Chef Spotlight: Denevin Miranda – Chef de Cuisine of 1 HOTEL BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Chef Denevin Miranda's love for food started at an early age in Long Island, New York, where he was inspired by his Grandmother's love and respect for quality and traditional Filipino cooking. Following his passion, he received his Associate in Science degree for Culinary Arts and Chef Training from Johnson & Wales University.

Miranda began his culinary career working as a line cook under acclaimed Chef Clay Conley at Miami's only 5-diamond restaurant at the time, Azul, located in the Mandarin Oriental. Miranda obtained his first leadership role as Junior Sous Chef in 2008 while working closely with Executive Chef Jonathan Wright at The Restaurant in the Setai Hotel. He was then promoted to Chef de Cuisine in 2013. After spending 6 years at The Restaurant, Miranda went on to achieve the role Chef de Cuisine of the Carillon Wellness Resort, where he mastered cooking health-centric food while using sustainable, organic and non-processed ingredients. In 2016, Miranda joined sbe Entertainment Group as Executive Chef of Openings and Special Projects.

In May 2019, Miranda joined 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge as the Chef de Cuisine of Restaurants and Bars. As part of the socially and environmentally conscious lifestyle 1 Hotel brand, Miranda oversees all menu creation, kitchen staff management, and meal preparation for The Osprey, Harriet's Rooftop & Lounge, and Neighbors Café. As an extension of the hotel's nature-driven inspiration, Miranda ensures eateries uphold their reputation of using fresh and seasonal ingredients from local Brooklyn vendors and purveyors. Utilizing his sustainable cooking experience, Miranda created a new farm-to-table, contemporary American menu for The Osprey that celebrates the cultural diversity of NYC. Just steps from the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge, Miranda contributes to the perfect spot for both locals and hotel guests to enjoy market-driven fare and specialty craft cocktails.

Miranda has established himself as a national authority within the culinary industry by participating in multiple Food and Wine Festivals and being featured in the press including Indulge, Eater, Ocean Drive Magazine and The Miami Herald.

Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Denevin Miranda about his career and 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.

What was your earliest interest in cooking?

My parents tell me that as soon as I could crawl I would always make my way to the kitchen to play with pot and pans. But my earliest and fondest memories where of picking fresh vegetables from my grandmother's garden in the backyard of my childhood home in Long Island. I would then sit on a stool in the kitchen and be mesmerized by her chopping, boiling, and sautéing those ingredients to prepare dinner for our family. I pretty much grew up on organic farm to table from our own backyard, these memories have inspired how I source and look for fresh local ingredients now.

Who were some of your career mentors?

So you may have began to assess that my grandmother had a great deal to do with my love of cooking and you would be correct. She immigrated to the US from the province of Pompanga, which is the proclaimed culinary capitol of the Philippines. Apart from being a landlady of several apartment buildings, she owned a farm and restaurant before she immigrated. She brought her love of food and cooking with her to New York and filled my childhood home with the amazing aromas of her family recipes. She also cooked completely from scratch, for instance if she needed coconut milk for a recipe she would grate fresh coconuts by hand to squeeze out the milk in cheese cloth.

What culinary styles have influenced your career?

Surprisingly enough when I began my culinary career I shied away from Asian cooking despite my background. I gravitated to Mediterranean and French cuisine because I didn't want to be "type casted" as an Asian chef and it was also the prominent cuisine in fine dining restaurants at the time and that is where I was interested in working. But eventually I was drawn back to my roots and worked as the Chef de Cuisine for the Setai in Miami Beach, serving up pan Asian cuisine from Indian, Thai, Malaysian and Chinese dishes in a fine dining atmosphere. I then moved on to Japanese Cuisine as the Executive Chef of Katsuya in Brickell. My current approach to developing new dishes at the Osprey is to utilize my extensive knowledge of all these different cooking styles and flavors and use them to elevate the beautiful, organic farm fresh ingredients we source.

What do you consider the most distinguishing features of your work as a chef?

My greatest passion in cooking is the creativity and artistry that goes into a dish. It is the most amazing feeling to express yourself not only in the presentation of the dish put the canvas of flavors you offer to your guests. The gratification of making memorable experiences for people though your art is extremely rewarding.

What are your favorite meals?

My favorite meals are the ones that are cathartic and bring you back to a time or place. One that comes to mind is a meal I had in a humble trattoria outside of Positano, Italy on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. They had the freshest seafood brought to their private dock by local fisherman and grew their own vegetables in a small patch of land by the rocky side of the cliff. The food was simple but you could tell immense care and love went into the preparation. Even though the dishes were completely different it still brought me back to eating sweet sun ripened tomatoes from my grandma's garden with delicately pan fried fish.

Tell me a little bit about your restaurant for our readers.

The Osprey is a locally sourced farm-to-table restaurant serving New American cuisine. Our take on contemporary American cooking is inspired by the cultural melting pot that makes our city and country so unique and amazing. We believe immigrants are some of the pioneers of farm-to-table cuisine, they brought the their culture to these shores along with seeds that have shaped the restaurants and markets we have today, less we forget they are also the predominant labor force in farms and fields where our foods come from. So here at the Osprey we celebrate those influences in our dishes like our take on [Caribbean] jerk marinated heritage chicken, to the [Tuscan] wild boar pappardelle and the confit duck [Filipino] lumpia served with crispy pan roasted Long Island duck breast.

The Osprey at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is located at 60 Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201. They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner service. For menus and reservations, visit them at https://www.1hotels.com/brooklyn-bridge/taste/osprey or call 347.696.2500.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Chef Denevin Miranda