Our mates Chef Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth keep rolling out the hits in their growing restaurant empire, from Puerto Rico to Miami and North Carolina and now Ft Lauderdale with the recently opened Florida Room, a “Love Letter to Florida” at a new sports and entertainment complex called The Fort. You’re going to want to see the dishes that make it a must-try destination, and probably make a reservation to go in person! We caught up with Chef Jeff to get the scoop.
Tell us about the Florida Room, you and Janine’s new spot in Ft Lauderdale.
“We envisioned Florida Room as the perfect spot for affordable, comfortable, stress-free weeknight dining, a fun family dinner, or drinks with happy hour friends,” says McInnis. “Naturally, the offerings are elevated by technique and made with the best ingredients available, but a night at Florida Room should feel familiar and comforting in the best possible ways. With grassfed beef, no seed oils and using pure ingredients, we’re resonating with how people in the area want to eat.”
What Aussie meats do you use at the Florida Room, and how do you feature them? We see a lot of our faves from your other spots!
“Yes, over the years we’ve found dishes that are just too good to not have on a menu, and they fit the theme really well at Florida Room. Janine’s authentically Aussie lamb sausage rolls are there as an appetizer, the Aussie Wagyu shortrib meatloaf, and an 18oz grassfed Aussie Ribeye that we serve with a trio of sauces – chimichurri, marrow butter, and black garlic aioli.”
Love it. Those dishes are hitting all the trend notes for this year. What do you like about using the Aussie products?
“Flavor first, of course – the Aussie wagyu is phenomenal, and the grassfed beef and lamb out of Australia is just built different. The beef has excellent marbling, it’s tender, and has that true beefy flavor that we’re looking for. Aussie lamb is so mild, clean and sweet that we can convert just about anyone who thinks they don’t like lamb into a fan. As an operator thinking about cost controls, Aussie cuts are so well trimmed, I get great utilization, like 90%. And because it’s so clean and the export systems are so good, it’s really easy to manage inventory. I can bring in whole primals and not worry about shrink.”
Sounds awesome! Can’t wait to pop in and sample the menu. For more from Chef McInnis, follow this link.