Chefs Brad and Soraya Kilgore can be found daily at BRAVA by Brad Kilgore; a trendy restaurant located in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Recognized by Zagat as one of the 10 hottest restaurants in Miami, a dinner and show pairing at BRAVA is a fantastic experience for groups, said Brad Kilgore, promising, “We take it to the next level.”
While small groups can use several of the meeting rooms, the entire stage can be set up for up to 1,000.
“We’ve built a satellite kitchen for dinners that size,” Kilgore said.
For one group, BRAVA offered a tasting with wines from the Canary Islands.
“We built a wall with the short vines of these particular grapes, creating the vines visually with a pate,” he said. “We like to give our customers a show.”
BRAVA offers classic recipes with a modern twist, according to Kilgore.
“We’ve turned our veal saltimbocca into a raviolo with porcini mushrooms and a sage brown butter sauce,” he said.
For Soraya, his partner in life and in the kitchen is the pastry chef for both kitchens. Originally from Honduras, she attended Johnson & Wales University in Denver where she got her degree in baking and pastry arts. The two met at the Epic Hotel in Chicago, where Brad was her boss. When the couple decided to take a vacation in Miami and returned to a Chicago snowstorm they decided to make Miami their permanent home.
“Today’s meeting planners sometimes ask for lighter desserts or ones that are gluten-free,” she explained. “It’s hard with something like a tiramisu, but it’s doable. One thing that is always top of mind when it comes to dessert is using seasonal ingredients,” she said, adding that this is something she plans to do when she opens up another venue, Mad Lab Creamery, this year.
Like her husband, she’ll also be taking ice cream to the “next level” using liquid nitrogen, cotton candy, different berry flavors and multicolored sprinkles.
She hopes meeting planners will hop on one of the many food tours in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and stop by for a sample.
There is also a trend toward groups interacting with the chef and staff. To keep up with the trend, BRAVA offers family-style meals where it has brought in a sommelier to talk about the wines being served. Guests can chat with the sommelier about the wines, offering an opportunity to engage one on one.
