Ortanique on the Mile features New World-Caribbean flavors with exotic ingredients from Jamaica. A tropical setting environment in the middle of the Gables. The eclectic island-themed cuisine includes ceviche, jerked foie gras and pan-sauteed Bahamian black grouper in an Ortanique orange-liquor sauce.
Men make the best cooks, the sexist adage goes, and looking around the kitchens of greater Miami's best restaurants, you'd be tempted to believe it. But the roster of star chefs does include three up-and-coming women: Michelle Bernstein (Azul); Andrea Curto-Randazzo (the soon-to-open Talula), and Cindy Hutson, whose Ortanique on the Mile is entering its fourth year in the highest echelon of Gables dining rooms.
Hutson is an honorary Jamaican, partners in life and restaurant with Delius Shirley, whom she met while working as a coffee grower on the island. He's the son of Kingston restaurateur Norma Shirley; in the mid-'90s, the trio opened Norma's on the Beach to much acclaim. It's at Ortanique, though, where Hutson's star has ascended: Not only is the restaurant busy to overflow, they've opened Ortaniques in Las Vegas and D.C. (in those more conservative culinary towns, Hutson hides Ortanique's more tropical dishes at the bottom of the menu, underneath the fried calamari, salmon and Caesar salad).
She characterizes her food as Cuisine of the Sun, which leaves room for Nuevo Latino, Caribbean and even Pan-Asian. Indeed, it's a loose fusion of all those, though the constant theme is West Indian. The food is colorful, generally light and often spicy, with fish and shellfish predominant and expertly handled.
FINE AMBIENCE
The setting is boisterous and busy, but quite charming, with secluded banquette ''porches'' protected by gauzy fabrics, hand-painted walls and columns and a friendly, well-informed staff. The wine list is wide-ranging but pricey.
Ortanique's kitchen features another talented woman, sous chef Barbara Scott, who ran the show in the waning days of the outstanding but eventually doomed Red Square. It was Scott who made the batch of conch chowder ($8) sampled on our visit, and it reflects her New Orleans roots with a Cajun flavor. The bits of Caicos Islands conch are mixed with potato, boniato, chayote, bell pepper, carrot, celery and onion in a tomatoey fish stock; the soup is lighter and less like chili than many conch chowders. Well done.
Conch fritters ($9) are thick with conch and not much breading; Hutson uses a tender conch and pulses it briefly in the food processor to further reduce chewiness, making for a smooth-textured fritter. The conch and breading and flavorings are moistened with Carib, the delicious beer from Trinidad and Tobago, and it adds a mellow sweetness. On the plate is a red pepper coulis spiced with cayenne and chipotle, plus a bright, crunchy corn salsa with lime and cilantro.
Tropical mango salad ($9) starts with raw hearts of palm, which are poached in citrus and rice wine vinegar, then julienned and served with mango, baby greens and spicy-sweet pecans dusted with homemade jerk spicing. A mint passion fruit vinaigrette adds more fruitiness to this surprising, refreshing salad.
Mussels ($12) are a Mediterranean variety ''farmed'' in the Santa Barbara Inlet, which creates a large, clean-flavored, tender mussel. These are fantastic, steamed in a luscious, spicy broth of Jamaican Red Stripe beer, shallots, tomatoes, garlic and Scotch bonnet peppers. Maybe a dozen to 15 mussels per serving.
OLD AND NEW
The entrées include some standbys, plus a list of specials. Of the pan sautéed Bahamian black grouper ($29), Hutson says, ''This is one dish I am really tired of cooking.'' It has been on the menu ever since opening day, and the regulars won't let it go. The fish is marinated in teriyaki and sesame oil, sautéed just to the point of doneness and not a minute longer. The sauce is orange liqueur and Bacardi Limon with caramelized sweet onions, scotch-bonnet pepper jelly and a bit of teriyaki. On the plate is a boniato, sweet potato and plantain mash with lemon and orange and Jamaican brown sugar. Sounds like a lot of sweetness, but the salty teriyaki and sharp scotch-bonnet counterattack.
West Indian Style Bouillabaisse ($34) is on the specials list because it changes daily. During Florida lobster season, that goes in. Sometimes halibut; sometimes cod. Depends on what Hutson, who in a previous life was a professional fisher(wo)man, deems the freshest. This night, the bounty was jumbo shrimp, diver scallops, striped bass, mussels and clams. All nights, the fish is bathed in an aromatic but not spicy tropical broth of coconut milk, fish fumé, white wine, kaffir lime and lemongrass. Base of the bowl is Jasmine rice, cooked separately. An excellent dish, with seafood cooked precisely right.
Rosy-red lamb chops ($30) are served with a double-cooked demiglace with shallots and carrots and a whole bottle of shiraz, which is reduced into a deeply flavored sauce. The chops are tender and wonderfully meaty, and they go well with a rich, lush mascarpone cheese risotto brightened with rosemary.
Berry cobbler ($9) starts with blackberries and mangoes, cooked with vanilla bean, star anise, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, oranges and Myers dark rum. The mixture is baked in a ramekin atop a slice of rum cake; vanilla ice cream and a tiny cookie go on top. Fruity and sweet.
