03-04-2018
Last year Antonio Mermolia, 34, from Gioia Tauro (Reggio Calabria), became chef at restaurant Le Sirenuse Miami, part of the Four Seasons Surf Club in Miami Beach, 9011 Collins Avenue, tel. +1.786.4822280
The Surf Club legend in Miami first started in the Twenties. On board his Marybelle, tyre tycoon Harvey Firestone was impressed by this ocean-facing part of North Beach. He had a club d’élite built on the beach and Winston Churchill immediately followed the call. The politician often hid in his cabana to paint the Ocean’s waves. Over the years, the greatest jazz players of the time played by the pool, with Frank Sinatra or Liz Taylor revelling in a hardly discreet way. After decades of oblivion, the Surf Club came to new life over a year ago, following the candid design of the Four Seasons, the hotel chain founded in 1961 by Canadian Issy Sharp – until in 2006 Bill Gates and Saudi prince al Walid bin Talal become the majority shareholders. They transformed it into a 3-building, 77-suite and luxury residence site worth 1000 dollars per night on average. Most of all, it is at last completed by an ambitious restaurant project given the chain has always stood out for its great hospitality but surely not for its fine dining. The restaurant serves Italian cuisine and has a familiar name, Le Sirenuse, the same characterising the hotel/treasure chest of the Sersale family in Positano, on the Amalfi Coast. The mother of the 34-year old Calabrian chef at Sirenuse Miami is also from Amalfi. He’s already had plenty of experience in the United States: «My family runs Villa Calliope», says Antonio Mermolia, who speaks fluent Spanish and English, «a small hotel in Gioia Tauro. That’s where I first started to cook. After a short experience at Capinera in Taormina, seven years ago they hired me at Il Punto in New York». Three years later, Davide Scabin hired him next-door: he became the chef de cuisine at Mulino a Vino, in the Meatpacking District. An intense phase followed, in 2015, by the opening of Capatosta at the Flatiron, now closed. «I went back to Italy, and I would have stayed there, expect I got this offer from the Four Seasons…».
The ocean-facing Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club, North Beach, Miami (photo Four Seasons)
The dining room inside Le Sirenuse Miami
The outdoor space
Scampi in rice tempura
Spaghetto al pomodoro e basilico
The same applies to the Battuto di scampi, garnished with fennel, orange and peranzana olives, a triptych as Calabrian as it gets: «In time, I’d like to infuse the flavours of my region more and more», he explains. Or Caprese calda, which doesn’t play with buffalo milk mozzarella foam or a destructured mozzarella, but can be recognised in its typical domestic warmth. Simple ingredients, prepared in a classic way, without technical tricks that nullify some traditional approximations. This is the most intelligent way to keep up with Thomas Keller or Mauro Colagreco, prominent chefs who are to open in Miami by 2019, under the same Four Seasons establishment.
Mermolia with Friulan restaurant manager Dario Vigil
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso Le Sirenuse Miami Four Seasons Surf Club 9011 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, Florida United States +1.786.4822280 Average prices: entrées 28, first courses 32, main courses 50, desserts 12 dollars
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt