American Inventiveness at Beauty & The Butcher

Step inside Chef Jeremy Ford’s Playground

The first impression you get when you enter Beauty & The Butcher is of a very masculine space, in its own way a kind of man cave. Heavy black curtains block the streetlights and passing traffic along Red Road and San Ignacio Avenue, the columns inside are white brick, and heavy wooden beams rib the ceiling overhead. Along one wall are leather booths and along the other are white marble tables and leather couches. The central space is filled with a large underlit bar, with a very prominent cooler filled with various slabs of aging meat.

Chef Jeremy Ford is, himself, a burly looking sort, with tattoos up one arm and a butcher’s apron. But don’t let that fool you. There is nothing heavy handed about the food here. Now celebrating its first-year anniversary, Beauty and the Butcher is a showcase for Ford’s talent as an impresario of New American cuisine.

Having earned a Michelin star for his South Beach restaurant Stubborn Seed, the “Top Chef ” winner and James Beard semifinalist is out to impress in this latest collaboration with Grove Bay Hospitality Group, the same folks behind Stubborn Seed. (The name is a nod, BTW, to Ford’s first daughter, Madelynn — aka the beauty — and himself, the butcher.) 

While Ford touts the seasonality and quality of the ingredients — he has, like fellow Chef Niven Patel, acquired his own Redlands farm to supply the freshest fruits and vegetables — this is not a restaurant with simply prepared dishes based on the singularity of those ingredients. Instead, it is the amazing complexity of the appetizers and entrees that make dining here a gustatory adventure.

Try figuring out what goes into his truffle tarts ($32). These potent disks are made with foie gras wrapped in a pine nut and sunflower seed crust, truffle in the center, and a sour apple and white port glaze on top. The tiniest bite will mesmerize with its complexity of flavor and textures. The same goes for his Szechwan-cured yellowtail hamachi ($27) — a yellowtail crudo with torched melon bits, dried olives, mint and chervil herbs, pine nuts, and passionfruit emulsion for a citrus burst to balance the heat of chili fermen. Deconstructing these mosaics of flavor in your mouth is half the fun of eating at Beauty.

Chef Ford’s truffle tart (left) and yellowtail hamachi (right).

Then there are the meats, as you would expect from the Butcher. We did not spring for the 44-ounce Wagyu tomahawk — a bit rich for our blood at $395 — though we saw it flaming in a giant harness at the next table. We did, however, try the Wagyu filet ($94) which was simply as good as it gets — from the Butcher’s Cuts part of the menu where Ford lets the beef speak for itself. And, highly recommended by our server (who claimed she dreamed of it at night), was the slow-smoked beef rib ($69), tender and juicy, meant to be eaten in a naan wrap with pickled veggies and chimichurri. And just when we thought things might stay simple, we tried the roasted Faroe Island salmon ($40) in Thai coconut broth, with charred cabbage and organic mushrooms from the Gratitude Garden Farm in Loxahatchee. Not to be missed. 

Slabs of aging meats on display (left) and the Wagyu beef tenderloin (right).

We were hard-pressed to find anything on the menu that was not a demonstration of Ford’s enhancement of food. You want croquetas? Ford’s are made with jamon iberico and petite Basque cheese, enhanced by a smoked paprika emulsion ($22). You want bread? Order the sourdough focaccia ($12), with rosemary oil on top, infused with local Koji honey and accompanied by Nduja butter. Beyond good. You want apple pie, assuming you are still standing? The Apple Dutch Baby ($15) consists of caramelized apples and double vanilla ice cream in an open crust, drizzled tableside with a crème fraiche toffee. 

Chef Ford’s elevated versions of sourdough foccacia and apple pie.

Even the drinks have their complexities, like the “Little Piggy” ($17) —Maker’s Mark bourbon with Redemption rye whiskey, fig nectar, tawny port, and blackstrap bitters, all somehow washed with hickory-smoked pork belly. It arrived smoking, literally — a drink fit for a man cave. And we loved the soundtrack, which ranged from the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” to Talking Heads. So, save your money for a splurge at Beauty & The Butcher, and see how inventive American cuisine can get. 

Beauty & The Butcher
6915 Red Road
305.665.9661
beautyandthebutchermiami.com