The Power of A Plant
Hidden among the cacophony of high-rise buildings, warehouses, and even a CrossFit gym just off of Biscayne Boulevard, you’ll discover an oasis of serenity: The Sacred Space. Like a diamond in the rough, every corner
Hidden among the cacophony of high-rise buildings, warehouses, and even a CrossFit gym just off of Biscayne Boulevard, you’ll discover an oasis of serenity: The Sacred Space. Like a diamond in the rough, every corner of this Wynwood gem shines. For a day in paradise, grab a table indoors or outdoors at its wellness-driven concept, Plant Miami, and do as the locals do. Order a glass of (organic) rosé, eat to your heart’s content, and celebrate the beauty of South Florida with the restaurant’s surrounding outdoor lounge, gold-tiled reflecting pond, guava grove, and meditation garden.
Trends come and go in the Magic City, but at Plant Miami, plant-based living is—and always has been—a lifestyle. Since it first opened in 2016, the restaurant has become known for its modern, plant-based dishes and emphasis on using vibrant and organic living foods. Here, dishes come alive with specialty microgreens, 57 varieties of edible flowers, a variety of superfoods, medicinal herbs, and ancient spices, all paired with a handpicked list of biodynamic and organic spirits, craft cocktails, and organic wines. From the setting to the menu, Plant Miami has created a restaurant, or something better described as a “gastronomic escape,” that is unlike anything South Floridians have had before.
And creating this culinary magic is husband-wife duo, Horacio Rivadero and Veronica Manolizi. Having worked in the kitchens at Big Fish, OLA Restaurant, and the pan-Asian eatery The District, executive chef Rivadero is no stranger to the Miami dining scene. In 2012, Food and Wine magazine named him “Best New Chef: Gulf Region,” and in 2014, he earned a James Beard nod as a semifinalist for “Best Chef: South.” It wasn’t long after that Rivadero and Manolizi, the latter of whom reigns as pastry chef, joined forces at Plant Miami, where they took the skills they honed in non-plant-based kitchens and got creative with a whole new world of natural ingredients.
Executive Chef Horacio Rivadero and Pastry Chef Veronica Manolizi
“My background was being a traditional chef, and my knowledge of plant-based was minimal. The good thing was that by cooking that other food, I really got to understand the different flavors, which comes in handy,” says Rivadero. “Think of Freddie Mercury. He played rock n’ roll but when they wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, he had to study and understand classical music to be able to perform it. It was the same for my wife and I when we came to Plant Miami.”
Inspired by South Florida’s tropical landscape, Rivadero and Manolizi have created an all-day menu—brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert— that even non-plant-based eaters crave. The Handcrafted Cheese Board, for one, is a popular start to every meal. As colorful as it is good for you, the board comes with activated white truffle, mixed peppercorn, and smoked cheddar cheeses—made from cashews—served with a papaya compote, pickled watermelon rinds, and sunflower seed crackers. Another appetizer, the Dumplings, are made with a sweet potato- coconut wrapper and ginger foam. As for mains, the Cauliflower Steak with dill chimichurri, pea shoots, and a lemon caper dressing and the Kofta + Curry with coconut noodles, mung beans, tomatoes, peppers, and a coconut curry sauce, are as nourishing as they are delicious.
If you’re there on a Saturday or Sunday, don’t miss the revamped brunch, where plant-based Pancakes with banana, caramel, pecans, Vermont maple syrup, and a dollop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream tastes like the real deal. Replacing traditional huevos rancheros, the Tamale Ranchero uses an adobo squash filling, salsa verde, black beans, a pepper escabeche, and lime crema.
With Manolizi at the helm, the desserts are top notch, too. Try the dairy-free Churros with Mexican chocolate and a caramel sauce, the Key Lime Brûlée with a housemade almond crust and vanilla ice cream, or the Halavah Squares with pistachio ice cream and almond-tahini halavah. Whatever you order, the result is the same: you’ll leave full, satisfied, and in awe of what talented chefs can do with plant-based ingredients.
“It wasn’t always so easy. I was so lost for the first few months! The chef before me would tell me, ‘Just forget about what you’ve done in the kitchen before,’” Rivadero says. “The flavors from other proteins are so heavy and sometimes the fat covers your palate, so you really only get one or two flavors. In this case, everything is clean and most of the dishes are raw. In dishes that aren’t raw, like our Kofta + Curry, we cook the curry but dehydrate the koftas. I had to learn to find that balance so that you have many different flavors in one dish.”
Under the umbrella of The Sacred Space, Plant Miami is part of a greater wellness community (or a “spiritual campus,” as founder and owner Karla Dascal calls it) that Miami serenity-seekers crave. Walk into the zen courtyard and meditation garden, and you’ll find instructors leading outdoor yoga classes and various wellness workshops, plus a retail shop selling CBD supplements and Moon Juice (the same product that is used in Plant Miami’s popular Moon Juice Lattes). In 2017, Dascal purchased Paradise Farms in Homestead as an extension of The Sacred Space. Working hand-in-hand, this biodynamic farm not only provides nearly all of the produce, herbs, and spices used at Plant Miami, but it gives The Sacred Space an extra seven and a half acres of programming. Dascal plans to make the farm a future destination for wellness and holistic retreats, something she believes South Floridians desperately need.
“Miami has always been considered a city of excess and partying. The Sacred Space Miami provides a setting for a community that understands the importance of living a vibrant, organic life,” Dascal says. “It’s about living at your highest vibration and sharing it with the community. The idea is: as I help myself, I can help others.”
And in the spirit of helping others, another service that Plant Miami offers is Plant Culinary. Through a series of one-off classes, budding chefs of all ages and skill levels can visit the kitchen to learn about plant-based cooking from the pros. Local culinary experts and visiting celebrity chefs alike educate students about the importance of a plant-based diet and show them how to recreate it at home—from “cheese” and chocolate-making classes to superfood bowls, kombucha, dessert classes, and more. On brand with the rest of the venture, the classes teach how to cook using only plant-based ingredients: meaning no dairy, no eggs, no meat, and no gluten.
Plant Culinary
And while plant-based dining is a growing trend in Miami now, this O.G. Wynwood spot has long stuck to its roots to turn that trend into a permanent lifestyle.
“We just focus on the food. We don’t need to have the ‘Miami’ scene. We don’t need to have celebrities. We don’t need to have a DJ. We don’t even have anything on the walls!” says Rivadero. “Our restaurant has a clean design because we don’t want anything to take away from the food on the table.”
And no matter what happens, that commitment to simplicity remains.
“Even in times where it’s been rough, like during Hurricane Irma or Zika, Karla [Dascal] always told us to ‘just stick to the plan,’” Rivadero says. “We want you to just walk into the restaurant, make yourself at home, and feel the respect with which we craft each dish and drink. It’s really that simple.”
Happy dining!
By Jennifer Agress | Miami Editor