12 November 23-29, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Sandwich Diplomacy Sandoches pop-up offers Asian comfort food with a Latin twist. BY NICOLE DANNA W hat do you get when you fuse Latin flavors with Japanese-style katsu? For Miami chef Jhonny Delgado, it’s a unique take on comfort food sandwiches he calls “sandoches.” It’s also the name for Delgado’s pop-up restaurant that has been making regular ap- pearances across Miami and the Wynwood weekend-only Smorgasburg. Originally from Caracas, Delgado relo- cated to Miami in 2015. To date, the chef has cooked in and around Miami for nearly a de- cade. No stranger to the workings of a kitchen, he’s held positions ranging from kitchen assistant to sous chef and head chef alongside the likes of Carlos Garcia of Obra Miami and Cake Thai’s Phuket Thongsod- chareondee. Inspired to put his stamp on the Miami food scene, Delgado decided to combine his two passions. “My goal was to explore combining Latin American seasoning with Asian ingredients, translated into a high-quality — but also very accessible — sandwich that uses seasonal in- gredients and innovative products,” Delgado tells New Times in an email interview facili- tated by Google Translate. After nearly a year of recipe testing, Del- gado endeavored to take the humble sand- wich and imbue it with complex flavor elements. To that end, every menu item is prepared using various Latin American and Asian techniques and ingredients — from kewpie and aji panca to guajillo and gochu- jang — to yield a depth of flavor. “We were inspired to create the ideal crunch for our proteins. The secret is a dry mixture that we add to the frying process, which creates the perfect finish,” Delgado shares. Take his chicken katsu, a complex riff on the standard Japanese sandwich. It begins with chicken marinated in a Thai-apple brine seasoned with the chef’s proprietary blend of herbs. The thigh meat is juicy and tender, matched with a coleslaw salad flavored with coriander and yuzu kosho and finished with an orange miso glaze that manages to tie everything to- gether with an umami citrus kiss. The finish- ing touch: thick slices of home- made shoku- pan, a soft and sweet Japanese- style milk bread Delgado perfected in his home kitchen. A brisket katsu uses coffee-marinated meat, flavored with a blend of secret seasonings, and smoked for ten hours. Thick slabs are cut to or- der, accompanied by guava and guajillo jelly, caramelized onions, and mushrooms. Although the menu focuses on Delgado’s take on katsu-style sandwiches, the chef’s creative riffs also include a cold egg salad, a classic approach prepared with chives, ma- sago, furikake, and nori — but with an egg that’s first marinated in soy and mirin. There’s also mashed potato puffs, a side Delgado chose to appeal to both children and adults. Not quite mashed potatoes, not quite fries, his potato puffs fall somewhere in be- tween — bite-sized globes of creamy, whipped potato encased in a thin, crisp shell, accompanied with a truffle-infused, white- cheddar sauce, and topped with homemade furikake seasoning. Don’t miss Delgado’s monthly special, re- cently in the form of a Peruvian turkey buti- farra, a riff on a classic Catalan-style sausage. The turkey is marinated and roasted in differ- ent herbs, including cilantro, mint, basil, and chives. It’s served with a Peruvian Creole salad that marries sweet potato purée with a sake, black garlic, and anticucho-spiked sauce. Moving forward, the plan is to use the pop-up as a way to create a growing roster of flavors and ongoing chef collaborations, Del- gado shares. Of course, having a standalone location and a book is also part of the plan. “[It’s] a small, simple space where people can go to eat or pick up their sandoches every day,” sums up Delgado. “The idea for Sando- ches was born not only to have creative sand- wiches but also to develop a recipe book where we bring together all the flavors that we have developed together with our friends in the industry.” Sandoches. 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, at Smorgasburg Miami, 2600 NW Second Ave., Miami; instagram.com/sandoches. [email protected] ▼ Café Photo by Nicole Danna The chicken katsu sandwich at Sandoches “MY GOAL WAS TO EXPLORE COMBINING LATIN AMERICAN SEASONING WITH ASIAN INGREDIENTS.” ▼ WYNWOOD MEXICO CITY’S GRUPO MANDOLINA WELCOMES GIORGINA TO MIAMI A new Italian restaurant hailing from Mexico City will make its way to Miami next week. Giorgina is the work of Grupo Mando- lina, which will deliver a stateside outpost of its Mexico City establishment, Mando- lina, to Wynwood. The restaurant is set to open on Tuesday, November 21. A popular dining destination since its opening in 2020, Mandolina — and its new sister establishment — aim to take diners on a sensory journey to the shores of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. In Wynwood, that means a roaming, open-air space with a citrus- toned color palette and foliage-covered ceiling displaying more than 5,000 lemons on vines. The menu, under the helm of executive chef Hector Caspio and chef consultant Federico Tischler, uses coastal Italian clas- sics, with a few contemporary twists, as in- spiration. Dishes begin with crudo options and appetizers like grilled octopus served over cannellini beans and continue with pasta like the eponymous “Pasta Gior- gina” spaghettini in a fresh lemon sauce. Entrées range from whole roasted orata (Mediterranean bream) topped with gar- lic confit to veal scalloppini served over basmati rice on custom china plates by Adriana Castro. Signature salads, pizzettes, and house- made desserts round out the menu, but | TASTE TEST | Too Good to Go photo Too Good to Go has arrived in Miami. ▼ WYNWOOD MEXICO CITY’S GRUPO MANDOLINA WELCOMES GIORGINA TO MIAMI A new Italian restaurant hailing from Mexico City will make its way to Miami next week. Giorgina is the work of Grupo Mando- lina, which will deliver a stateside outpost of its Mexico City establishment, Mando- lina, to Wynwood. The restaurant is set to open on Tuesday, November 21. A popular dining destination since its opening in 2020, Mandolina — and its new sister establishment — aim to take diners on a sensory journey to the shores of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. In Wynwood, that means a roaming, open-air space with a citrus- toned color palette and foliage-covered ceiling displaying more than 5,000 lemons on vines. The menu, under the helm of executive chef Hector Caspio and chef consultant Federico Tischler, uses coastal Italian clas- sics, with a few contemporary twists, as in- spiration. Dishes begin with crudo options and appetizers like grilled octopus served over cannellini beans and continue with pasta like the eponymous “Pasta Gior- gina” spaghettini in a fresh lemon sauce. Entrées range from whole roasted orata (Mediterranean bream) topped with gar- lic confit to veal scalloppini served over basmati rice on custom china plates by Adriana Castro. Signature salads, pizzettes, and house- made desserts round out the menu, but | TASTE TEST | Too Good to Go photo Too Good to Go has arrived in Miami.
