What’s the subsequent transfer for a small restaurant in a Little Haiti strip mall after incomes a Michelin star?
For the house owners of Boia De, it’s opening a brand new restaurant — and sticking near house.
Luciana Giangrandi and Alex Meyer, who began their massive Miami culinary journey with the taco truck La Pollita within the Design District, have teamed up with chef and companion Jeff Maxfield to create the jauntily-named Walrus Rodeo. The restaurant, which lies a mere 25 yards away from Boia De in the identical unassuming strip mall, options Italian-inspired delicacies, Meyer says, with an emphasis on the identical type of playfulness that made Boia De a success from the second it opened in 2019.
The location, Meyer says, was a no brainer.
“We heard the old owners were trying to move out, and at the time that was happening we were understaffed and so busy we couldn’t imagine doing anything that wasn’t within walking distance,” he says.
There had been different benefits, too, just like the structural conveniences that include a one-story constructing, he says. Plus there’s limitless free parking for deliveries, workers and visitors. The house is barely larger than Boia De, which has 24 seats. Walrus Rodeo will seat 32 at tables and 9 on the wine bar.
At the time, Maxfield, who has overseen Toscana Divino, Ironside Pizza and LTD Café and with Chef Brad Kilgore, was on the lookout for an area, too. He had a couple of ideas in thoughts, however needed to seek out the house first. When Giangrandi and Meyer contacted him, the timing and the setting appeared excellent. Then they got here up with the thought of a restaurant primarily based round a wood-fire oven, and Walrus Rodeo — a reputation they love for its ambiguity and mischievousness — was born.
When you assume wood-fire oven, the thoughts tends to wander into the realm of pizza, however don’t be fooled: this isn’t a pizza joint. Walrus Rodeo has two pizzas on the menu — one includes boquerones (anchovies), melted shallots, oregano and maple brown butter — however all of the cooked dishes come out of the wood-fire oven.
“It’s our main cooking vessel, the focal point,” says Maxfield. “Everything hot comes out of the oven. The food focuses around the fire. Lots of people use wood fire cooking, but we love the idea of the single flame and having everything go back to where food started before it got so big.”
Forged in that fireside is a lamb ragu lasagna topped with fermented mustard inexperienced stems; it’s a dish that has a distinct taste profile than conventional Italian lasagna, Maxfield says. There’s additionally a potato gnocchi dish with leeks and black truffles, which the oven serves up with a “roastiness,” he says. There’s additionally a jerk-spiced quail, a nod to the neighborhood that has been a welcoming house to Boia De. There are additionally plant-based dishes, like one in every of Maxfield’s favorites, the carrot tartare, which highlights carrot in some type on each side of the dish. Maxfield doesn’t need to give away all its secrets and techniques however says the presentation is essential.
“We allow the Instagrammable moment to disappear before your eyes,” he says. “It’s just about not taking things so seriously.”
There’s additionally a turnip salad with radishes and contemporary ricotta on the menu. Like most of the menu’s parts, the turnips come from a neighborhood farmer, Meyer says. The bread for the breadcrumbs comes from a bakery two blocks away, whereas the espresso can also be roasted within the neighborhood.
Walrus Rodeo opens at a time when new eating places are popping up in Miami seemingly each different day. Meyer says that competitors will not be one thing he desires to assume an excessive amount of about.
“If you try and follow the trends, you’re already too late,” he says. “We just do what we do as well as we know how to do it. That’s what we did at Boia De, and that’s what we’re doing with Walrus. It’s no holier-than-thou mentality, we’re just going to roll with the punches, evolve and adjust over time as people respond. There’s a genuine quality that comes with that rather than just following the trends.”
“We’re really proud of the Michelin recognition, but when we opened, there was no Michelin guide in Miami. We just wanted to do something good.”
That feeling of accomplishment comes proper right down to the constructing of the house, which was designed by Paula Lemme, who created the search for Boia De. All three companions truly labored on constructing it, Maxfield says, even his dad and mom, making the idea an actual labor of affection.
“We hired a few people to do bigger jobs, but we built this restaurant ourselves,” he says. “It’s really our heart and soul.”
Walrus Rodeo
Where: 5143 NE Second Ave., Miami
Open: 6-11 p.m. Thursday-Monday
Reservations: www.walrusrodeo.com or Resy.com
