Rosemary Parkinson, Contributor
Mark Militello prepares a meal in his kitchen. He is hailed as the chef responsible for putting South Florida on the national culinary map. Today he owns four restaurants: Mark's Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale; Mark's Mizner Park, Boca Raton; Mark's South Beach, Miami; and Mark's City Place at West Palm Beach.
THIS IS the second in a series of articles by The Gleaner's Food critic, Rosemary Parkinson, who is on assignment at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, Florida.
How do you go from being a university pre-Med student to chef? Well, first you have to be born in El Paso, Texas; raised in upstate New York, realise you were not quite doctor material, know your first love and passion is cooking and be named Mark Militello!
EDUCATION AND AWARDS
Militello did not just say 'I am a chef'. He attended Florida's International University's School of Hospitality and Hotel Management, and New York State's University's Hotel and Culinary Programme. By 1988, he had a restaurant in North Miami Beach - Mark's Place - that earned rave reviews. By 1990, Food & Wine Magazine named Militello one of the 'Ten Best Chefs in America'. Since then, he has received the James Beard Award for 'Best Regional Chef' in the Southeast; a 'Distinguished Restaurant Award' from Condé Nast Traveller; two Golden Dish Awards from GQ Magazine; a DiRona 25 Top Restaurants in the Country Award and Nation's Restaurant News, Hall of Fame, among many others. He has appeared in numerous foodie magazines - Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveller, Chocolatier, Food & Wine and was recently profiled in an eight-week series in the New York Times.
MILITELLO'S RESTAURANTS
Militello has been hailed as the chef responsible for putting South Florida on the national culinary map. His cuisine, original contemporary American, combines classical cooking techniques with the freshest local ingredients. Today he owns four restaurants: Mark's Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale; Mark's Mizner Park, Boca Raton; Mark's South Beach, Miami; and Mark's City Place at West Palm Beach. Each day, each restaurant prepares a daily menu based on ingredients available in the local marketplace.
We learn several things here. Mark has a
passion for food and the ambition to create the best. He insists on good management - he has after all four very successful restaurants. And looking at the interior of same, you get the feeling of not ostentatious, not totally amazing-in-your-face décor but warm, cosy, loving with dramatic touches. Good taste is obvious. Of special note, short tablecloths can look elegant - just pay attention to length, quality and colour (see review Thursday February 9).
Prices at Militello's restaurants range from US$8 (J$500) to US$44 (US$2,640). I could probably eat a three-course meal for about US$70 (J$4,200 - J$5,000 with tip) for dishes that sound like this: Grilled Caribbean Spiny Lobster with Jimaca (yam bean root), Crispy Yucca (cassava) and a Passion Fruit-vanilla Bean Vinaigrette or Crispy Skin Yellowtail Snapper with Blue Point Oysters over English Pea and Asparagus Faro Risotto.
Tasting, however, will have to wait for after the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. My
interview with Militello was interviewed via telephone. The report will be, as always, candid although from the delightful food presentation in the photos, I have a feeling shall be mesmerised.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
How does he do it?
How does he ensure these restaurants - not close to each other - work perfectly? He reports: Managers must be put in place with hotel and management background, reporting back every detail. Trained chefs are the order of the day - chefs he schools, in his own particular type of cuisine still allowing their creativity to flow through. Militello can leave his restaurants to them and close his eyes. No problem. All his chefs must have a passion for food with good presentation, must read and travel a lot - the latter for obvious reasons, to learn. There's never enough learning.
Militello himself travels as much as he can, and because he loves Caribbean cuisine, has visited the islands - from Barbados (he loves flying fish!) to Bermuda - but, unfortunately for him, not yet Jamaica.
Each member of his staff gets personalised training - he prefers to take on 'rookies' and teach them his way. Each must be totally informed of the restaurants' offerings. There can be no "a-good-cocktail-to-soothe-you-is-a-rum-and-coke" type answers. Not even from the person who mops the floors! Staff work a maximum of five days (or nights) a week, giving time for family and personal matters. A rotation system takes care of that. And then there's the three 'Cs' - communication, communication, communication.
Once a restaurant is spotlessly clean, has a good atmosphere, the food is excellent and the service up to standard - there is no real need for expensive and amazing décor, says Militello. "Sometimes the food may not be perfect but a simple ambience and the waiters' personality, their 'trying hard' to serve as best they can, will make one's experience a delight. Some of the best food I've had is from little holes-in-the-wall."
We all can learn a lot from this highly acclaimed chef. You don't have to have 'diplomas' to be a good chef. Many of our people here cannot and do not have that opportunity. But what is absolutely required is a passion for food and creativity, using same as the delight that romances the palate. And one must read, read, read. If you're not a reader, watch the Food Network; look at photos in magazines and learn, learn, learn. Taste and love your own food. Food is art. And take constructive criticism, moving right along with it.
Next week I will tell you more about all this approach with self-taught Cindy Hutson of the highly acclaimed Ortanique group of restaurants across America. They will be at the festival.
"What I mean ? is that if you are so jealous of Binah, then, by all means, you should be someone else." Excerpt from The English Roses by Madonna.
For reservations: Mark's Las Olas (954) 463 1000
Mark's Mizner Park (561) 395 0770
Mark's South Beach: (305) 604 9050
Mark's City Place: (561) 514 0770
