Chef Niven Patel and Mohamed Alkassar Had a Productive Pandemic

<p><a href="https://www.thesishotelmiami.com/taste/mamey/" target="_blank">Mamey</a>, which opened in August 2020, is an island-inspired eatery, with menu items like Jamaican short rib empanadas, Key West pink shrimp taquitos and key lime cheesecake flan. <a href="https://www.thesishotelmiami.com/taste/orno/" target="_blank">Orno</a>, which opened in October 2021, focuses on New American cuisine; think wood-roasted summer squash, grass-fed ribeye and Alaskan halibut.</p><p>The seemingly disparate menus have something in common. Both feature ingredients from Niven’s two-acre Homestead farm, <a href="https://ayahospitality.com/rancho-patel">Rancho Patel.</a></p><p>In this conversation, Niven and his business partner Mohamed Alkassar chat with Dalia about which vegetables are worth growing yourself and which are better to buy, how to create a restaurant that appeals to both locals and tourists, and why okra is underrated. The guys also lament a precious menu item that's gone missing, and Dalia speculates that their clam dealer may be up to no good.</p><p><strong>Related episodes:</strong></p><ul><li><a href="https://thezestpodcast.com/s2-episode-26/">Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101</a></li><li><a href="https://thezestpodcast.com/talking-seoul-food-with-miamis-2-korean-girls/">Talking Seoul Food with Miami’s 2 Korean Girls</a></li><li><a href="https://thezestpodcast.com/s3-episode-14/">Halal Food 101 with Florida’s Halal Food Guru</a></li><li><a href="https://thezestpodcast.com/zak-the-baker-keeps-it-kosher/">Zak the Baker Keeps It Kosher</a></li></ul>