So let’s get something straight there is good food and then there is fine dining. The fine dining establishment usually equals a stuffy environment with an older stuffy crowd and a big ticket check to match. Then there’s Alter in Miami where Chef Brad Kilgore has put the fine in dining but added some fun to the mix and no dish on the menu is more than $30.
The hipster Wynwood space is warm and inviting and when they gave out chef talent I’m almost positive Chef Brad got in line twice for a double dose of skill. On a recent Saturday night I got to sit at the chef’s table. It’s basically at the back of the restaurant on a long counter that faces the kitchen. You watch as the kitchen staff preps and plates every dish, like artists creating paintings. Chef Brad gives each order the finishing touch before it heads out to the dining room and into some lucky diner’s mouth.
Chef Brad calls his menu unique but universal. Take the soft Florida egg ($14) appetizer. Yes, it’s a simple soft egg but it’s topped with a sea scallop espuma (foam), house-made truffle pearls and a Gruyere crisp. It’s so unique (and damn delicious) chef told me sometimes out of town diners order it twice in case they don’t visit Miami again. The Grouper cheeks ($25) main course is another stand out dish served over forbidden black rice with shoyu (type of soy). Hollandaise sauce is silky, buttery and decadent.
I’m not gonna lie. Sitting at the chef’s table was a little intimidating. You take a bite and the chef and staff might look at you for a reaction but everything is just SO damn spectacular my repeated reaction was just "WOW". Lucky for us Chef Brad is only 29 years old so who knows what his mad culinary skills will dream up next. I really don’t care I’ll sit at his table anytime, anyplace.
Belkys’ Best Bite: Soft Egg
Alter
223 NW 23rd St.
Miami, FL 33127
305-573-5996
www.altermiami.com
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