TILL We Meet Again 1:1

Ortanique on the Mile and Cindy Hutson and Delius Shirley

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Ortanique on the Mile and Cindy Hutson and Delius Shirley

Cindy Hutson and Delius Shirley hold a very dear place in our food-obsessed hearts. In the mid-1990s, the chef-restaurateurs and life partners opened their first restaurant, Norma’s on the Beach. Like Betsy and me, Cindy is from New Jersey, while Delius is from Jamaica. The establishment was named in honor of his mom, Norma Shirley, who was a highly accomplished chef, and a mentor to them as well as many others.

Norma’s was located in a pocket of Lincoln Road when the walking mall was still a relatively empty strip of cement, faded and cracked like a stick of stale Wrigley’s gum. Back then, it was mostly populated with art galleries that gave clay-throwing classes to make ends meet and funky coffee shops like Gertrude’s that served French presses to twentysomething Gen Xers. (Yes, we were young once.)

Every time Betsy came to South Beach to visit me, we’d head to Norma’s for a Caribbean-influenced lunch or happy hour filled with items like smoked marlin, curried crab cakes, and bloody Marys spiked with hot sauce. Eventually, as the self-taught Cindy grew bolder and experimented with local and seasonal Florida products influenced by or paired with Caribbean items and flavors, she named her style of food “Cuisine of the Sun.” I always thought this an apt slogan, because both she and Delius – their personalities and their hospitality – make you feel like the sun does: warm, happy, exuberant.

As Cindy’s skills grew, so did the pair’s reputation. They moved to Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, and Ortanique on the Mile was born. Around the time of the restaurant’s quinceañera, I had the privilege of helping her put many of the recipes from Norma’s and Ortanique – “Bahamian Style Conch Chowder,” “Red Stripe Mediterranean Mussels,” “Marinated Mahi-Mahi in Breadfruit Taco Shells,” and “Jerk-Brined T-bone Pork Chops in Bacardi Oakheart Guava Sauce,” to name several – in her cookbook, From the Tip of My Tongue. Beautifully photographed by Michael Pisarri, with whom I also worked at Modern Luxury’s MIAMI Magazine for many years, it went on to win Best Cookbook by a Female Chef in the Gourmand Awards. (This cookbook actually took about 10 years to produce. When I spoke with Cindy recently, she had just unearthed our first cookbook proposal – a historic gem written in 2006!)

Flash forward 21 years, however, and Ortanique on the Mile, like so many beloved restaurants, will not survive. Although they had originally intended to remodel the place in keeping with Miracle Mile’s beautifying plan, the construction, termed the “Streetscape,” took two years and cost them too much business. At one point, Cindy recalls, a tractor was parked for months where their lunchtime crowd would normally sit outside. Then came the pandemic. In mid-July, Cindy posted the following on her social media:

While this makes both Betsy and me sad – for Cindy, Delius, their daughter Ashley who worked with them as manager (and typed all the recipes on the computer from Cindy’s hand-written notes to send to me), and all the employees who have lost their jobs, we’re not here to mourn. We’re here to celebrate what Norma’s and Ortanique gave us over the years: access to Caribbean flavors, education about methods and customs, and no shortage of Appleton rum-soaked desserts.

Meanwhile, Cindy and Delius are enjoying, as Delius says, having weekends off for the first time in memory, and time with their youngest grandson, who just turned one.

But weekends are all they’re really going to get – and not for long. Delius is still running Zest MRKT, the pickup-and-delivery consolidation concept of what once was a larger restaurant and market property, in downtown Miami every weekday. (That was a great happy hour, too.) The couple’s other Zest, located in The Cliff Hotel in Jamaica, will reopen in October. There, you’ll be able to dig into items like the “Rum-Braised Short Ribs” or “Norma’s Terrace Salad” (local greens, arugula, papaya, cucumber, grapefruit and ortanique orange segments, feta cheese tossed in minted passion fruit vinaigrette, and Caribbean-spiced cashews). Sales of the salad help support The Norma Shirley Culinary Fund. One day, when it’s safe to travel, Betsy and I will hop a flight from MIA and reminisce over the locally smoked “Marlin Carpaccio” or “Coconut Rundown Lobster.”

Cindy, who is the Culinary Ambassador for the Miami Cancer Institute and teaching Zoom cooking classes for patients, is also gearing up for the opening of Cervecería La Tropical, which was supposed to open this past June in Wynwood but will likely debut around November. Originally launched in Cuba in 1888, this reinvented brewery will be Miami’s newest beer garden.

Until then, we bring you the following Cuisine of the Sun recipes so that you can shine some epicurean optimism around your own kitchens in these not-so-sanguine times. You’ll note that these recipes are made to serve eight people. That’s entirely appropriate for a chef and a restaurateur who treat their customers, their employees, and everyone they meet like we’re all one big family.
JK / BK

Jerk Chicken Penne Pasta

3 tablespoons salted butter
Jerk-Marinated Chicken (see below for marinade and procedure)
1½ cup julienne shiitake mushrooms
½ cup sundried tomatoes
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon chicken flavor
1 bunch chopped scallions
¼ cup fresh basil chiffonade
2 pounds cooked penne pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, melt butter. Sauté the chicken until ½ cooked. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, heavy cream, and chicken bouillon. Sauté for about 3 minutes on medium-high heat or until the cream has thickened. Toss in scallion and basil and stir. Toss in the pasta and gently mix until covered with the sauce.

Jerk-Marinated Chicken

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons prepared Caribbean jerk paste (or powder)
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
½ cup minced yellow onion
4 pounds boneless chicken breast, julienne into bite-size strips.

In a stainless steel bowl, mix all the ingredients with a whisk. Place the chicken in the marinade and let stand for at least an hour. When ready to use, pour off the excess marinade.

Serves 8

West Indian Curried Crab Cakes

3 eggs
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
2 scallions, chopped, greens only
¼ cup diced bell pepper
¼ cup diced yellow bell pepper
¼ cup diced red onion
½ cup brunoise-cut green mango
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 cup panko
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and curry powder. Set aside and let the curry bloom for 15 minutes.

Add scallions, parsley, red onion, and red and yellow pepper and toss with curry mixture.

Add the crab, panko, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss ingredients together gently. Form into 3-ounce patties.

In a hot skillet with butter, sear off until golden brown on each side. Finish in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Serve with Papaya-Mango Salsa

Serves 8

Papaya-Mango Salsa

1 Cup Papayas Diced
1 Cup Mangoes Diced
¼ cup sugar (adjust to sweetness of papaya)
Juice of 3 limes
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1/3 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Scotch bonnet pepper sauce to taste

In a bowl, place all ingredients and mix well.

Serves 8