Wednesday, June 8, 7:00 pm
Members $100, guests $125

Johnny Vinczencz was christened the Caribbean Cowboy during his tenure at South Beach’s Astor Place; he became known as the Guava Gaucho while overseeing the kitchen at De La Tierra in Delray Beach, Florida. His cuisine has been given names like New Floridian, Floribbean, and Nuevo Latino, among others. According to the modest Vinczencz, however, his cooking is simply “regional American.”

But the critics won’t let it go at that. “Vinczencz is stirring South Florida’s melting pot with intensity, bringing his bold, pure Caribbean flavors and fondness for smoke and barbecue to this latest stunner,” raved the Miami Herald’s Rochelle Koff in her four-star review of Johnny V. John Mariani of Wine Spectator wrote, “Vinczencz just skirts going over the top with his generosity. Yet everything on the plate is balanced, the way a circus acrobat can both dazzle you and show tremendous discipline at the same time.” Judith Stocks of SouthFlorida.com agreed, explaining, “What Vinczencz succeeds so beautifully at giving us is a stunning repertoire—part whimsical, part comfort food, and part sophistication.”

Once a dishwasher at the Ohio Sheraton, this St. Louis native first made a splash in South Florida as sous-chef of restaurateur Dennis Max’s Maxaluna and Max’s Grill, before moving on to Astor Place, where he garnered national attention and was called “a chef to keep your eye on” by Mariani in Esquire. Five years later, he took over the executive chef position at De La Tierra and its sister location at El Monte Sagrado in New Mexico. In December 2003 he set temperatures rising when he opened his own restaurant, Johnny V, on Las Olas Boulevard.

We’ll be toasting Vinczencz’s creations at the Beard House with Champagnes from Laurent-Perrier, the world’s largest family-run Champagne house. Overseen by cellar master Alain Terrier, Laurent-Perrier Champagnes are generally Chardonnay-driven and multivintage, resulting in crisp, fresh, elegant, and balanced blends that will pair perfectly with Vinczencz’s ebullient dishes.