This celebrated Miami chef opened two hot restaurants. COVID closed them both
Two restaurants by one of Miami’s best chefs will not reopen after the pandemic.
Brad Kilgore, Miami’s only James Beard award finalist since 2013, closed his two newest restaurants in the Design District, Ember and its upstairs sibling, Kaido.
“The financial stress from all the happenings of this year made the outlook of reopening those young businesses extremely difficult,” Kilgore wrote the Miami Herald.
The two restaurants were Kilgore’s first big expansion after making a name for himself at Wynwood’s Alter, a restaurant where he experimented with techniques, textures and flavors. It received national recognition and earned Kilgore the attention of the James Beard committee, which honors the best restaurants and chefs in the country.
Kilgore applied those high-art culinary skills to comfort food at Ember, where big portions and family style meals encouraged a warm and lively outing. Open in May of 2019, it was a restaurant that would make you gush about mashed potatoes, 30-layer lasagna and fried chicken smothered in caviar butter. It was the best of culinary techniques applied to approachable food people cherished.
“Ember was closed longer than it was open, as you can imagine that is a heavy hill to climb,” Kilgore wrote. “It’s definitely very emotional as years of work in the concepts, menu, and design were put into both spaces.”
His lounge upstairs, Kaido, took a different approach. A late-night spot inspired by Japanese lounges, Kaido, open in December of 2018, was a moody spot with up-tempo background music, a sculpture made from 1,000 golden butterfly knives hanging over a lighted quartz bar, and high-wire cuisine to match. Picture uni fondue topped with caviar, refreshing Thai papaya salads, crab rangoons made perfectly crips and wagyu and foie gras dishes meant to savor every bite.
Both restaurants were early favorites, but the pandemic struck just as each was finding its footing. While Kaido was closed, Kilgore lent his kitchen to the pizza pop up Old Greg’s, which became a summer hit. It is now looking for a new location.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 4:24 PM.
