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On Sunday, April 10, 2022, the Deering Estate Foundation will welcome guests of all ages to the acclaimed 16th Annual Deering Seafood Festival at the historic Deering Estate. After COVID-19 delays put this popular festival on hold for more than two years, it’s returning with more food from some of Miami’s best restaurants and caterers, a kids zone, a new beer garden, live entertainment, boat rides and one of the most highly-anticipated parts of the day, the Chef Demonstration Tent.
Sponsored by the Deering Estate Foundation, this tent will feature six one-hour seafood cooking demos from five top South Florida chefs and student winners from our annual Deering Seafood Festival Culinary Student Competition, which took place at the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management on March 15, 2022. To ensure these chefs are well supported, 10 FIU Culinary students will serve as sous chefs for the cooking demonstrations.
This year’s participating chefs represent the diversity of both South Florida and its thriving restaurant scene. First up will be Uptal Dighe (chef/owner of Samsara Creations), followed by Cesar Zapata (chef/owner of Phuc Yea), Jim Pastor (Eastern Regional Chef of Rusty Pelican), Gerardo B. De Negri (chef/owner of Botánico Gin & Cookhouse) and Pablo Zitzmann (chef/owner of the recent James Beard Award “Best New Restaurant” nominee, Zitz Sum). The 2022 Student Chef Winners who will lead a demonstration are Alexa Rodriguez, Leo Soto, Regina and Dukat Benz Abas, all four of whom are seniors at the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
Within their allotted hour, each professional chef will do a 45-minute cooking demonstration of a seafood dish and have 15 minutes to distribute sample tastings of his or her dish and clean up. During that time, audience members will get to ask the chef questions about their dish, their restaurant or cooking in general. Seats are first come, first served and max out at 100 guests.
First up is Chef Uptal Dighe, of Samsara Creations, who took a winding path to his work as a chef. Born to Indian immigrants, his early experiences with cooking involved mostly trying to balance the explosive flavors and smells of his Indian heritage with his American surroundings. For almost 20 years, Dighe lived and worked in Miami as an attorney, practicing criminal law for both the government and in private practice. While he loved his career, he knew something was missing. So, in 2018, he quit practicing law to enroll in culinary school and graduated during the pandemic with an associates degree in Culinary Arts and a bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management. It was through that program that he was introduced to Deering Estate, as he won the Deering Seafood Festival Culinary Student Competition and led a cooking demonstration in the Chef Demonstration Tent at the 2019 Deering Seafood Festival. At this year’s Chef Demonstration Tent, Dighe will create his Pan con Croqueta: Saffron Lobster Croqueta with a Kasundi mustard slaw and toasted bun.
Born in Medellin, Colombia and raised in New Jersey, Chef Cesar Zapata of Phuc Yea was dubbed the “family cook” at a young age. Intrigued by Texas-style barbeque, Mexican cuisine and seafood from the Gulf Coast, Zapata enrolled in culinary school at the Art Institute Houston—where, along with Southern cuisine, he was exposed to Vietnamese flavors. After graduating, he went on to work at luxury hotel brands like The Four Seasons and The Setai, and got the opportunity to work under James Beard Award nominee Timothy Keating and two-Michelin-starred chef Shawn Hergatt. In 2011, Zapata joined forces with hospitality maven Aniece Meinhold and launched Miami’s first-ever pop-up restaurant, the Vietnamese-Cajun-style Phuc Yea, which has since become a permanent fixture in Miami’s MiMo district since 2019. At this year’s Chef Demonstration Tent, Zapata will create his Vietnamese-Style Ceviche.
Coming to Miami from NYC, Chef Jim Pastor of Rusty Pelican graduated cum laude from Johnson & Wales University. Born to Costa Rican parents, Pastor was instilled with a love of food and natural ingredients as a child. In 2004, he joined the dynamic chef team at The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, which earned the revered AAA Five Diamond Award while he was there, a distinction given to only four hotels in all of Miami. Today, he helms the kitchen at Rusty Pelican, Key Biscayne’s upscale waterfront restaurant known for its delicious seafood menu and sunset views. At this year’s Chef Demonstration Tent, Pastor will create Rusty Pelican’s wildly-popular Crab Cakes with a chipotle aioli.
Born and raised in Mexico, Chef Gerardo B. De Negri of Botánico Gin & Cookhouse began his career at the age of 18, when he managed 10 coffee shops across Mexico. By his mid-20s, he opened and operated his own seven-restaurant chain of gastro bars in Mexico City. From that experience, De Negri left Mexico to attend culinary school in Paris, later returning to Mexico City to open his first full-service Spanish restaurant. He has since gone on to launch multiple restaurants in Miami, including his newest concept, Botánico Gin & Cookhouse, which opened in 2021 in Coconut Grove. At this year’s Chef Demonstration Tent, De Negri will create his Tuna Tartare.
After graduating from Academia de Cocina Verde Oliva culinary school in Bogotá, Colombia, Chef Pablo Zitzmann moved to live with his dad in Miami—his first step in a culinary career that would take him all over the world. Aside from working as a dishwasher and tortilla-maker at age 14, his first restaurant job was as a line cook at Señora Martínez by Michelle Bernstein, followed by the prestigious Nobu under Chef Thomas Buckley. Zitzmann staged around NYC before landing the sous chef gig at Matador Room and Market at EDITION, both by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Interested in Asian cuisine, Zitzmann traveled to Hawaii in 2013 to stage at The Pig and the Lady in Honolulu’s Chinatown, followed by Royal Garden in Honolulu and Yardbird Yakitori in Hong Kong. In 2014, he opened the 75-seat No Name Chinese in South Miami as Executive Chef. In 2019, Zitzmann became Executive Chef of Coral Gables’ THesis Hotel, but then COVID hit—and he had to find something new. He started making Zitz Sum, both a tribute to his nickname and love of dim sum, and was cooking out of his home and selling through Instagram until early 2021, when he opened a physical location of Zitz Sum in Coral Gables. At this year’s Chef Demonstration Tent, Zitzmann will create his Key West Pink Shrimp Dumplings with Calabrian chili dressing, crunchy garlic and Thai basil.
The final cooking demonstration will be dedicated to student chefs, and feature the winners of March 2022’s Deering Seafood Festival Culinary Student Competition. While there is usually only one winner, this year will feature two teams of talented seniors from the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, all of whom created their recipes from scratch. Both teams will have 30 minutes to do their demonstration, and at the end of the hour, attendees will get to try a sample of their dishes. The first-place team, Alexa Rodriguez & Leo Soto, will create their Miso Glazed Soy Sake Sockeye Salmon; and the second-place team, Regina Dukat & Benz Abas, will create their Caribbean Jerk “C.J.” Salmon with Ataúlfo mango salsa on a banana leaf.
As a non-profit organization, the Deering Estate and Deering Estate Foundation could not host its year-long calendar of exciting community events without the help of its generous supporters. The 16th Annual Deering Seafood Festival was made possible by over 35 sponsors, including Eric’s Outboard, Shield Pest Control, Golden Rule Seafood, Shaka Kai, Sports Grille, Miami-Dade County Mayor Danielle Cava and McLusky, McDonald & Hughes, Amerant Bank, as well as media and in-kind sponsors like Kiddos Magazine, Community Newspapers, Baptist Hospital, Florida International University, Miami International Airport, Brand Poets, Veza Sur and more. The festival also has the unwavering support of the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council and the Board of County Commissioners.
The 16th Annual Deering Seafood Festival will take place on Sunday, April 10, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Deering Estate, located at 16701 S.W. 72 Ave., in Palmetto Bay. Festival attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance online. Tickets for adults are priced at $25 in advance and $30 at the gate, and tickets for children ages 4-14 are priced at $7 in advance and $10 at the gate. Ticket prices includes entrance and activities, but exclude food, drink, boat rides and vendor purchases. All proceeds will benefit the Deering Estate Foundation and are used to provide funding, advocacy and support for Deering Estate and its initiatives.
Deering Estate is open daily for guests of all ages to enjoy its open space, wildlife viewing, bay vistas and self-guided access to onsite museums. Check out the upcoming events and programs at Deering Estate. For more information, please visit www.deeringestate.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About The Deering Estate Foundation
For those who treasure the Deering Estate, who advocate for its preservation and wish to invest in its future, The Deering Estate Foundation provides opportunities for individuals and corporations alike to partake in membership, signature events, and one-of-a-kind experiences, all in service of providing vital funding and support to the Deering Estate. Through these efforts, the foundation fulfills its mission to uphold the legacy of Charles Deering’s cherished 1920s-era property, to provide funding for the cultural, educational and recreational experiences it offers, as well as its significant scientific and archaeological endeavors to conserve its diverse flora, fauna and the eight native ecosystems that thrive on its 450 acres, and to ensure its longevity as a prized American heritage site. Established in 1989, The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. is a community-based charitable 501(c) 3 Florida Corporation and the philanthropic partner of the Deering Estate. Interested individuals can become a member here!
About Deering Estate
The Deering Estate is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida, and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Stone House, and along with our philanthropic partners, the Deering Estate Foundation & 100 Ladies of Deering, we will be hosting a series of events & programs in celebration of this momentous occasion. The Deering Estate is located at 16701 SW 72 Ave. in Miami.
