When you go to an art museum, you’re usually there to check out the latest exhibit, see a new installation, or sometimes, just spend a day exploring history through the eyes of the artists who once experienced it. At the Magic City’s hottest art locale, the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), you go for all those same reasons — but you also go to eat.
Overlooking Downtown Miami’s beautiful Biscayne Bay and skyline, the delightfully delicious Verde Miami is the work of its own artist: the restaurant’s new Executive Chef, Kaytlin Brakefield. Coming to Miami from some of the nation’s most raved-about culinary haunts — including San Francisco’s famed Quince and Cotogna, and L’Artusi and L’Apicio, both in NYC — Kaytlin has built a menu of fabulous fare that SoFla’s foodies have been waiting for: fresh, locally inspired dishes as creative as the art hanging on the walls of the PAMM itself.
Helming the restaurant just this past January, Chef Kaytlin has already built a mouthwatering menu of bites like squash blossoms pizza, Maine lobster benedict with a key lime hollandaise, sautéed Lacinato kale with parmesan and salsa verde, and for dessert, home-cooked donut balls covered in cinnamon sugar and paired with dulce de leche and Mexican chocolate dipping sauces.
Her dishes are art on your plate, and happiness in your gut.
To kick off her new stint, Chef Kaytlin has fused food and art by creating a limited edition prix-fixe lunch menu reflective of one of the PAMM’s latest exhibits — Tapies: From Within by Catalan painter, Antoni Tàpies. Born in Barcelona, Tàpies became popular for his ability to use unusual materials like marble, clay and stone to create abstract paintings that resemble a wall. Mimicking his process, Chef Kaytlin uses seemingly simple ingredients to create complex dishes, the result of which is a light and delicious lunch with an Italian rustic flair.
From now until the Tàpies exhibit comes down, presumably in late May, guests of the restaurant can choose from a two- or three-course prix-fixe lunch menu that includes some of Chef Kaytlin’s tastiest Italian creations: Heirloom Tomato Panzanella with watermelon and allepo pepper, Calamarata Pasta with calamari ragu and calabrian chili, and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with blood orange and candied pistachio.
With her obvious talent and the restaurant’s serene, sunny views, all backed by the whimsical setting of the Perez Art Museum Miami, Verde is an appetizing place unlike any other.
So next time you consider spending a day steeped in art history, don’t think twice. You may just get more than your curiosity (and stomach) could ever ask for.
Verde is located inside the Perez Art Museum Miami, at 1103 Biscayne Boulevard. This menu is part of Chef Kaytlin’s ongoing initiative to offer pre-fixe menus correlating to the art that hangs inside her building’s walls. It will run until the Tàpies exhibit concludes.
Dining + Drinking
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