http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/06/1617565/mexican-butcher-shop-delights.html
The Chimi Churri Burger Takes Over Allapatah
A Different Type of Burger
Eric Santos and Luis Contreras travel from North Miami Beach regularly to eat Dominican burgers at Chimi Churri Los Primos, a trailer stand located on 36th St. in Allapatah.
“I’ve been a customer for two years and this is the number one spot to get chimis in Miami,” said Santos. “When I’m at Primos, it hits home. It’s getting close to your culture and not letting it slip away.”
At 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays the business is at its peak. Chef and owner Pedro Cruz sells about 60 Dominican chimi churri burgers every other hour to his customers, mostly people who are looking for a taste of the Dominican Republic in Miami.
“I offer my customers a piece of my country in each bite and they love it,” said “El Primo,” as Cruz is known to his loyal clients.
Carlos and Marta Sanchez, a couple from Miami, said they drive 45 minutes every Friday to buy dinner at the stand.
“We are regulars here,” Ms. Sanchez said. “Pedro is a humble and serious man, and his food is the best in the area.”
The chimi stand opens from Tuesday to Sunday at 6 p.m., when customers start gathering to mingle and dance to the Dominican beat “merengue” while waiting for Cruz to hand them their chimi churri orders.
Anabel Beltre, an Allapatah resident and a regular at the chimi stand, said she and her family have been customers for three years.
“I meet my friends here once or twice a week because the food is really good and fresh,” she said. “We order empanadas de queso, jugo de chinola and beef chimis all the time.”
Cruz said the chimi churri is the most popular item in his menu because of its original texture and taste, but he wouldn’t disclose his recipe for the sauce.
“I can’t reveal the secret spices used to make the chimi churri sauce because it’s a Dominican chimi churrero’s secret,” he said, adding that it is precisely this special blend of spices and other ingredients for the sauce that makes his chimi churri a different type of burger.
“There are chimi stands all over the place in Santo Domingo and the reaction from the people is the same as the one I receive here,” he said. “People just can’t get enough.”
Cruz started his chimi churri business seven years ago in the heart of Allapatah. His yellow trailer is used as a kitchen where Cruz prepares an array of different typical Dominican foods like the “picalonga,” which is a blend of fried foods like meat, chicken, cheese, yucca and plantains called “tostones,” all garnished with drops of lemon to enhance their flavor. He also sells cheese, meat and chicken empanadas and a variety of natural juices like “chinola” passion fruit, pineapple and tamarind.
Most Saturdays, around midnight, there are usually about 40 people by his trailer.
“People know what they want and where to get it,” said Cruz. “We have customers from the nearby clubs that hits the parking lot at 2 or 3 a.m. requesting chimis to go.”
Cruz said among all the tasty Dominican food available in Allapatah, the chimi churri burger outstands for its popularity among people of all ages and race.
“I wanted to introduce Dominican flavor through my chimi churri burgers, and I thank God people accepted the challenge,” he said.
The chimi burgers cost $5 each. Mr. Cruz said he will maintain that rate because keeping his customers happy is what matters.
INFO BOX:
Place: Chimi Churri Los Primos
Address: 2306 NW 36th St., Allapatah, FL 33142
Contact: (786) 234-1796
Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 6 p.m. – 6 a.m.
Forms of payment: Cash.
Dark Dining in South Florida
Dark Dining
Chef Adrianne Calvo recently served 50 guests a five-course meal they could not see, just taste, at her restaurant in Kendall. She was launching “Phantom Nights,” a variation of previous “Dark Dining” events she started last September at Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar.
“The event is like a wine tasting, but blindfolded,” chef Calvo said. “I guide my guests through the experience.”
For approximately two hours chef Calvo sashayed across the restaurant guiding her guests through the meal, asking them to touch, smell and taste it.
“By taking away the sense of sight, the other five taste senses — sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami, are heightened,” said Calvo. “People are more apt to experience the food’s full flavor.”
Yanessa Ayra and Alain Caballero, who came from Broward, followed the orders of the chef, got messy and fed each other their warm dessert.
“We knew this evening would be something we would never forget,” said Ayra, as she fed her boyfriend laughing. “We didn’t know we would have to feed each other,” she said.
For “Phantom Nights,” the restaurant was transformed into an old opera house, resembling the Phantom of the Opera. The restaurant was turned into a gothic theater with phantom masks adorning the tables, candelabras melting their wax and red velvet drapes.
The candle-lit evening began with champagne, followed by wine and a five miniature-course meal and a few surprises. Chef Calvo then announced breakfast which consisted of apple-wood smoked bacon and doughnuts coated with condensed milk.
The following courses consisted of roasted butternut squash soup, a dish with shrimp and tamale, grilled mahi mahi with grilled asparagus, osso bucco served with double baked potato and pork tenderloin with goat cheese and dried cranberries. The final course was chocolate truffles with strawberry.
Natalie Paavola and Michael Nass, who drove from West Palm Beach, were excited to experience “Dark Dining.”
“This was the first time we did this, and we loved it,” said Paavola. “Your senses are very aware of what’s going on, but you have to guess what you are eating.”
Chef Adrianne graduated top of her class from Johnson and Wales University in 2004. That same year she became the youngest chef at the 5-diamond Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami. In 2005, Calvo left the hotel to begin writing her own cookbook, “Maximum Flavor,” which was published that same year. After two years marketing the book, Calvo started her own restaurant, and year later, she wrote her second book, “Driven by Flavor Fueled by Fire.”
“As a testament to my career, I believe people will drive for good food. If it’s good, if the experience is good, if the ambiance is good, they’ll drive for it,” she said. “Why be part of the herd?”
Yanessa Ayra’s brother, Luis, and his girlfriend Ines Diaz drove one hour from their Pinecrest home for the occasion.
“The meal smells good. It’s very mushy,” said Diaz pressing her hands into the food. “I think it is shrimp with tamal en cazuela.”
Throughout the evening, servers wearing white masks moved across the room, maintaining the rhythm for an organized dining experience.
“We expect the evening to be fun and relaxed with lots of food and wine going around the room,” said Bruce Ramil, a server at the restaurant.
Jonathan Edmiston from Brickell described the food as sweet and round, and then correctly recognized it. “It’s a doughnut!”
Melissa Mejia, also at the table, agreed with laughter.
“The doughnuts were great,” Edmiston said with a smirk. As the event came to a close, Calvo came out of the kitchen to the guests cheerfully chanting, “Adrianne, Adrianne!”
Chantal and Cesar Soto from Miami Lakes said they never thought dining blindfolded could be so much fun and would be delighted to experience “Dark Dining” every week if it were offered.
“The magical mix of champagne, the bubbly, the sweetness of the doughnut and the saltiness of the bacon was an amazing marriage of flavors,” Chantal Soto said.
Calvo said the restaurant has been going for two and a half years, and she plans on doing a “Dark Dining” experience event once a month starting next January.
“I think Miami, being very trendy, is missing an edge in the culinary scene,” said the chef. “People are ready for a different type of setting rather than just checking out a new restaurant.”
INFO BOX:
Place: Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar
Address: 11510 SW 147th Ave. Miami, FL 33196
Contact: (305) 408-8386, (305) 408-8388 www.chefadriannes.com
Hours:
Mondays Closed, Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (closed 2:30p.m.-5p.m.), Friday – 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (closed 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.) Saturday – 12 p.m. – 11 p.m., Sunday – 12 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Forms of payment: Visa, Master Card, American Express, Cash.
“Dark Dining” will be hosted once a month for $50/person starting January 2010.
For reservations contact manager Maggie Calvo, the chef’s mother.
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