16 August 17-23, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Nearly nine years after opening Elcielo Mi- ami in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, the chef — known to the gastronomic world as “Juanma” — has opened a third U.S. location at SLS South Beach in the space the Bazaar by José Andrés once occupied for nearly a decade. “I love Miami so much,” Juanma tells New Times from his home in Medellín, Colombia, where the first Elcielo opened in 2007. “About a year ago, I got into conversations with SLS South Beach. Now that we’re open, it’s an opportunity to reach a different public and offer a more casual experience.” Aesthetically, the restaurant is South Beach chic at its finest thanks to a wall of windows that look out onto the SLS South Beach’s well- lit pool-scape, towering white curtains and bookshelves behind a glimmering bar, and a massive white chandelier at its center. But what makes the newest Elcielo loca- tion extra special isn’t its glitzy new digs. It’s the a la carte experience you won’t find at the Brickell restaurant. While other Elcielo locations — which in- clude Bogotá and Washington, D.C. — are cen- tered around a multi-sensory tasting menu known as “the Experience,” the SLS South Beach restaurant gives diners the option to create their own gastronomic journey. The option to dine according to the chef’s set menu is still available, with standout moments that range from plucking tufts of yucca bread off branches from “the Tree of Life,” a Bonsai tree meant to represent the lung of the world to bathing your hands in melted chocolate with the “chocola-therapy” dessert course. “I’m very excited to have another version of Elcielo. I think it allows more people to go more often,” says Juanma. “Miami is ready for it, and we are bringing the very best dishes in our history so we can have them every day. This location only has the best of the best.” Among the best new Elcielo offerings are warm truffle buñuelos finished with torched foie gras; crispy crab empanadas with dashes of Caribbean spice, guava-doused barbecue pork ribs, lulo fruit ceviche with passion fruit milk, and roasted quail packed with mush- rooms and guanciale (cured meat from the cheek of the pig). And a “must” to end the evening: Juanma’s twist on merengón — layers of meringue, whipped cream, and fruit — infused with Co- lombia’s beloved liquor, aguardiente. It pairs perfectly with the lip-puckering “Bogotá Sour,” prepared with bourbon, lime, a dash of Malbec wine, and lemongrass, adds the chef, or the “Chimberito” aguardiente that blends cachaca, yuzu, and soursop. “We’ve brought in the best local ingredi- ents, and we’ve brought in the best Colom- bian products with soul,” says Juanma. “It all comes together to be something really unique, and I think Colombian food really is some of the best food in the world.” Beyond the SLS South Beach opening, Juanma shares that new locations in Los An- geles, Veil, Seattle, and — in South Florida, West Palm Beach — are among the markets he’s set his sites on for future Elcielo locations. Elcielo at SLS South Beach. 1701 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; 305-674-1701; ennismore.com. Daily 6 to 11 p.m. JESSE SCOTT ▼ CORAL GABLES JEREMY FORD INTRODUCES SEASONAL TASTING MENU AT BEAUTY & THE BUTCHER Tasting menus are all the rage right now, and if you’re in Miami, there are certainly plenty to choose from. Whether it’s a fancy omakase or a limited- time offering like Miami Spice, the idea of let- ting the chef take the reins during dinner is becoming an increasingly popular trend. For Jeremy Ford, best known to Miamians as chef/owner of Stubborn Seed and to others as the Season 13 winner of Bravo’s Top Chef, the goal of a good-tasting menu should be un- locking creativity while offering a closer con- nection to the people who supply and prepare the food. For that reason, Ford recently launched a new tasting menu option at Beauty & the Butcher, his latest restaurant, located in Coral Gables. Drawing from years of searching out the best ingredients and building relation- ships for Stubborn Seed, the Florida native says he hopes to deliver a dining experience that celebrates Florida in a timely manner. With the tasting, diners can expect to find an ever-evolving eight-course menu that rotates with the seasons, available daily alongside the restaurant’s regular a la carte menu. While certain cherished dishes from the menu will make an appearance, the majority of the offerings will continually shift to align with Ford and his team’s seasonal inspirations. It’s an alternative way to dine, says Ford, offering guests a chance to indulge in dishes that might not be seen again until the ingredi- ents come into season. They are working closely with a network of local farmers, Ford tells New Times. “Instead of getting produce delivered to the restaurant, I prefer to visit the fruit and vegetable farms myself, establishing a direct, face-to-face relationship with the farmers,” shares Ford. Take the recent Szechuan-cured hamachi, which Ford terms a vibrant homage to summer. The dish features locally caught yellowtail slices delicately cured with Szechuan peppers and coriander, accompanied by torched heirloom melon, chili ferment, Florida mango, and a passionfruit emulsion. Among the menu’s sweet finales, a dessert of mamey cake captures the essence of the team’s culinary approach. During a recent visit to Homestead farm stand Robert Is Here, Ford says he stumbled upon a harvest of fresh local mamey he couldn’t ignore. Cap- tivated by its quality and allure, he decided to challenge his executive pastry chef, Ana De Sa Martins, to use the fruit for a recent tasting menu dessert. The result? A tropical mamey cake that pays homage to sticky toffee pudding, with a rustic preparation that lets the sweet and tangy flavors of the fruit shine, explains the chef, and one that won’t be on the menu once the fruit is no longer available. With an eye on the future, Ford plans to in- fuse more midsummer selections into the restaurant’s tasting menu, highlighting the abundance of stone fruits as the season turns to fall. Moving forward, diners can anticipate an ever-evolving experience that embodies a commitment to seasonality, innovation, and the celebration of exceptional ingredients — but also community. Ford shares that despite his desire to con- tinually push culinary boundaries, he also re- mains dedicated to an ethos of collaboration and experimentation. “The way we create our menus is always a team effort,” he explains. “Many of our team members have been with us for over five years — a rarity in Miami’s fast-paced culi- nary scene. Our recipe for this loyalty is sim- ple: We challenge, listen, and respect. We keep them engaged, and we make sure their voices are heard and valued. This collabora- tive spirit forms the backbone of our kitchen, and it’s their dedication that truly shapes our success.” Beauty & the Butcher. 6915 Red Rd., Coral Gables; beautyandthebutchermiami.com. Tast- ing menu is priced at $150 per person and is available from 6 to 10 p.m. daily. MICHELLE MUSLERA Beauty & the Butcher photo Smoked Crescent Farms duck at Beauty & the Butcher Photo by Diego Santa Cruz Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos
