The past is no fish tale for Chef Joe Monteiro

After cooking a variety of cuisines throughout the nation, Joe Monteiro builds an award-winning restaurant inside Avalon Hotel’s A Fish Called Avalon.

Miami Beach, FL – He’s one of those men you just can’t put a label on. Joe Monteiro, executive chef and general manager of Miami Beach’s Zagat-rated seafood restaurant A Fish Called Avalon, has an incredibly diverse culinary background.

It all started inside his mother’s kitchen.

“She used to make me stir the red sauce, then whack me with the wooden spoon,” he jokes.

The Brazilian-born Portuguese chef knew he would make a career of cooking after his first job in the United States as a pantry cook at the Allendale Bar & Grill in Allendale, N.J.

There he learned kitchen basics while becoming familiar with American cuisine.

Six years later, the line cook left New Jersey to work under Chef Kevin Rathburn, who is considered the Emeril Lagasse of Atlanta’s culinary scene by food industry critics.
Rathburn’s restaurant, Nava, specialized in Southwestern cuisine, another departure from Monteiro’s realm of knowledge. But the then sous chef learned quickly.

“Nava was my ticket to grow,” Monteiro said.

His next venture was Café Pacific in Dallas where Monteiro worked as chef de cuisine.

In July 1996, he began learning Pacific Rim cuisine and earned more experience at the management level. For a year, he managed the restaurant’s budget, increased the revenue and supervised staff. Though he wasn’t there for long, the experience prepared him to work at the Melrose Hotel under Jim Anile who is rated one of Dallas’ top chefs.

“It was one of the best restaurants in Dallas,” Monteiro said. “There, I did everything –
changed menus, hiring … it was very high-end.”

Under Anile, Monteiro further expanded his culinary creativity, blending what he learned about Southwestern cuisine from Nava with Melrose’s Asian flavors.

When the time came to move on, he did it in the biggest way possible. Monteiro accepted a position as executive chef at Giants Stadium in 1998.

“When I got the job offer for the Meadowlands I didn’t want to go back to Jersey, but it was a good opportunity financially and career-wise,” he said. “It was really high-volume. I had many chefs and sous chefs beneath me.”

His realm of responsibility included Giants Stadium, the Arena and the Meadowlands Racetrack. At any given event, Monteiro was responsible for feeding celebrities (Bruce Springsteen dined on his creations), athletes and about 3,000 attendees.

The Meadowlands was an intense experience, but Monteiro was ready to move on when he was offered the opportunity to work in sunny Miami as an executive chef at Lombardi’s Restaurant in 1999.

Cooking under corporate chef David Songzoni, Monteiro prepared Northern Italian seafood and supervised the kitchen. Three years later, he headed upstream to A Fish Called Avalon in the Deco District’s Avalon Hotel.

“I saw the challenge there, and that’s what drives me,” he said.

Monteiro immediately remodeled the hotel restaurant’s kitchen, revamped the menu, updated the wine list and built a wine cellar. The restaurant earned the Wine Spectator Award in 2005 and 2006 and continues to appear on Zagat’s best seafood list year after year.

Today Monteiro can be found circling the dining room inside the Avalon Hotel restaurant on most evenings. Night after night, Monteiro checks in with each guest.

“I get straight answers that way,” he said. “People feel important if the chef comes out to say, ‘How’s everything?’ A chef should not be in the kitchen – that’s why you have a sous chef.”

For a chef who never had formal training, Monteiro’s career has played out like a fairy tale.

“People seem to think it’s easy to run a restaurant, but it’s a hard industry,” he said. “But I didn’t miss anything. Everything I know, I learned in the business.


Recipe:
Tuna tartar à la A Fish Called Avalon


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