Ask Chef Henry Hané what is the best piece of advice he’s ever received and you’ll momentarily lose him in a thoughtful pause.
“That’s tough! I’ve had a lot of good advice, a lot of bad too!” he says, followed by a chuckle weighted by his 41-years of life experience.
When he responds, his answer seems innate. “I’d say, ‘It’s just food, you know?’ I used to stress out about all these finite little things when I was younger and, what I tell my cooks at the end of the day [now] is, ‘We’re just making food, we’re not curing cancer or doing brain surgery. Take what we do seriously but also enjoy it and have fun.’”
As a diner, you will have some serious fun at his Wynwood restaurant Jattö, I promise.
Just a quick read of the menu and you’ll be giddy with anticipation, like you’ve arrived at a memorable culinary playdate.
The starters reveal adventure: Octopus Chips served with botija aioli, Choclo with five-spice butter, George Stone Crab Causa with acevichado sauce, avocado, egg yolk fudge and choclo chalaquita as well as Foie Gras Dippin Dots with seasonal fruit, savory pastry cream and sweet wine gelee.
You read right. Foie Gras Dippin Dots — an experience that packs an 8-year old’s sense of wonder with the euphoria of an adult’s elevated palate.
These creations don’t just occur organically. They are a result of years of extensive training that Hané, born in Peru then moving to Miami as a child, attained working at Michelin-starred restaurants Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons in England and Miramar in Spain. A graduate of Johnson and Wales University in Miami, he returned to his hometown, working as sous chef at Michelle Bernstein’s Sra. Martinez in 2008 then landing in the kitchen of Giorgio Rapicavoli’s famed Eating House before going on to open B Bistro + Bakery in 2017.
While his superior technical range is apparent with each bite, it is his roots that ground him — memories of family, friends and great food in Peru all serve as his muse, beginning with the name of the restaurant.
“Jattö basically means “home” — it’s a slang word for ‘house,’ for ‘crib.’ I wanted to create a space where people felt at home and they were open to sharing and not very fussy — the food has a lot of inspiration of my childhood and life so it’s very close to my heart,” he says.
Take the Choclo with five-spice butter, for example, an idea born from a restaurant he frequented in Lima as a kid.
“They just have this simple Peruvian corn dish with butter and allspice. I grew up eating that all the time. Every time I’d go to Peru, that would be the first place I’d go. And it’s just a humble dish of corn, but it’s perfectly executed.”
It’s that humility towards ingredients that keeps Jattö buzzing with patrons since opening in November of last year. While the restaurant’s website coins the cuisine as hailing from Peru, Colombia and Spain, Hané pushes back at the thought of labeling his food.
“People like to pigeonhole food and I am very much a mix of all kinds of cultures and proudly so, so there’s a little bit of everything — it’s just kind of like a walk-through of my life,” he says.
Together with Chef de Cuisine Aleric Constantin, whom he refers to as his “right-hand guy,” Hané offers a playlist of hits like the aforementioned appetizers along with main courses like Rabo Encendido Rissotto — an ode to Constantin’s Cuban American roots — and Coconut Miso Grouper. End the meal with the Amazonica Black Forest Oblea with filthy cherries, raspberry jam and whipped cream — a fancy interpretation of a popular street snack found in Latin America and Spain.
It’s within the balance between upscale and provincial cuisine where Hané appears to thrive.
“The overall experience is a high-end food experience but in a casual setting. We like to say High Brow Low Brow food, you know?”
One cannot overlook the location, once home to celebrated Chef Brad Kilgore’s cutting-edge restaurant Alter, which played a big role in defining Miami beyond its nightclubs and beaches to a serious dining destination instead. Hané shrugs off any expectations of reincarnating Kilgore’s vibe, reinforcing his own culinary identity and hopes for the restaurant.
“I just really wanted to have a place that was fun to work in and there was a balance of life.”
Beyond the restaurant serving as a palette for Hané and Constantin’s culinary prowess, it plays out as the opportune tribute to South Florida’s diversity and culinary curiosity with dishes like the Ikura Arepa, which merges the popular Venezuelan street food arepa with Hané’s Jewish roots which provided many breakfasts of bagels and lox.
“I grew up eating bagels and lox and that’s really where the dish stems from. It’s a very simple dish but there’s a lot of technique that goes behind every step and ingredient. When you eat it, it tastes like a smoked salmon bagel — with an arepa.”
Ikura Arepa
Chef Henry Hané
INGREDIENTS
For the arepa:
2 cups warm water
2 cup Harina PAN yellow
1 tsp. Salt
For the cream cheese:
1 cup Cream Cheese
1 cup Sour Cream
For the pickled shallots:
1 cup Shallots (sliced thin)
1 cup White vinegar
½ cup Sugar
½ cup Salt
1 cup Water
INSTRUCTIONS
For the arepa:
1. Mix all ingredients until well incorporated and form into 8 oz discs
2. When cool, sear in olive oil and finish cooking at 350° F for 8 minutes; set aside.
For the cream cheese:
Mix ingredients well and set aside in refrigerator
For the pickled shallots:
1. Set shallots aside and place all remaining ingredients in a heavy-duty pot and bring to a boil.
2. Turn off the heat and add shallots to the mixture.
3. Let it cool in the refrigerator.
GARNISH
1 cup Salmon roe
1 tbsp. Everything Bagel Mix
½ oz. Dill
FINAL PLATING
1. Cut the seared arepa in half.
2. Spread cream cheese mix over the top.
3. Add salmon roe evenly over the cream cheese.
4. Sprinkle Everything Bagel Mix.
5. Finish with pickled shallots and dill on top.
Serves 1-2 people