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ML40 81-96_Layout 1 9/27/13 12:35 AM Page 84 FOOD A Lesson in Florida Flavor Chef Kris Wessel explains just what Florida cookery is at Florida Cookery Words by Martin Haro "I cut my teeth cooking for tourists in New Orleans," the chef tells me. "Then I came back to Miami, went to school, worked with Mark Militello… It was the era of Madonna and Sly and Versace. I remember seeing that Florida cuisine was getting bastardized at the time. South Beach was exploding. Everything was changing." It's the 20th of February, and in a couple of days, Kris Wessel – a partner and the chef of Florida Cookery, the James Royal Palm Hotel's signature restaurant – is hosting a bunch of Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival A-Listers for a late-night backyardbarbecue party. The festival's Lee Schrager will turn up, as will Rocco DiSpirito, Emeril Lagasse, Geoffrey Zakarian, Todd Erickson, the chef at Haven South Beach, and Top Chef's Dave Martin, among others. Needless to say, they all will have a good time, thanks in no small measure to Wessel. Wessel, as you can surmise, set out to reclaim Florida cuisine, which led to the one-year-old Florida Cookery. "To me, Florida cookery and the Florida cook are one in the same – they are the product of the cultures that influence us…the flavors of South America and the Caribbean and the American south and the northeast," he said last winter. "I am so happy and excited right now. All I'm looking at are all the possibilities that come from these cultures." It is high-profile business to host an event during the annual bacchanalia, but the Miami-born, Miami Beach-raised chef is more immediately concerned with his guests right then and there the afternoon we meet, the foursome having a perfectly sun-kissed lunch al fresco at Florida Cookery. We are sitting a few tables away and Wessel has noticed that one of the folks in the party has sent back their entrée. "I wonder what's up," he said, noting that the people in the group look like industry types. Wessel frets a little, which is a bit disarming. The guy's well over 6 feet tall, and is dressed in jeans and an easy breezy shirt. His entire vibe is relaxed until he sees one of the plates from his menu – "his culinary love letter to Florida" – go by, seemingly untouched. You really wouldn't guess it from looking at him, but he's, well… bugged (my word, not his). He is not concerned in the least about the big shindig he's got coming up, but he obviously wants to know what's off with that table, if there's anything he can do. His betraying tell? His sunglasses alternate from on his face to on the table. And yet, there he is, not quite hating that he's stuck with me talking about himself (Wessel doesn't have a single vain bone in his body) but, y' know…wishing he could leave me with the oxtail, oyster, and alligator empanadas and the outstanding curry seafood platter he's ordered for me. That's Wessell in a nutshell: He's got his eye on the ball as well as on the smallest detail. 84 MIAMI LIVING So what is Florida Cookery? (Other than a veritable must.) In essence, it is a journey through the Everglades, and Wessel is our navigator. He is here to take us on a culinary ride, and his road map is a menu that is rich in local, seasonal ingredients and tireless investigation. Six months later, it is unclear as of press time what role Wessel will play during the 2014 edition of the festival next Feb. 20-23, but this much is for sure: Whatever he does, his fans will turn up in droves. Florida Cookery isn't Wessel's first time at the rodeo. In the late aughts, he helped revitalize the once-seedy red light-district side of Biscayne Boulevard when he opened the cheekily named Red Light at the Motel Blu (cleaning up, btw, the Little River in the process). I remember going there once or twice, drawn in by the rave reviews I heard about Wessel's short rib, a staple of his changedevery-week menu (and by the fact that, like me, he is an FIU grad). The arrival of Wessel's business in the area contributed to an undeniable renewal of its buzz-worthiness (which got its start thanks to Mark Soyka in the late '90s). It was the beginning of a shift in a career that's more than 20 years old. He's the kind of chef who will sit down to converse with a guest and find out where she's from, how he makes his pollo a la brasa, and then cook that chicken and cook it a lot. "I'm a perfectionist because of what I do, but I am passionate about this type of cuisine and curious about the culture, the family, the people behind it," he said. "I like to dig into it all, prepare a dish, showcase that dish, and then I like to ask you how my conch chowder was or what you thought of my Jamaican chicken roti." To take a tour of Florida cookery with the guy who knows it best, visit Kris Wessel at Florida Cookery at the James Royal Palm at 1545 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach (call 786-276-0333 for reservations). Enjoy! ML