A Quickie With Catch & Cut's Andre Bienvenu

After a quarter century at Joe's Stone Crab, he's learned some things

Photo by Joaquin Anico/JA Photography

If you’ve been to Joe’s Stone Crab at any point this century, Andre Bienvenu had a hand in your dinner. The Ohio native came to South Florida in the late 1990s to take a job at the iconic South Beach restaurant, and served as its executive chef for 26 years. Over the decades, he gained a reputation as one of the hardest working, most consistent, and even-keeled chefs in the city.

But after a quarter century, Bienvenu knew it was time to move on. And late last year he reimagined the kitchen at Catch & Cut in Ft. Lauderdale, taking the reins as partner and Executive Chef. While Catch & Cut is hardly Joe’s North, the chef brings his same dedication to hospitality and great steak and seafood. And as we move headlong into stone crab season, he’s definitely a guy you’ll want to visit.

He sat down with The Leftovers and told us why he never drinks, smokes, or swears, and how something called Gobbledeegaloo shaped his culinary future.