Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Cobaya Talde @ Talde Miami Beach 3.4.16






As soon as the news broke that Chef Dale Talde was opening a restaurant in Miami, he immediately became a Cobaya Miami target. I enjoyed a dinner he did over at Khong River House a couple of years ago and was very familiar with his background and experience. Most of you probably know him from his appearances on season eight of Top Chef and Top Chef All Stars. He also recently spent a season as a Judge on the entertaining and challenging show Knife Fight. He was also a contestant.

Prior to reaching chef-lebrity status, he spent several years working in prestigious kitchens. He opened Jean Georges' Vong's in Chicago. He followed that up with two popular Stephen Starr spots, Morimoto in NYC and Buddakan.

Fast forward and he now co-owns 5 restaurants. Three in Brooklyn, TaldePork Slope, and Thistle Hill, one in New Jersey, Talde Jersey City and his most recent spot Talde Miami Beach in the ThompsonHotel.




Dale proudly cooks inauthentic asian cuisine.

For Cobaya "experiment" #60, Dale opted to tap into his Filipino background and serve a traditional Kamayan Table dinner. Never heard of one? Banana leaves topped with mounds of white rice that's topped with several dishes. No plates, no utensils, one long communal table and both hands tied behind your back. Okay, kidding about the last part. Guests were obviously instructed to wash their hands before being seated. I had to wash mine about 6 times because I can't keep my hands to myself....

This was a really fun, unique and delicious experience. I was extremely impressed with the execution of each dish despite being cooked and served in one shot like this. Everything I tried was cooked perfectly and the flavors were fantastic. I did not want to stop eating and was truly said when it was done.

Seen and tasted devoured on the Kamayan Table:

Bicol Express - green beans, squash and eggplant cooked in coconut milk and shrimp paste.

Lechon Kawali - crispy pork belly.

Whole roasted grouper with tomato ginger sofrito.

Dale's mom's chicken adobo. *If you see this on one of his menus, get it.

Lumpia Shanghai - Filipino Spring Rolls.

Achara - pickled green papaya

5G Cookie: pretzel and potato chip cookies with salted carmel ganache.

Huge thanks to Dale for finding time in his busy schedule to make it to Miami to host this special night and meal. And thanks to his entire team including his partner David Missoni who was also in town. Additional thanks to the team at the Thopmson Hotel for assisting with the coordination of the dinner. And most importantly, thanks to the 25 guinea pigs in the house and the 300 plus who requested seats for your continued support and interest.

 Hope to see you at #61.





Rice Rice Baby






Scored the head of the Kamayan Table de Talde and was up close and personal with this gorgeous looking grouper. Her cheeks and collar were a real treat as was the rest of her luscious meat. 






The Kamayan Talde Table was all set for the clean pawed guinea pigs and they were ready to pounce. As you can see, a rogue piggy beat the rest to the punch. Cough Cough JDonn...



Don't be shy. DIG IN!



Dale's Lechon Kawali was as good as pork belly gets.





Now you see it



And then there was none... delicious domination (by JDonn)




Guinea PIGS who had room for dessert enjoyed Dale's award winning 5G Cookies. These are an incredible combination of pretzels, potato chips and salted caramel ganache. He calls them 5G's because he won $5,000.00 in a Quickfire Challenge when he was on Top Chef and served them to Padma.  




Cobaya What What??!!





Guests were generously treated to an autographed copy of his new cookbook "Asian-American: Proudly Inauthentic Recipes from the Philippines to Brooklyn." which you can buy on Amazon.


HOURS

Sun-Wed: Dinner 6pm-12am | Bar 6pm-1am

Thur-Sat: Dinner 6pm-12am | Bar 6pm-4am

Thur-Sat: Late Night Noodles 12am - 4am


ADDRESS AND CONTACT

Inside the Thompson Miami Beach Hotel

4041 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33140

T: (786) 605-4094