There’s something very Eyal Shani about putting a tomato on a plate and expecting you to pay attention. At Naked Tomato, the Jerusalem-born chef’s new Miami Beach restaurant, that confidence extends well beyond the namesake fruit. This is a celebration of ingredients in their most honest, unapologetically simple form. Fire, tahini, olive oil, vegetables, meat. Not much hiding behind technique for technique’s sake. The simplicity is the point.
If Eyal Shani’s name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, his restaurants probably will. Along with longtime partner Shahar Segal, they operate more than 50 restaurants around the world, including the famously rowdy HaSalon, Michelin-starred Shmoné in New York, and one of our favorite fast-casual stops in Las Vegas, Miznon.
They also share another unmistakable Shani signature: menus that read somewhere between dinner instructions, poetry and the thoughts running through a chef’s head.
“Cabbage cake melting into itself.”
“Hamachi sashimi, the way we do it in the Middle East.”
“Freshly baked 4 spicy instruments that swirl your soul.”
You get the idea.
So, naturally, we went to see what Naked Tomato was doing for Miami Spice, where $50 gets you three courses and a pretty convincing introduction to Shani’s universe.
We started with the Fire Roasted Eggplant Carpaccio arrives smoky and spicy with tahini and tomato seeds. Then there’s the Charred Beetroot, described, appropriately, as being “torn apart violently but carefully,” before coming to rest on horseradish cream.
Next up is the Hummus Gargirim, plus the Bag of Green Beans tossed in lemon-garlic vinaigrette. The beans might be the better introduction to what Naked Tomato is trying to say. They’re deliciously simple, bright and barely messed with. A vegetable allowed to taste very much like itself. Of course, staying entirely on the Spice menu would require more self-control than we possess.
And then: THE ORIGINAL WORLD FAMOUS BABY CAULIFLOWER. Yes, the menu screams it at you. The cauliflower seems to demand the attention too. Give it what it wants.
For the main course, Miami Spice moves into Shipudim, or skewers. There are Chicken Thighs billed with the kind of nostalgia Shani does so well, tender and juicy like the chicken you wish you remembered from childhood. The Lamb Kebab is long, juicy and deeply satisfying. Vegetarians get Mushrooms Cooked on the Flame, which feels less like a consolation prize and more like the natural expression of a restaurant obsessed with what fire can do to an ingredient.
Each comes with the Trust Me addition, and you should. Pita, pickles and olives, tahini, charif, Middle Eastern coleslaw, babaganush, charred corn and pickled onions that turn the skewers into the kind of table where everyone starts reaching across everyone else.
Dessert continues the personality. Miami Spice gives you two options. There’s Malabi, from Chef’s memories of Tel Aviv, and the wonderfully Tatami, which the menu makes very clear is not tiramisu. But we also went off-menu for the Basque Cheesecake. Soft in the center and absolutely worth the extracurricular order.
The looseness is ultimately what makes Naked Tomato interesting. The menu moves with what’s ripe, what looks beautiful and what demands to be eaten right now. It’s ingredient-driven cooking. Here, vegetables get burned, torn apart, dressed up, shouted about and occasionally written into menu descriptions that sound like tiny manifestos. Simple food, with a very big personality.
Now, Chef Eyal, since we have your attention: Miami would also like Miznon’s Falafel Burger, Folded Cheeseburger and Bag of Golden Meat, stuffed with overnight brisket and onions. We’re asking nicely.
For now, Naked Tomato is open in Miami Beach, with Brooklyn next on the horizon.