My partnership with The Miami Beach EDITION, for their celebrated opening during Art Basel, was quite the experience. I have been attending the week-long art show for the past 5 or 6 years. It’s not only a great excuse to escape the NYC chill in early December, but also where I have trained my art world eye and begun a modest personal collection. Days are filled meandering through the various fairs while evenings are punctuated by dinners, artist gatherings and fashion events. All of this is glamorously dreamy but, admittedly, a little exhausting.
This year felt very different, as I was there purely to cover The Miami Beach EDITION property for EyeSwoon. I knew that I needed to immerse myself in all it had to offer: delicious design, décor and food. It was a challenge happily accepted, tasting every dish and exploring every swoony inch of the impeccable property!
When I discovered that Jean-Georges Vongerichten was the celebrated chef behind the hotel’s two amazing restaurants, I decided to reach for the stars and ask to cook with the man himself! Being shy as I am, I asked meekly, believing it would probably never happen. “It won’t take long, I promise!” I assured. Shockingly, none of that bashfulness was necessary—my wish was granted right away!
I barely slept the night before—having just returned from Africa, my time zones were totally off. By the time noon rolled around I was seeing sideways! But I was about to meet an icon, someone I thought of as nearly unreal—an all-mighty and powerful food-world OZ. The sheer excitement of it all snapped me into shape: wide-awake and quite nervous, but so ready to go.
We met at Market, The Miami Beach EDITION’s modern take on the classic diner. Heavenly light floods the 3,400 square-foot space, which is fully loaded, complete with a charcuterie station, raw bar, dessert bar, coffee bar and a wide open kitchen lined with the swooniest copper pots. You want to spend all day in there, and since it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you actually can!
Jean-Georges immediately made me feel at ease, welcoming me into his kitchen with a warmth and openness that I wasn’t expecting from such a high-profile chef. As we started to cook, he passionately explained his vision behind Market and his tips for achieving the lightest pizza dough for our creation. Like a schoolgirl, I was totally enthralled. Hanging on his every word, we whipped up a deliciously cheesy margarita pizza in just twenty minutes—short, but oh so sweet. It might just be my favorite cooking moment yet!
Still in awe, I went on to try everything else the diverse menu had to offer: kale salad with the perfect pinch of lemon and heat; tuna tartar swirled with zesty ginger and avocado; the creamiest burrata paired with a charcuterie plate that was as beautiful as it was delish.
I kept bumping into my new friend and cooking comrade Jean-Georges throughout the week, as he hurried about his kitchen and restaurants, greeting guests, speaking to servers and, one day, surprising me with cookies and a sweet espresso yogurt to try. He was just like the rest of us when we’re in our domain: totally comfortable, making sure all runs smoothly, and noticeably proud, even stepping back to snap pictures…for Instagram, perhaps? We were all swooning for the world of EDITION…even the great JG!
Photography by Masha Maltsava
