Dinner at two new Coral Gables restaurants shows how dining has changed in the pandemic
The phone call came along with the appetizers after the four of us had sat down at Niven Patel’s newest Coral Gables restaurant, Orno: Someone at a party we attended four days earlier had tested positive for COVID-19.
A bottle of California pinot noir had been poured. Entrees had been ordered. Vadouvan charred cauliflower, yellowfin tuna crudo and warm grilled octopus with confit potatoes had arrived at our table.
What do we do now? we asked one another.
I’d set out to review both of the restaurants Patel — a James Beard award semifinalist and a Food & Wine Best New Chef — had opened in the middle of the pandemic, a year apart, in the same hotel, the Thesis in Coral Gables.
I visited the restaurants in back-to-back weeks. Mamey, which opened in August 2020 during a coronavirus spike, and Orno, which opened in October 2021 before omicron spread, had overcome staff shortages, COVID infections, two major variants, and changing rules over social distancing and masks as vaccines and boosters became available.
It quickly became clear the rules for diners had changed, too.
We stayed for dinner.
Between the appetizer of creamy green chickpea hummus with housemade seasoned pita and marinated Japanese eggplants from Patel’s Homestead farm to the entrée of perfectly seasoned pan-roasted chicken with black garlic harissa, I wondered whether this would be the last meal I would be able to smell or taste in months if I contracted COVID. One of our dining companions spent part of the evening fielding calls from others who were at the party.
It made the meal tense (though a second bottle of wine helped). And we realized this is the way dining out will be as we learn to live with coronavirus and variants continue to emerge among the unvaccinated.
The next day, everyone at our table tested negative. All of us were vaccinated with booster shots. No one got sick.
Chefs and restaurants will continue to redefine hospitality as the virus threatens to change the rules. And diners who appreciate their talents must continue to do the same: play by the rules, be ready to adapt, and be thankful for every delicious morsel along the way.
If you want to see two restaurants striking that balance, you need look no further than Patel’s teams at Mamey and Orno.
Mamey: Tropical, not just Caribbean
Patel embraces his Indian roots, and that’s clear in his wildly successful Ghee Indian Kitchen in Kendall. But as a fine-dining chef trained in part by Michael Schwartz, who has long worked with local farmers to grow produce for his restaurants, Patel makes local ingredients the stars at Mamey.
Yes, you’ve had plantains. But at Mamey, the sweetness from ghee-roasted plantains is paired in a warm bowl with sour tamarind yogurt, grated coconut, bright cilantro and crispy chickpeas. It’s a dish that could be at home at his Indian restaurant but embraces the ingredients of the tropics (like the namesake mamey sapote fruit, which is also a key component in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine).
Mamey shows its range. Bahamian conch fritters are crispy on the outside but generously filled with meaty, tender conch. Tostones are topped with yellowfin tuna and sofrito. And meaty, glazed lamb ribs balance that characteristic succulence with bites of vinegary pickled carrots from Patel’s farm.
Even the kohlrabi and green papaya salad gives you something unique, with a piquant Thai Basil and a peanut sauce that is nothing like you’ve tasted at your neighborhood Thai restaurant.
With a breezy outdoor dining area, a luxurious bar, and inside seating with tables set comfortably apart, Mamey should quickly earn a spot among your favorite new Coral Gables destinations.
Orno: a safe bet
Every hotel needs a safe restaurant to pair with its more creative one. Next to Aventura’s Corsair is the safe-but-excellent Bourbon Steak.
But safe restaurant doesn’t have to mean average. Look at Orno, a restaurant whose wood-fire grill Patel uses to great effect, particularly in chargrilling.
Charring the octopus, which is first long and slow-cooked, in the wood-fire grill adds a crisp, seared texture and smoke to contrast the buttery tiny potatoes. All of it is dusted in smoky paprika. Same goes for the chargrilled cauliflower, which incorporates gentle curry seasonings along with whole basil and delicate cilantro leaves.
The searing wood-fire brings out the best in the Vidalia onion gratin. A whole onion is oven-roasted until it barely holds together, creamy with singled, caramelized edges, and stuffed with aged gruyere. It’s more decadent than any humble onion has a right to be.
Patel pays attention to the delicate. It shows in the hot dishes but also in the tuna crudo, where a tangy vinaigrette mixes with pops of pomegranate and scallion slivers.
A meal could and should be made of the small plates. Among the entrees, the local red snapper with marcona almonds is safe, as is the wagyu Denver steak — tender and mild in flavor — which takes 30 minutes to prepare. The exception, ironically, is the chicken: pan roasted with a deep-seasoned flavor built from the black garlic, harissa spices and giardiniera-like sazón.
I’d gladly go back to share that dish, served quartered, along with all of the smaller plates we had, substituting the mains for other plates that caught my eye: the fresh-made Stracciatella, roasted beets with spiced yogurt, charred sunchokes with a shallot vinaigrette, a bone marrow with red-wine braised shallots and horseradish gremolata.
Patel’s knowledge and skill with all of these ingredients encourage you to try many of the small plates and share them — as long as you’re comfortable with your dining mates’ vaccination status.
Miami Herald food writers dine unannounced at the newspaper’s expense.
Mamey and Orno at the Thesis Hotel
Address: 1350 S. Dixie Hwy, Coral Gables
Mamey hours: 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Thursday. Until midnight Friday, until 11 p.m. Saturday.
Mamey prices: Sharable plates $8-$15. Entrees $16-$39.
Orno hours: 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday. Until midnight Friday. Until 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.
Orno prices: Sharable plates $14-$22. Entrees $36-$56
More info: Thesishotelmiami.com/taste
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
