You Can Go Home Again
A Hometown Star Chef Is Back in the Kitchen Where He Made His Name

The most striking visual in the new Johnny V’s is the two-story, glass-enclosed, 4,000-bottle wine room.

The swanky Johnny V South Beach. Photos by Angie Hargot

By Mark S. Goldberg

The stack is back. OK, I could have said that Johnny Vinczencz is back. After all, he created the incredible mushroom stack that’s been one of his signature dishes for over a decade. Johnny V was the executive chef at Astor Place inside the Hotel Astor before leaving for Broward County some seven years ago. In the time since then, Astor became Metro and Metro became, well, nothing.

Johnny V opened his own restaurant on Las Olas and made a name for himself. Now he’s brought his name and kitchen skills back to his old stomping ground: Hotel Astor. Only this time, the executive chef is also the owner and the new name of the restaurant is Johnny V South Beach. And if you’re looking for some old favorites on the menu, they had better be the mushroom stack or the corn crusted snapper, because everything else —just like the room itself — is totally new.

The most striking visual in the new Johnny V’s is the two-story, glass-enclosed, 4,000-bottle wine room in the middle of the restaurant. The dining area has been separated from the tapas lounge, the upstairs lounge has returned, and outdoor dining will soon be available on the terrace once the pool reopens.

Brand new is the impressive two-page cheese menu. Johnny took an extensive tour of Wisconsin dairy farms, cheese factories, even attending cheese-making classes in Vermont. The cheese platters (three cheeses: $16; five cheeses: $24; seven cheeses: $36) arrive beautifully plated with fig balsamic marinated grapes, olives confit, fresh pear and hazelnut spread, and sweet and spicy pecans, all accompanied by crostini. It’s a good dinner starter or pre-appetizer.

We move on to regular appetizers and can’t resist the Wild Mushroom Pancake “Short Stack” ($11) with its roasted portobello, drizzle of reduced balsamic and dollop of sun-dried tomato butter. Also worth sampling is the Florida Alligator Fritter ($12), a cutlet-shaped gator tail seasoned with peppers, onions, spices, and a little egg and bread crumbs for use as a binder. Served with a spicy habanero tartar and a tropical fruit salsa, the fritter is surprisingly tender. The Pato Frito ($13) is a take on the Latin vaca frita, or shredded flank steak. Johnny replaced the beef with duck, shredded and sautéed with shallots, hit with a little duck demi and served with black bean sauce. The tostones topping the confit gives the dish a pot pie appearance, but the taste is much richer. There is also a pair of crabs at the table: The Stone Crab Claw and Lump Crab Cake ($27 is just that, a clever pairing of a shelled stone crab claw served with a key lime Dijon and a flavor-infused lump crab cake.

Goat Cheese Pie ($11) is listed under salads, though it’s more like a beautiful appetizer. The soft cheese is crispy on the outside, encrusted with ground pecan meat and then settled into a nest of marinated beets and served a la mode with a small scoop of fig balsamic sorbet. A salad for non-salad eaters is the BLT Wraps ($10). Four romaine leaves, each filled with smoked Applewood bacon bits and grape tomatoes, is perfect for dipping in the Maytag blue cheese dip.

There are several “Three Ways” dishes on the menu, where Johnny can show off a selection of styles with one item. This philosophy probably helped him during the Iron Chef America competition against Bobby Flay that will air New Year’s Day. He wasn’t at liberty to discuss who won, but if the secret ingredient was Pork ($29), it probably included a sliced chimichurri chop, a pulled barbequed shoulder and a braised pork belly resting on malanga moistened with a bit of mojo. The Striped Bass ($32) is a tasty crab-crusted filet placed on top of a true scallop emulsion that’s finished with a corn broth and cream. A lobster hash and baby green beans completes the dish. Taking the corn theme a step further is Johnny’s ultimate signature dish: Corn Crusted Yellowtail ($27). A soft and slightly sweet filet, the key is coating it in fresh, finely ground corn, served in a corn sauce with a lemon boniato mash. You would think it was too many flavors for one dish but they work well together. Best of all is the Lamb Shank and Basil Grilled Shrimp ($34). The lamb is braised for over three hours and, since it was falling off the bone anyway, it’s served bone-free, rich with flavor and tenderness. Joining the dish, a soft wild mushroom polenta comes with parmesan, caramelized shallots and portobello, crimini and shiitake mushrooms. Two large prawns are served as well, and while perfectly prepared, the dish didn’t even need them.

Malka Espinel has been Johnny’s pastry chef for eight years. Like the mushroom stack and the yellowtail, he apparently holds onto all things that are good. Her Chocolate Torte ($9) is layers of texture and flavors. The Irish Car Bombe ($8) features a stout cake (similar to a small chocolate bundt) treated to a whiskey sauce. And the Banana Cream Pie ($9) with its chocolate bottom and rum crème anglaise really takes the cake, ’er pie.

So the stack is back. And so is the man that created it. Back home. Where he belongs.

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Johnny V

• ADDRESS: 956 Washington Ave., in the Hotel Astor, Miami Beach

• PHONE: 305-672-9998

• HOURS: 6:30 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; until midnight Friday through Sunday

• FOOD: American with regional influences

• SERVICE: Personable and extremely knowledgeable.

• PRICES: Appetizers $9 to $27, entrées from $27 to $42

• WINES: Generous listings of domestic and international labels with good pricing.

• ATMOSPHERE: Warm and comfortable

• RESERVATIONS: Suggested

• CREDIT CARDS: MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover.