Connect
To Top

Meet Adrianne Calvo of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant in Kendall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrianne Calvo.

Adrianne, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story begins in 1984. As a young kid growing up in Florida to Cuban born parents, I wasn’t running home after school to kick around a soccer ball or check out the latest video game, I was running into the kitchen to help my mom put dinner on the table. What I would learn later in life is these countless days spent watching her sprinkle a little bit of this and mixing in a little bit of that into sumptuous dishes that my family and I would relish in together is what inevitably started my drive to become a chef.

After a scheduling mistake in high school that landed me in a cooking class rather than a journalism class on THE day hospitality giant Johnson & Wales University came to do a presentation, my professional journey began. And yes…I do believe in fate! I entertained my competitive side with a slew of cooking competitions and was fortunate enough to be called upon by the Florida Marlins to cater the 2003 World Series. After graduating Johnson & Wales University I took a position with Five Diamond Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami where I learned first-hand from Executive Chef Patrick Lassaque the good, the bad and the ugly of the restaurant business. Shortly after, I landed in Napa Valley to stage with the great Chef Thomas Keller and Chef Cindy Pawlcyn. I still pinch myself that I was able to gleam even a sliver of knowledge from these remarkable chefs.

While some people thought a teenager had no business writing a cookbook, I had so many ideas, recipes, food memories I wanted to make a reality since I was a small child that a book seemed like a natural next step. I mustered together what I could and self-published my first book Maximum Flavor but the sales struggled. Did I bite off more than I could chew? Possibly. Then, as fate may have it, the phone rang and a producer with the Montell Williams show claimed to be on the other end (though I was convinced I was being pranked by a friend). They were doing a show on inspiring young entrepreneurs and wanted to invite me, the teenage cookbook author, on the show. I was blown away and humbled beyond belief and it was thanks to that appearance that I sold enough books to start a restaurant in the first place.

I still don’t know how some of these went from idea to printed word but I can now count four cookbooks under my belt. I know I have many people to thank including my hard working team and my incredibly supportive friends and family. The complete collection now includes: Maximum Flavor (2005), Chef Adrianne: Driven by Flavor Fueled by Fire (2008), #MaximumFlavorSocial (2014) and Play with Fire (2015).

And that’s my story in a nutshell. If you stop by Chef Adrianne’s for lunch or dinner, be sure to pop into the kitchen to say hi!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Time management and life balance have been the main obstacles in my journey to where I am now. A chef is a job that involves an incredibly demanding schedule, Couple that with the fact that I am a sole business owner in one of the riskiest businesses there is, and it can make for some sleepless nights. I also run a foundation, have regular television appearances, create cookbooks, and run a fitness campaign. This becomes especially challenging when I am trying to make time for family and friends, though they are the ones that help me overcome all of these obstacles.

Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At age 20 I took a trip to Napa Valley that ended up changing the course of my life for the better. I instantly fell in love with the food, the wine, the atmosphere and everything in between. After a few fortuitous experiences and a bit of elbow grease along the way, in 2007 Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar moved from a dream to a reality.

Now nearly 10 years later, I am reminded on a nightly basis how deeply food can inspire. At Chef Adrianne’s, we aim to evoke the same type of ambiance my trip to Napa Valley offered me. The menu is curated with Maximum Flavor in mind as we set out on a daily basis to make sure that each bite, each sip and each experience is as memorable as the last. We do not specialize in a specific genre of food. Rather, we specialize in achieving maximum flavor in all of our dishes.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career has been when the patients of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital hand painted a frame that said “TEN” celebrating the 10th anniversary of Chef Adrianne’s. All worlds collided for me at that moment. It was not only the proudest moment of my career, but the proudest moment of my life thus far.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:

Gorilla Management Group

Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in