This hot Miami chef wants you to cook his signature dish without following the rules -- except one

Niven Patel — a chef who could have dominated in Los Angeles or become a Michelin fave in New York but instead has stayed in Miami, his adopted home — attempted something different with his new place. A few things, actually. First, when he was planning the details of Mamey at the THesis Hotel in Coral Gables (a restaurant locals have been lining up for in the hopes of nabbing a coveted table) Patel went in without a theme to speak of. The menu is vaguely based on island cuisine. But it also isn’t, especially whenever Patel seems to deviate the dishes away from the Caribbean. Whenever, for example, he discovers something else delicious and just figures he’ll add that too.

At Mamey, Patel also decided not to poach his staff away from his other restaurants, like he has done before when opening new projects. It’s the norm for most chefs, and it makes sense -- bringing in the people you already trust. But he had this idea of trying to train an entirely new crew in his version of cooking.

The idea wasn’t an entirely easy thing, because Patel doesn’t cook like most other chefs. Elsewhere, his staff learned to strictly follow recipes handed to them by executive chefs. Under Patel, though, he encourages his people to be creative.

“The whole no-recipe recipe thing, that’s how I’ve always operated,” Patel says. “At Mamey, I have ingredients, and that’s pretty much it. There’s not a lot of recipes. It’s more about my chefs cooking with their soul and their palate and finding the right balance. It’s been fun for them because they’ve never cooked like that.”

The Patel Method

Perhaps the dish that most exemplifies those two novel ideas -- no strict recipes and a theme of whatever is delicious -- is the peri peri chicken. It’s a South African dish, but Patel’s version, with toasted coriander and cumin, might also remind you of jerk chicken or something from south seas islands, where peppers flavor mostly everything.

The recipe you’ll find here, Patel says, is simply a guide. He’d encourage deviation, adjustment, and even mistakes. The key to it all, though, the step you have to follow, Patel insists, is steaming the Meyer lemons. With raw lemon, the acid in the juice would turn the chicken rubbery. But Patel’s steamed lemons impart a bright citrus flavor and a tenderness to the chicken after they complete the three-day marinade.

“The first round, I did lemon juice and I was like, ‘This is not going to work,’” Patel says. “But the steamed lemons, that’s what makes this recipe really special.”

It’s a dish that, if you try it a couple times at home or at his restaurant, might not taste exactly the same every time. That’s because Patel encourages you, and his staff, to make adjustments based on spices you prefer or the tang of the lemons.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the soul and the ingredients and how you want to cook. But that’s a really hard barrier to get past. Once you do, it’s like a rainforest of ideas, and it becomes this interchange of ideas and flavors.”

Patel’s Peri Peri Chicken

4 Meyer lemons, steamed for 30 minutes

Half chicken, deboned

3 red peppers, roasted until blistered

½ tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. roasted garlic

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

Large Idaho potato

Fresh parsley

2 garlic cloves

10 oz of broccolini

Good olive oil

1. Marinade chicken for three days in shallow water bath of 3 steamed and then halved Meyer lemons, red peppers, cumin, coriander, salt, sugar, roasted garlic and red pepper flakes.

2. Double wrap potato in aluminum foil and roast at 375 degrees for an hour, then peel and quarter.

3. Blend fresh parsley, garlic, 1 whole steamed Meyer lemon, olive oil and salt to taste.

4. Blanch broccolini for one minute in boiling water, then shock in ice bath.

5. Drain chicken and let dry. Liberally salt both sides. Sear in a hot cast iron pan, then drop in the quartered potato and roast in oven until chicken reaches 165 degrees internal temperature, approximately 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove chicken to let rest, add broccolini to pan and sauté with chicken drippings and a splash of olive oil.

6. Plate broccolini, potato, and chicken. Top with salsa verde.

This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 12:00 AM.