Always Cooking Something Up

Miamiโ€™s Chef Adrianne Calvo keeps up her momentum with new openings in South Miami

By Clarissa Buch

Adrianne Calvo is in the heat of her busiest year yet. Her namesake flagship restaurant, Chef Adrianneโ€™s Vineyard Restaurant & Wine Bar, recently celebrated 12 years in Kendall; and, in the last few months, sheโ€™s introduced two new conceptsโ€”noodle shop Noods and dessert spot The Beverlyโ€”inside the Yumbrella Food Hall in South Miami. At the same time, she opened a second location of her fast-casual, breakfast-driven spot, Cracked by Chef Adrianne, at Yumbrella.

โ€œThe scariest thing a person can do is open a restaurant without backing or a solid reputation, and in the middle of nowhere against all odds,โ€ Calvo says. โ€œI had already done that in my 20s. Opening three concepts at the same time, thatโ€™s a cakewalk now.โ€

Ask Calvo which restaurant is her favorite, and sheโ€™ll say, โ€œthatโ€™s like asking whoโ€™s your favorite child.โ€

โ€œThey all are,โ€ she says, laughing. โ€œChef Adrianneโ€™s is my firstborn. It took 10 years to even think of expanding. Cracked at the Wharf is my first food truck, Cracked in South Miami is my first food hall [spot], Noods is my first really specific concept, laser-focused. And The Beverly is the most fun and whimsical. Who doesnโ€™t love to wake up and go play with ice cream? One thing they all have in common is that they take a lot of heart to be successful.โ€

That heart and passion for food have made the 34-year-old Calvo one of South Floridaโ€™s most accomplished young chefs. In her late teens, Calvo self-published her first cookbook, Maximum Flavor, and by 22, she debuted Chef Adrianneโ€™s in a strip mall in Kendall, the only location she could afford at the time. In the years that followed, she kept busy in the kitchen while writing and publishing three more books.

โ€œI get my motivation from a million places,โ€ she says. โ€œI love my customers. Iโ€™m obsessed with food and how it makes people feel. I love how they can long for it all day, take pictures of it, and celebrate with it. If youโ€™ve had a bad day, your favorite dish can make you feel better. If youโ€™re sick, a bowl of chicken soup makes you feel better. When we travel, we specify places we must eat at first. Food is the epicenter of life; it is the common ground of the world.โ€

Though it took Calvo more than a decade to expand beyond Chef Adrianneโ€™s, she says her inspiration and motivation to cook and run restaurants has never run dry. Now, as she moves into the fast-casual arena with her most recent openings, Calvo brings a piece of Chef Adrianneโ€™s into every new project.

โ€œWe still have the fine dining approach to our casual concepts,โ€ she says. โ€œWe still source like its Chef Adrianneโ€™s, and everything is made from scratch, including our dipping sauces. I want people to experience โ€˜maximum flavor,โ€™ whether itโ€™s in a Five Diamond Reserve filet at Chef Adrianneโ€™s or in a fried chicken sandwich from Cracked.โ€

As for Calvoโ€™s most recent openings, Noods and The Beverly, their influence comes from her passion for traveling, specifically discovering Asian restaurants around the country.

โ€œIโ€™ve gone all across America on two book tours and we always find time to dive into cultural-jewel neighborhoods,โ€ she says. โ€œAfter taking the best of what we experienced, we came up with Noods, a euphoric noodle experience. Then came The Beverly, a dessert bar with a nostalgic and elegant personality. In our first month, we ran out of food consistently every weekend even though weโ€™d double up on ordering product. We couldnโ€™t keep up. We had to buy out more space inside of Yumbrella just to keep up with demand. So I am forever grateful and even more inspired now.โ€

As for whatโ€™s next, Calvo knows one thing for certain: she will spend the rest of her life cooking.

โ€œWhatโ€™s next? I have no idea,โ€ she says. โ€œI say if I can cook until I die, I am happy. When inspiration knocks at my door, and the right opportunity presents itself, we move forward.โ€ โ™ฆ

 

Yumbrella Food Hall

Location:
Shops at Sunset Place at 5701 Sunset Drive, South Miami

Social:
instagram.com/yumbrellasomi.

Kevin Gale
kgale@sfbwmag.com
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