Chef Michael Mayer is certain about one thing: Nothing is more valuable than experience.
“Cookbooks can show a person how but can never teach them why. This comes only from trial and experience — knowing why ingredients react the way they do is key to knowing how much or little of an ingredient to use,” he adds.
Mayer, whose 58th birthday is June 28, is the executive chef of two outlets — Italian restaurant La Fuga and rooftop bar Escape — both nestled in the Kimpton Shorebreak Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, a boutique-style 96-room hotel. He also serves as the Complex Executive Chef of the nearby Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, a massive 433-room property on Fort Lauderdale Beach, where he oversees the food and beverage outlets and develops menus for in-room dining and events.
Mayer’s own trajectory began at the age of 15 when he took a job as a dishwasher before quickly advancing to prep and then grill cook, all in under three months, highlighting his exceptional skills and discipline right from the start.
“I was obsessed with accuracy and quality. I believe that bleeds into all that I do and say as a culinary leader,” Mayer reflects.
Braciola di Vitello Siciliana
He made his way to the Rocky Mountains’ Vail Valley, where he first got a taste of the hospitality industry. Key roles at prestigious hotels would follow, including The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Colo., the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa and, also in Avon, The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa. In 2016, he came to South Florida to the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort & Spa.
Tortellini in Brodo
Photo By Ricardo Mejia
Along the way, there were challenges.
“I was a wild youth who let personal habits get in the way of my progress. As a young sous chef, I needed to learn the value of praise, the patience of teaching and the way to motivate without force,” he says.
While his extensive travels and work experiences defined Mayer’s contemporary American cuisine (with a soft spot for Southern comfort and Creole cooking), his latest venues, La Fuga and Escape, both have a strong Italian influence.
Tartare di Tonno
“I wanted the restaurant to be a place where family and friends could gather to enjoy great food, wine and drinks in a chill environment. And that communal aspect really works beautifully with Italian cuisine,” he adds.
As luck would have it, Mayer stumbled across an unused pasta machine in the hotel storage space that now serves as a central part of La Fuga. He turned to celebrated Chef Massimo Bottura for inspiration, reading his book “Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef.” Bottura’s cuisine takes traditional Italian recipes and interprets them through molecular gastronomy. Mayer decided to embrace the authentic Italian recipes and elevate them using bolder flavors and what he calls “twists” to the recipes. For example, bruschetta — the appetizer typically comprised of grilled bread topped with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil — comes with roasted grape tomatoes steeped in garlic, basil and oregano. Tartare di Tonno features yellowfin tuna, capers, pepper oil and oven-roasted tomatoes.
“I made a laboratory at The Westin Pastry Kitchen with the pasta machine, a meat grinder, a pen and paper and began cooking the Italian food I wanted to eat,” he adds.
The results are mouthwatering. Gnocchi della Casa, tender gnocchi combined with Pork Sugo, Butternut Squash, Fennel and Basil, is rich and divine. Tortellini in Brodo, a classic dish from the Bologna region, is elevated with mortadella, Parma ham, Reggiano, Basil Pesto and Capon Broth. Main dishes like Braciola di Vitello Siciliana (bone-in veal chop) are hearty and succulent, transporting diners straight to Sicily.
Meals are communal at La Fuga, an intentional aspect of the experience.
“Italian food is to be shared. Family and friends gather around long tables filled with antipasti, pasta, meats and seafood. The concept behind La Fuga is to bring in the local community and have them dine and drink the same way: trying several dishes, sharing the food and the experience.”
For Mayer, it’s this relationship that gives him the most satisfaction when it comes to his career. “At the end of the day, I cook from the heart, and the development of restaurants and different menus just adds fun and excitement each time I do something new,” he says.
Capesante Alla Piastra
Serves 4 people
Ingredients:
• 12 jumbo sea scallops
• 12 oz. celery root (peeled and cut into large cubes)
• 4 oz. butter (cubed)
• ¼ cup olive oil/canola oil blend
• whole milk, as needed
• salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Place the celery root in an appropriately sized saucepan and add enough milk to cover the root generously.
Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches a gentle boil, reduce to simmer and cook until the celery root is tender (like making mashed potatoes). Strain the milk and reserve.
Place the celery root in a blender and purée while adding enough of the milk to make a smooth purée (the consistency of baby food). Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Keep warm.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet until very hot.
Blot the sea scallops with a paper towel to dry. Season them on both sides with salt and pepper and place them in the hot oil on one of the flat sides. Sear in the skillet until golden brown (1-2 minutes) and flip over. Add the butter, and as it melts, tilt the skillet toward you to pool the butter to the edge. With a large serving spoon, baste over the tops of the scallops quickly and repeatedly until they are cooked medium (approximately 2 minutes). The butter will be browning. (This is good; the brown butter adds flavor. However, be careful not to burn.) Remove the skillet from the heat completely and let the scallops rest in the warm pan of butter while plating the celeriac purée.
Place ¼ cup of celeriac purée in the center of the bowl or plate. Place the sea scallops on top and spoon about 1 oz. of the lemon-oregano vinaigrette* over the scallops and drizzle around the plate.
*For the Lemon-Oregano Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
• ¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• lemon zest from ½ a lemon
• 1 tablespoon shallot, minced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
• 1 oz. anchovy fillet
• 2 teaspoons honey
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Instructions:
Chop anchovies until they’re finely minced, almost a paste.
Add all the ingredients except the olive oil and mix well.
Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking vigorously to emulsify.