This popular Coral Gables restaurant is losing its chef

Just days after a rerun of a 2016 episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” aired featuring Chef Phil Bryant and The Local 150, Bryant and his co-owner/partner galpal Veronica Valdivia announced they were leaving the Coral Gables gastro hot spot.  The couple has been at The Local 150 for the past four years and is set to embark on new endeavors.

Bryant, who honed his culinary chops alongside Norman Van Aken,

has a storied career in the Miami restaurant scene, steering the direction of

restaurants such as Yardbird Southern Table and Bar and Swine Southern Table and Bar before landing at The Local 150.

Co-owner Valdivia has worked with Bryant for years, and they have been dating since their days at Yardbird.  The couple are partners in their small restaurant group and private consulting firm, Heirloom Hospitality Group.

“Actually, The Local started off as a consulting gig. We decided to stay once we were offered a partnership,” said Bryant, who recalled the hardship that the bar was faced with when he arrived with Valdivia, stating that “[The Local] didn’t know what they needed. It’s almost like we had to reopen the restaurant while it was open.”

So what happens to The Local then? The menu and chef(s) will be different but ownership remains the same. “We had a business partnership where we were the operating partners and chefs,” Valdivia explains. “We handled all the day to day operations. We just ended our partnership.”

But the couple has several things cooking on the burner.

“We are looking to explore other opportunities and take time to develop projects that have been in our plans for a while now,”  Bryant said. “I’m looking forward to getting back to the roots of what we do, bringing hospitality and service to the forefront of the dining experience”

As for those “other” opportunities, Bryant says they’re focusing on the consulting side of the biz. This includes a lot of “very cool plan coming up,” one being helping their good friends and partners at Sanguich de Miami, a Little Havana shipping container sandwicherie. The mini restaurant closed unexpectedly due to issues with the city in January and hopes to open a brick and mortar spot by this summer.

This story was originally published March 28, 2018 at 1:03 AM.