Executive Chef Michael Bennett Leaves Bimini Boatyard

HOLLYWOOD, FL, December 20, 2011 (Press-News.org) Bimini Boatyard Executive Chef Michael Bennett has left his position at the popular Fort Lauderdale seafood restaurant to pursue several other culinary avenues of interest.

Chef Michael Bennett, who resigned his position as Executive Chef of Bimini Boatyard shortly after Thanksgiving 2011, is consulting on two projects as well as finishing his fourth cookbook - the second volume for his third cookbook "Culture of Cuisine" to which will be aptly named "If Delicious was Easy". The chef describes it as a book of cookery techniques and follows the same developmental thought process as Culture of Cuisine which is a book of culinary ideals.

His first consulting project this year is "Wine Down Gourmet Market and Restaurant" and will open this December (2011) in Grand Cayman BWI. The restaurant will feature gourmet cheese and meats, salads, and inspired tapas menu selections. Grand Cayman is fast becoming the foodie capital of the Caribbean, with restaurants by Michael Schwartz, Cindy Hutson, and Eric Ripert all having a presence on the island....

Chef Michael Bennett's main project for the upcoming year, the Harvest Market and Cafe in Belleair Bluffs - on Florida's west coast, is Bennett's other congruent culinary endeavor. Scheduled to open on Valentine's Day 2012, the market will be "South Beach" chic with a modern "Deco" design with a broad scope of gourmet food. Chef Bennett will not be using his award winning "Caribb-ican" food styling ~ in this Tampa Bay area market but, will be concentrating on a new "Fusion-style" of cooking that he first made famous at Epicure Gourmet Market on South Beach.

Bennett is also the author of two other cookbooks, "Underneath a Cloudless Sky" and "In the Land of Misfits, Pirates, and Cooks" (which he recently revised as a 100 percent gluten-free cookbook). His books are available at Barnes and Nobles and; Amazon.com.

Get to know this chef....
Chef Michael Bennett - where do you get your culinary inspiration?
Life around me.....
Remembering the times when I was fortunate enough to live and work in the Caribbean. I always build new recipes upon what I have learn in the past. It is my grounding. Always looking for some new twist on reliable favorites is my passion. Especially when we are talking about seafood. It is so clean tasting, healthy and everyone loves it cooked in a "Caribb-ican" way.

"Caribb-ican" = is restructuring or developing a new twist on recipes that have a basis of ingredients that are common to us in the United States but, I tweak the finesse or find that certain "tropically-inspired" taste to get an old classic dish that flair that you are use to seeing around South Florida.

I always use the teaching of my previous mentors and build upon them. I can really go back decades and go through all the chefs that have schooled me in the proper ways of the kitchen but, there have only been a handful that I respect enough to mimic - when it comes to recipe development.

You have written three published cookbooks to date, where did your inspiration come from to write them?

My life in the Caribbean and as a chef in Miami's fine dining restaurants for two decades. I love my experiences of life - in both parts - of this sentence. One of almost glamor and fame inducing gratuitous posturing and the other of minimalist exoticness - yet, laid back simplicity.

I think my time in the Caribbean reminded me as to what and why simplicity is so important in cuisine. It taught me that by nature foods should and do occur in the right portions to each other. Like mangoes. Mangoes are meant to be sweet and sassy. They need to be paired with foods that are a little dull - let's say. They counter balance one another to build symmetric harmony. It is the Yin and Yang cooking effect that I try to teach all the people I work with.

Simplicity doesn't mean boring, it means balance to me. What would sweet and sometimes sassy flavor of ripe tomatoes be without the zip of garlic and the floral nature of basil?

Author substantive:
Michael Bennett is a well-known award winning (Chef of the Year-1995) South Florida chef whose clients are a Who's Who of Media and Sports personalities. He earned critical culinary kudos as the Executive chef for the 26 year, local culinary tour d' force - Left Bank restaurant. Under his auspices he brought "Best of" (Zagat Survey), Four Stars (AAA) and Four Diamonds (Mobil) to their 20 plus year era of three star rating. He has affiliations with several culinary and food-related organizations. Chef Michael regularly lectures on South Florida's "Caribb-ican" cuisine.