Executive Chef Michael Reidt at Area 31 and Epic hotel

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Executive Chef, Area 31

Reidt first realized his affinity for cooking while studying Civil Engineering at University of Lowell. The Massachusetts native began working at an omelet bar to work his way through school. It was here he fell in love with the kitchen.

Reidt's different culinary experiences under Todd English and leading the kitchens of two popular Boston restaurants, Restaurant Zinc and Bomboa, have landed him in Miami as executive chef of Area 31. Known for his experimentation with traditional South American ingredients, Reidt combines his passion for ingredient-driven dishes with distinct rich flavor combinations to create sustainable seafood and ingredients that celebrate local farms and purveyors.

More from Chef Reidt

Chef E. Michael Reidt's Coconut Butter Poached Lobster with Smoked Cauliflower and Clams, plated with Mizuna Puree.

Q: What are your favorite things to forage?
A: Having moved to South Florida from Maryland, it's entirely new ball game. I grew up thinking the only things that were here were alligators and oranges. In fact, there's an amazing array of nature. In the last year I discovered ginger flowers and mulberries. And there's a slew of plants great for making flavored teas. I'm thinking of chickweed, amaranth and horsemint, which is wild, very bitter and makes incredible tea.
Q: What's your favorite dish to make with foraged items?
A: I'm so passionate about all the tropical fruits here. There are more than 100 varieties of mangoes, plus papayas, bananas, coconuts, avocados and jackfruit. We puree papaya and pair it with ceviche. We grill star fruit and add it to slaw. We puree plantains with pieces of chorizo and pork belly. I've also become a sucker for plants. So the best dish for me, believe or not, is a salad. Considering the powerful flavor of wild flowers you can make it solely with them, plus just a little grape seed oil and sea salt. The list of salad plants in South Florida is endless and includes things no one has ever seen in a grocery store.
Q: Where do you go to dive into nature?
A: I head to about an hour south of Miami to the Redlands, an agricultural community. The entire farming area is nourished by the Biscayne Bay aquifer. I'm also working my way into the Everglades, where one might fear the alligators-and-pythons thing. But one of my buddies has said, “I'd rather be out here freaking out about alligators then dealing with drivers on 95 in downtown Miami.”
Q: What's your favorite season for foraging?
A: We're going out to sea to forage spiny lobster in November. The reason runs from October to March.
Q: Do you enjoy foraging in a group or solo?
A: The sea foraging will be with a group. I've called on several of my chef buddies and we have four other nationally acclaimed chefs joining the day trip.
Q: What do you bring with you on foraging expeditions?
A: I bring a compass, burlap bag, garden shovel, compass, pocketknife, toothbrush, sunscreen, lots of water, scissors and binoculars. Also, I downloaded a new app called Wild Edibles. The cool thing about it is that it has six to eight photographs of each plant, which helps me identify what's good and what's bad. For sea foraging, you need a license, sunscreen and diving gloves.
Q: What would your dream trip into the wild be like?
A: There is a 13-day hike put on by the Florida Plant Society that travels 153 miles, and you leave base camp with no food. It sounds to me like the perfect cleanse. Some people would do it by going to the spa and eating watermelon for a week; I would rather head into the woods and kick it old school for a week and a half.