Category Archives: Customer Conversations

[VIDEO] We Wrap the Cafe with a Mambo & Designers Sound off on What Genuine Means to Them

Michael cooks the food he likes to eat and the emphasis is on knowing the source — where ingredients come from and who’s growing them. As he likes to say, “The secret to good food is… good food.”

So it’s no secret what being genuine means to Michael and his approach to the menus at our restaurants, but does it have the same meaning when applied to design? With the help of Design Miami/ we surveyed a handful of designers at the tent this weekend to find out. Here’s what they had to say, and a recap video of the week that was Cafe.

Asif Khan: “Creating for others the same things that you’d want to create for yourself.”

Eyal Burstein of Beta Tank: “I think it’s more about intention. If I intend to make something that is industrial or that talks about taxes or perception or scaffolding. These are some of the things that I look into and try to keep to that initial idea or intention. That’s kind of the thread that keeps going in my work”

Jamie Zigelbaum: “For us genuine design would be authentic work where we’re doing it for real reasons that are important to us and that we’re thinking through the entire cycle of the design project and each part of it is not just chosen for no reason, but that we think about each thing… What materials we’re going to be using, what those materials convey about the piece, how the piece is going to function later – what’s the life cycle of the piece going to be – and that type of authentic, perhaps genuine, approach is something very important to us, too.”

Marcelo Coelho: “There’s lots of different ways you can think about it, but one way that I think is really interesting is from the perspective of information. Something is genuine when we really know what it is, really understand where it comes from. To understand what the little parts are and how they come together, where are they going to afterwards. It’s not even so much what the particular kind of origin is, but it’s more about you being aware of that, and that creates some kind of important connection for you.”

[UPDATED] Enjoy Sunday Supper & Support a Stagiaire

Update: Photos from the amazing first dinner are here! Yum yum. Great job Steve!

Hi Genuine Kitchen Readers. It’s not often we come to you with requests, so we’re sharing one now in the hopes that you get it – like we did – and feel the love enough to support the cause.  Chef de cuisine Bradley Herron, whom you may have seen featured in yesterday’s Tasting Table Sous Chef Series, came up with this great idea for his Miami cooks inspired by Marcus Samuelsson’s memoir, Yes: Chef. After hosting his Miami release party in our private dining room in July, we read the memoir.  In it, chef Samuelsson recalls a dinner he hosted at his home to raise money to send one of his line cooks away to stage for a few days with a great chef from his past, from whom he, as a young cook, learned a great deal.  Thanks to Michael’s amazing relationships, we are now able to do the same, and Bradley cooked up an offer to make it happen. Get 30 people to each spend $50 on a family style dinner in his own home, cooked by a stage hopeful, in Sunday’s case, line cook Steve Martin, with lots of help and donations from the genuine family to put it on…  The proceeds then go to send Steve, appropriately, to work in Jonathon Sawyer’s kitchen for a week, a favorite chef of ours who popped at Harry’s in the spring and left his chef behind to stage with us in the genuine kitchen for a week.  The genuine exchange will now be complete with your help.  See below, and the menu above, and let us know if have any questions. I’m on centerpiece duty and ticket sales (please click below or pay Brad in cash if you see him at the restaurant!)
Thanks for your support and readership!
Jackie

Stagiaire Supper
a genuine staff meal

When: Sunday, November 4, 5-7:30 p.m.
Where: hosted by chef de cuisine Bradley Herron at his home
411 Northeast 52nd Terrace (Morningside) Miami, FL
What: Please join us for meal cooked by one of our own so they can travel to stage at a great chef’s restaurant.
$50 includes:
Welcome Cocktail + Snacks
3 courses including dessert, served family-style
Wine
RSVP: Please say yes to Bradley with cash or Brown Paper Tickets with credit card.
Your contribution will go to send Steve Martin to Cleveland for a stage with chef Jonathon Sawyer of The Greenhouse Tavern.

[UPDATED] #BourbonHeritage Part III: Bourbon & Bites

Update: Some great things happened today that we’d like to acknowledge, so we’re posting them here. Happy Birthday Harry’s, you’re one year old today.  Congratulations Hedy on your delicious spread in the Miami Herald.

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Let’s face it, drinking bourbon is great but without a little base of food in your belly things can get a little fuzzy in a hurry. Not being much of a wine guy myself, I prefer to instead pair bourbon with what I’m eating for the night. With that said, here are some of my favorite items on the MGFD menu along with some bourbons and bourbon cocktails to pair with them.

Crispy Pork Belly : The Redemption Old Fashioned
An Old Fashioned is a sweeter bourbon cocktail but made “Steve Style” with Redemption High Rye Bourbon & no muddled fruit it also has some nice spice to it with a little bite. I like the way it pairs with the similar sweet/spicy/savory flavors of this pork belly dish.

Slow Roasted Shortrib : Bulleit Proof Manhattan
MGFD Beverage Director, Ryan Goodspeed, puts some nice accents on the classic Manhattan with marinated cherries speared by a branch of rosemary. I like the way the spicy rye flavor of Bulliet Bourbon works with the rosemary and beef short rib which usually has a nice sear from being finished on the grill.

Anything @ Brunch : Sonny Rollins
When Goodspeed told me about this one, I didn’t get it. I thought the subtleness of an 80proof, laid back bourbon like Basil Hayden would be lost in a mixed drink. Boy, was I wrong! The spiciness of the rye content in Basil Hayden shines ever so slightly above the lavender tea and orange blossom honey. I’ve now declared the Sonny Rollins as the best day drinking cocktail ever and it’s become a staple of my Sunday diet. Check it out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Cheese of the Week : Bourbon of Choice
It may sound strange but cheese is my favorite thing to pair with bourbon. It just works. My favorite combo is a soft, triple cream cheese paired with a higher proof bourbon like Old Weller Antique, Rare Breed, or George T. Stagg. For a mild or nutty cheese I like to pair the fruity notes of Four Roses Single Barrel or Four Roses Small Batch. Play around with it and find what you like best. Schwartz lets you do that the smart way by focusing on one cheese at a time each week at the restaurant.

Popcorn & Peanuts Bar : Pappy Van Winkle 15yr
Pure indulgence on both ends here. The salty/sweet/savory flavors of Hedy Goldsmith’s popcorn & peanuts bar with caramel are a perfect match for the smooth, rich flavors and nice viscosity of the 15yr aged Pappy bourbon. You could go bigger with the Pappy 20 or 23 or even the Jefferson 18yr Presidential Select if you’re feelin’ it too. Or you could pick up bourbon fan Hedy Goldsmith’s new cookbook, Baking Out Loud, to try this combo at home!