A chance encounter in Coral Gables sparked a new friendship and a special culinary title for Giovanni Fesser. It was 2010, and Fesser was working as a line cook at Chef Norman Van
Aken’s now-shuttered restaurant Norman’s 180. Working alongside him was Michael Beltran, now owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Ariete.
The two Cuban American youngsters clicked, and when Beltran opened Ariete in 2015, Fesser came onboard as the executive sous chef. For the South Beach Wine & Food Festival a couple of years later, the duo decided to serve their childhood staple and Miami favorite — the crisp, buttery puff-pastry known as “pastelito.” Instead of the classic guava and cheese flavor combination, they filled their pastries with an original sweet and savory pairing of head cheese and fish sauce caramel, which more than a thousand people tried that day.
Mango y Queso pastelitos
“After the event, I was watching ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ on Food Network and kept thinking of how people were doing things with croquetas and doughnuts, and that I wanted to do something with pastelitos,” Fesser explains.
“I realized that there weren’t that many pastelito flavors available out there, so I decided I wanted to create my own from scratch and apply local flavors to my creations. I told Beltran, and he said to go for it, that I would become Miami’s ‘Pastelito Papi’.”
Fesser’s “frita pastelito,” a spin on the traditional Cuban hamburger, is a bestseller at Chug’s Diner, Beltran’s full-service Cuban eatery featuring a daily sampling of Fesser’s goodies. The traditional guava and cream cheese flavor is also a hit, as is the ropa vieja (shredded beef), rabo encendido (oxtail) and peanut butter and jam, using jam that Fesser makes himself. He also regularly incorporates seasonal flavors like mango, mamey and figs into the rotating pastelito menu.
Now 42, Fesser is fully dedicated to the restaurant, catering and the upcoming eateries Beltran has in the works. A Chug’s Express concept is planned, as well as a new restaurant with a cigar bar. This year’s Chug’s Diner’s Bib Gourmand nomination came as a rewarding surprise and new career motivator.
“That was very unexpected. We knew Ariete could get a star, but Chug’s has only been open for year,” Fesser says. “It is the result of faith, hard work and high-quality ingredients. For our guava pastelito for example, we source the fruit from PG Tropicals Guava in the Redlands. Our final product wouldn’t taste the same if wasn’t for our local farmers.”