Summary
With a second Miami-area restaurant, Thomas Keller is making his mark in the region where he spent his youth. One travel writer asked the culinary star about his favorite things to eat around town.
Two decades before Thomas Keller won his first James Beard Award in 1996, he had a job cooking at the Palm Beach Yacht Club. He went on to gain widespread recognition, with Michelin-starred restaurants in California’s Napa Valley (the French Laundry) and New York City (Per Se). In 2018, he returned to South Florida to open the Surf Club Restaurant, a celebration of Continental dining at the century-old property in Surfside (where Four Seasons had opened a hotel the year before). “I had no intentions of coming back to Florida,” Keller says. “It was about the historic nature of the property, being able to embrace that, to understand its different eras.”
Now the California-based Keller is heading back to the Sunshine State again. His latest project is an outpost of Bouchon, opening in early spring a few miles inland from the Surf Club in the leafy hamlet of Coral Gables. This marks the third location of Keller’s bistro—after Yountville, California, and Las Vegas—offering French comfort food and a glass of Bordeaux. The neighborhood restaurant serves as a contrast to the fancier spots for which Miami is known. “I consider Bouchon to be very casual dining,” Keller adds. “Coral Gables is really a community, which is why we chose it.”
He was again inspired to expand his footprint by a historic structure: Bouchon Coral Gables occupies the La Palma building, constructed in 1924 to house one of the new city’s first hotels. The menu also nods to tradition. It will change with the seasons, but the classics—croques-madames, steak frites, French onion soup—will likely be available year-round. “We’re not trying to modify history,” Keller explains. “We’re trying to celebrate it. Everybody loves trout, mussels, pâté, and roast chicken.”
New York Strip at the Surf Club Lounge
After a long shift at the Surf Club, Keller often goes to the bar for a delightful steak, a Wagyu-Angus hybrid from Idaho’s Snake River Farms.
Branzino at Lido
“I’m spending as much time as I can meeting with my team,” Keller notes; for a lunch break he favors this restaurant by chef Michael White at the Surf Club, where a delicate fish is served over rainbow chard.
Pizzaladière at Call Me Gaby
For an aperitif or early dinner, Keller is drawn to this alfresco spot in Miami Beach for its Italian-influenced take on pissaladière—the Provençal flatbread with caramelized onions, black olives, and anchovies.
Cuban Coffee at Versailles Bakery
To refuel, Keller enjoys a strong, sweet espresso from the to-go window of the famous Miami Cuban restaurant.
Crudo at Doma
“I like to support my colleagues’ restaurants when I’m in town,” Keller says. At this Wynwood spot from restaurateur Luca Lomonaco and chef Marco Guigliano, thin slices of hamachi are enhanced with blueberry gel and topped with crispy slices of fried mushroom.
