I don’t know about you, but watching Chef Valerie Chang of Maty’s Miami win Best Chef South at the James Beard Awards on June 10th was very exciting and so inspiring for all of us fans and the many talented and hard-working chefs in Miami.

A multiple JBF nominee, Valerie was the first James Beard winner for Miami in 10 years and her acceptance speech thanking her team, her parents who emigrated from Peru, her brother, Nando, and Miami was moving and heartfelt.

So, when I saw, that Valerie was headed to NYC for a one-night collab with hip Korean restaurant, ATOBOY, I grabbed a reservation and invited my longtime friend and founder and editor of CTbites, Stephanie Webster.

 MIAbites X CTbites!

Maty’s X ATOBOY!

ATOBOY at 43 E 28th offers innovative Korean-inspired cuisine in a minimalist space that opened in 2016 and has been recognized by the New York Times, Michelin Guide and OAD Top Restaurants.

The somewhat industrial looking space was perfect setting for the collaboration, which was presented by Resy and featured a 3-course prix fix menu at $99 (service was included).

A special beverage menu included both unique cocktails and collab mocktails in addition to an extensive wine list.

The Maty’s X ATOBOY menu was divided into 3 sections, with a choice of one from each section and were large enough to share.

The meal began with traditional “banchan” small side dishes served with every Korean meal and included warm crispy pancake like tortitas, spicy mango cubes, radish and houesmade hot sauce, and mustard.

For our first course, we chose two of the dishes, the raw scallop ceviche with cilantro, crispy garlic and paper-thin green grapes. Beautiful and refreshing.

The thinly sliced raw tuna, with delicate anjou pear in a sesame leche de tigre, offered a perfect bite of top-quality tuna.

Our next selections included the roasted cauliflower steak topped with gochujang sauce and a grilled octopus in aji panca, pork ssamjang and smoked potato. Both were delicious and unique in their flavor profiles.

The two main dishes were both showstoppers, as a whole grilled Dorada was topped with kimchi beurre blanc and chives. Peeling back the delicate skin revealed a clean, meaty and rich flavored fish.

The crispy chicken cutlet was topped with chervil herbs and a slightly sweet dulce de leche.

I will dream of this as a crispy chicken sandwich on a toasted bun.

The desserts were an $18 supplement but well worth it to end the meal with the slightly sweet Chica Morada of mango, passion fruit and jolly pong, or the sticky and sweet, addictive picarones, which were like a sweet potato and squash donuts in a chancaca syrup.

The menu was a wonderful complement between ATOBOY’s Korean flavors and Maty’s Peruvian and Miami touches.

We were pleased with every special bite, which was obviously prepared thoughtfully and served by the experienced staff.

While this was a “one night only” treat, be sure to visit ATOBOY when in NYC, and Maty’s when in Miami.

ATOBOY

43 E 28th St

New York, NY

Maty’s

3255 NE 1st Ave.

Miami, FL

Reservations for both on Resy

PHOTO CREDIT: Stephanie Webster for CTbites

UPCOMING COLLAB:

Chef Val Chang hosts Chef Jose del Castillo of Isolina, Lima, Peru on Sunday, July 28th beginning at 12 noon for an $85 6 course course brunch celebrating Peruvian Independence Day.

Reserve on Resy