Los Angeles chef Roy Choi, wearing a Yankees hat because that’s what he does when he’s on the East Coast, celebrated his birthday late Friday night in the garden of Miami’s new Broken Shaker pop-up mixology bar.
It was the weekend of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and Choi, who rose to fame with the Kogi food truck and now also has restaurants including Chego, A-Frame and Sunny Spot, told us the impromptu Broken Shaker gathering turned into the best birthday celebration he’s ever had. And why wouldn’t it be? There were tequila punch bowls and a birthday cake assembled from treats created and brought over by Momofuku Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi. The crowd who showed up and toasted Choi included a similarly minded, ultra-creative group of chefs and restaurant owners who favor bold flavors and are moving the soul of America’s dining scene from stuffy white-tablecloth experiences into accessible and undeniably cool nights. These are a bunch of chill cats who know how to have a good time, especially when drinks made with care are involved. And Choi’s best friend, Rob Peck, drove 16 hours straight from Delaware to hang out for the weekend.
LA chef Ricardo Zarate, with his Mo-Chica and Picca partner Stephane Bombet, showed up first around 11 p.m. and proceeded to get down on the ping pong and foosball tables while others in their LA crew focused on intense Jenga games.
By 2 a.m., when Broken Shaker (run by Bar Lab’s Elad Zvi and Gabe Orta) was worrying about having to kick everyone out, the crowd had expanded to include New Yorkers like Zak Pelaccio and Jori Jayne Emde of Fatty Crew, Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick of Torrisi and Parm and George Mendes of Aldea. Charleston chef Sean Brock, known for his “lardcore” Southern food at Husk, was there, too, slowly decompressing from an intense night of serving more than 1,000 people at the festival’s Burger Bash.
Broken Shaker, open for about five more months at the Indian Creek hotel (which is being updated into a 21st century youth hostel by owner Sydell Group, responsible for New York’s Ace and NoMad hotels), has the finest cocktails and most hipster-friendly setting we’ve ever encountered in Miami. Thursday night there was the first time we’ve played ping pong under the influence of two kinds of negronis and some of a pal’s chai rum sazerac. We hope it’s not the last. Plus, local roots-rocker Brendan O’Hara, fresh off a fantastic and energetic set at the Loews that had Emeril Lagasse dancing, will vouch for the magic of 2 a.m. empanadas at Broken Shaker.
And Friday night, of course, was the kind of surreal summer camp-like experience that Choi, along with some old friends and some new friends, will always remember. Isn’t that the kind of night so many of us hope for when we travel?