If you’ve been feeling as though Coral Gables was missing a sweet taste of the Caribbean in the past three years, you were right … but now you’re wrong, because that sweet taste is back.
The deeply missed Caribbean restaurant Ortanique is hosting a pop-up, and you can bet it’s gonna be delicious.
Rejoice, Caribbean food lovers! A miracle is returning to the Mile.
Chef Cindy Hutson: “I could cry right now.”
Save your tears. This is a happy occasion.
Ortanique, the beloved Coral Gables restaurant that closed its doors in 2020, is back for a two-month-long pop-up.
Chef Cindy Hutson: “You know, we toyed with the idea of, for a while, of doing it. We decided, ‘Let’s push through.’ We had so many people reaching out to us, wanting us to do this pop-up.”
Now, just a few blocks away from the old spot, the pop-up will be taking over the inside of MKT Kitchen.
And we have the die-hard Ortanique customers to thank for that.
Steve Reed: “We used to go to Ortanique all the time, we were very depressed when it closed, and when I first heard that it was coming back, it was just unbelievable.”
Chef Cindy Hutson: “Our patrons were a driving force in getting us to think about where could we find a location, where would be a good location. And this place, MKT Kitchen, is a wonderful place to do this.”
As good as the news is for customers, the moment is still bittersweet for Chef Cindy Hutson.
Chef Cindy Hutson: “Twenty-one years to the day of opening, we chose to close, and it was hard, it was really emotionally hard. We didn’t tell anybody that was there dining with us that that is what we were doing that night, that it would be the last night, because I knew I would just lose it and cry.”
But now every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening until Dec. 16, Chef will be cooking it up like she used to.
And you can expect some all-time favorites.
Chef Cindy Hutson: “We’ll take dishes off the core menu, that constantly drove people to come and dine with us.”
They’ve got classic Ortanique dishes like…
Chef Cindy Hutson: “A double jerk pork chop; it has drunken rum raisins on it. It’ll be served with a sweet plantain boniato mash. It’s thick, it’s juicy, it’s amazing.”
And, if you are wondering how to get in on this nostalgic experience…
Chef Cindy Hutson: “You must make reservations. We’ll do a nice pop-up, have lots of fun, and who knows what happens after that.”
Ortanique is offering up a rotating menu every weekend, just to ensure you get all the fixings.
FOR MORE INFO:
Ortanique pop-up
Sept. 28 – Dec. 16
MKT Kitchen
1831 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
Coral Gables, FL 33134
instagram.com/ortaniqueonthemile
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