A Quickie with Chevre's Mario Naar
The Cheese Don can also cook like a mother....
You may not know Mario Naar, but you definitely know his cheese.
The man behind Chevre – Coral Way’s gourmet cheese and sandwich shop – is quietly building an empire of dairy with new locations in the Design District, Coconut Grove, Palm Beach, and Douglas Road either open or coming in the next year. He’s also a consummate entrepreneur, a co-founder of Salvaje in Panama before trying his hand with cheese in Miami. And he now owns his own caviar company, among other endeavors.
We caught up with him at Sipping Station, the wine, cheese, and tapas bar he opened in conjunction with wine expert Matthieu Yamoum at downtown’s Brightline station. And over a glass of malbec and a killer lasagna, he told us about what he likes to cook when he’s not tasting cheese. Also, his curious affinity for Hillstone.
Name: Mario Naar
Position: Owner/Founder, Chevre Miami
Nickname: The Cheese Don
Childhood leftover memory: My mom’s paella. You cook it, it’s great, but once you put it and all the flavors combine in the refrigerator the next day and you put it in the microwave, it’s awesome.
Favorite restaurant to take leftovers home from: I really never take leftovers to be honest with you, but I’d probably say Joe Stone Crab.
My last meal would be: I would start in the morning with some amazing bread and butter. I would have croissants, so I would have different test styles of baguette and different varieties of butter. Some caviar. For my afternoon meal. I’d probably do some mussels, some stone crabs. Keep it a little bit lighter, focus more on the drinking and on the wines. And then for dinner I would probably finish with like a full steak frites hamburger, go full out on meat. Then end it with the cheeseboard and some port
What music is playing in your kitchen? A lot of Soda Stereo, they’re an old school Latin rock band. Then if people come over I’ll play a little more House and whatnot.
What do you wear at home in the kitchen? I wear an apron that my wife purchased for me several years ago.
What is your favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
The evolution. Miami was not known to be a food town and I think now in the last four or five years it’s really bringing a diverse portfolio of chefs that are coming in and creating a lot of concepts. So, it’s interesting to see where we’re gonna go.
What is your least favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
A lot of high prices with bad quality.
After work, what do you drink? Mainly just wine. I’m a big burgundy guy, okay? Big burgundy guy.
What would people be most surprised to know about you? That I can actually cook like a m*****ker.
What are your go-to spots in Miami? Hillstone, because it’s consistently great. I love Maison Mura for a glass. It’s just a great networking place to come and hang out. I love going to Sunny’s Steakhouse. I usually go early, I never make a reservation, I’ll go hang out at the bar and then you end up always getting a table. Daniel’s Steakhouse is another one, going to the bar, one of my favorite ones to go to. Tam Tam, the Vietnamese place. Really good. I like spicy food.
Most overrated culinary trend: Truffle oil, truffle flavor. It’s all artificial. The real truffle has a completely different taste and smell from the good one, the alba truffle. Most of the people, they never tried the real truffle. So it’s what they’re used to, so you acquire a taste for gas.
Favorite thing to cook at home: I’m really heavily focused on Spanish tapas food. So I keep it really simple, but with really high quality ingredients. I’m great on a grill, so I love doing barbecue. And paella is one of my go-tos.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing: I would love to be working for a sports team. The Dolphins maybe. Maybe take Steven Ross out and run the Dolphins organization. I’m short a couple billion for that, so I would love to be in some sort of management role, whether it’s recruiting or trading or something like that.
What advice would you give aspiring restauranteurs: Know your concept, know your partners and know your strengths and your weaknesses. And study the market. It avoids a lot of mistakes on the partnership side of things. You get into deals with equity partners that don’t necessarily make sense. I think nowadays it’s easy to raise money, raise quick money, but it’s not necessarily the correct money. So you want money that’s gonna add value to your business.