. He has come to represent the best in Japanese cuisine, enhancing his dishes with fierce South American flavors while maintaining a peerless sense of balance. And his design aesthetic—a cool combination of sleekness and shimmer—makes an ideal match for the Shore Club South Beach. Let’s be fair—anyone who does business with Robert De Niro knows what he’s doing.

Which now-defunct restaurant do you wish you had dined at?
El Bulli. It was undoubtedly the most controversial and experimental restaurant.

If you were stuck on an island (with a power source) and had to create a meal, what one tool would you bring?
A rice cooker so I could make sushi.

What are the three cities you would like to visit?
Thimphu (Bhutan), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), and San Jose (Costa Rica). I’d like to do sightseeing and try to eat anything I have never eaten.

What is your go-to dish when cooking for the holidays?
Every Japanese New Year, my staff and friends come to my home to celebrate, and I prepare the food for them. Osechi are traditional Japanese New Year foods, such as kuromame (black soybeans), datemaki (sweet rolled omelets), kamaboko (broiled fish cake), kurikinton (sweet yellow yam with sweet chestnut), and nishime (Japanese vegetable stew), among many others.

Which words do you believe pay food the biggest compliment?
“Thank you.”

Name the food trend you wish were over.
None. But a trend I do like is vegetable dishes. When you are getting older, you have to watch what you eat.

Is there anything you will not eat?
Snake. When I was a child, I was bitten by one.

What profession other than your own would you attempt?
A painter. I like the idea of working with acrylic paint, though I don’t know what I would be painting. But my favorite artist is Romero Britto.

If you could invite five guests (living or deceased) to dinner, who would they be?
My wife, two daughters, and their husbands. I love my family.

What scent and taste bring you back to your childhood?
Bonito dashi. Umami. When I woke up in the morning, my mother would be in the kitchen, and I’d wake up with bonito dashi’s smell every day.

José Andrés
The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel South Beach

Recently named one of Time magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People in the World, this James Beard Award winner and culinary innovator is widely credited with introducing Americans to both avant-garde and traditional Spanish cooking. In 2012, he opened The Bazaar, the seriously sexy culinary experience at the SLS Hotel South Beach, followed later that year by his first dining destination outside the continental US, in Puerto Rico at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.

Why Miami?
Miami is so sexy, so fun. I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant here, [and] I wanted to tell a unique story. When my team and I created the menu, Miami was the anchor of inspiration. You’ll find dishes celebrating the heritage of Miami, like the Cuban coffee-rubbed churrasco or the South Beach chips with yuca, plantains, yogurt, and tamarind.

If you were stuck on an island (with a power source) and had to create a meal, what one tool would you bring?
A solar cooker. All I need is the sun and the goodness of the earth to make a humble meal. A few years ago, we had a big snowstorm in DC, and we lost power. I used the solar cooker to make a meal for my family, and I realized that this technology could be life-changing for so many people around the world. In Haiti, little girls and boys spend all day looking for wood and dung to use as cooking fuel when they could be at school. I’ve taken solar cookers to Haiti with my nonprofit World Central Kitchen and also as culinary ambassador of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. I think [solar cookers] could be part of the solution to many issues of food security.

Which word(s) in the English language do you most despise?
“Molecular gastronomy.” People use this phrase to describe avant-garde cuisine, and I don’t think it’s the right term. Everything is molecular; we use penicillin to make blue cheese and bread, but we don’t call it molecular. In the 1980s, we had great chefs like Josep Mercader, Ferran Adrià, and Juan Mari Arzak who had begun to transform Spanish cuisine. It’s never been molecular but rather a different way of cooking. It’s about thinking about food beyond the perimeters that we know and creating a conversation around food.

What profession other than your own would you attempt?
I would be a professional scuba diver. It’s the perfect way to spend a vacation. I remember years ago when I was scuba diving in the south of Puerto Rico. I was 100 feet underwater when I saw my first turtle in a beautiful place called The Wall, an amazing reef. It quite frankly changed my life. It’s very astonishing to see how much life is under the water.

What scent and taste bring you back to your childhood?
The smell of wood burning brings me memories of making paella around an open fire like we do in Spain. I remember watching my father make paella on Sundays for our family and friends. As a young boy, I wanted to be a part of that; I wanted to do it myself. My dad would always put me in charge of the fire, but never did he let me touch the paella. I would get so angry, and once I finally said, “Why won’t you let me cook?” And he told me, “But don’t you see, you have the most important job, you are controlling the fire, the heat.” That is when I learned what making a perfect paella was about, what cooking was about, really. That you have to control the fire!

Michael Mina
Bourbon Steak at Turnberry Isle Miami

San Francisco might be the city that established this Egyptian-born, James Beard Award-winning chef’s career two decades ago, but Michael Mina could hardly be considered a West Coast chef. Since founding Mina Group in 2002, he has opened 17 restaurants across the US, including Michael Mina (his signature restaurant), Clock Bar in San Francisco, and Bourbon Steak.

Why Miami?
The energy in Miami is like no other city. Its vast cultural landscape, access to really incredible products, and guests who love to dine out were all very enticing to me. I also had an incredible opportunity to partner with a great, established property. It’s a gorgeous location, and that certainly enticed me as well.

Which now-defunct restaurant do you wish you had dined at?
The Watergate Hotel restaurant, Jean-Louis. The culinary icon Jean-Louis Palladin chose to come to the United States and make his debut at this namesake restaurant. He created a power dining scene in that city, and I really would have loved to experience the entire scene at that time.

If you were stuck on an island (with a power source) and had to create a meal, what one tool would you bring?
I wouldn’t need a power source. I would absolutely bring a wood-burning grill—one very similar to the grill we use at Bourbon Steak. It’s a delicious way to cook almost anything.

What are the top three cities you would like to visit and why?
I always love visiting Tokyo for the culture and amazing products and cuisine. I would love to visit Rio de Janeiro for Carnival to people-watch and experience the culture. While not a city, I’d love to visit the Seychelles, just to relax and really get away.

Which word in the English language do you most despise?
My least favorite word is “can’t,” hands-down. It’s a motivator for me; if someone tells me something can’t be done, you know I’ll find a way!

What is your favorite holiday to cook for, and what are your go-to dishes?
I’m happiest when I’m grilling outdoors. Fourth of July is always a blast at my house. I love making wood-grilled meats, wood-roasted pork, and wood-fired pizzas. [It] gives us time together as a family. We all love to be outdoors, cooking and eating together.

What words do you believe pay food the biggest compliment?
For me, it’s not necessarily just one word. The biggest compliment is when someone says to me, “I still remember the meal I had at your restaurant 20 years ago,” and then proceeds to describe every dish they ate that evening. That, by far, is the biggest compliment.

What profession other than your own would you attempt?
If I wasn’t playing professional basketball, I’d be in advertising on the creative side. I am fascinated by that process, and how campaigns can become important threads of the fabric in pop culture.

What scent and taste bring you back to your childhood?
Growing up in Washington State, my mother cooked very traditional Middle Eastern foods. Any of those scents and dishes really transport me back to my childhood.