A Quickie with Mike Pirolo
The man behind Macchialina has SOBEWFF is his crosshairs
The 25th Annual South Beach Wine and Food Festival is barely a week away, and The Leftovers is proud to be part of the fun for the first time. We’re highlighting a few events that we’re particularly stoked for, and if you want to win tickets, you can enter our contest right here. We’ll also be spotlighting some of the coolest people you’ll find at the festival, starting today with beloved local chef Mike Pirolo.
If you don’t know his name, you definitely know his food. Mike is half the brother/sister dynamic duo behind local favorites Macchialina and Bar Bucce, and on Saturday, February 21 he’s also co-hosting the Late Night Pizza Party presented by Lucci Lambrusco, with Ashley Graham and Marc Vetri. He told us what else he’s excited about at this year’s SOBEWFF, where he does in Miami for great pizza, and his love of chicken cutlets.
Name: Mike Pirolo
Position: Chef/Owner at Macchialina, Bar Bucce
Nickname: What they call me behind my back, I have no idea
Childhood leftover memory: My mom was big on making chicken cutlets. When we had leftover chicken cutlets, she would take cream of mushroom soup and spoon it on top and then bake it again in the oven. And I know it sounds crazy, but it was incredible.
Favorite restaurant to take leftovers home from: Vice Versa. Love their pizza. Love everything they do there.
My last meal would be: Chicken cutlets, eggplant parmesan, spaghetti aglio e olio, and a green salad.
What music is playing in your kitchen? If I’m controlling the playlist, it’s reggae. If the prep team is controlling the play list, it’s bachata and reggaeton.
What do you wear at home in the kitchen? I’m usually shirtless. No, I’m kidding, no, a t-shirt, just casual.
What is your favorite thing about the South Beach Wine and Food Festival?
For me, it’s rubbing elbows with all the chefs, locally, which you don’t get to see as often as you like. But also the guys that come in from out of town. Meeting new chefs, networking, that sort of thing.
Who are you most excited to see? I‘m very excited to see Marc Vetri actually. And Alex (Meyer) from Boia De, they took over the pasta making class that we were doing. So super excited for that one as well.
What is your favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
How much it’s grown in the last decade. I’ve been in Miami for close to 20 years and it’s night and day from what it was, and I feel like it’s more and more locally owned, locally operated.
What is your least favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
I would like to see more hotels giving the deals to the local operators as opposed to always looking for the outside players. A lot of those places, they don’t have the infrastructure in town, so it’s never quite the same as it is in whatever city that is their home. And I feel like that’s something the city and the hotel culture here could benefit from.
After work, what do you drink? Our house negroni at Macchialina.
What would people be most surprised to know about you?
I occasionally like to shoot arrows, like compound bow target practice. I’ll shoot in my backyard, or there are some parks up in Delray or Jupiter.
What are your go-to spots in Miami?
Stanzione Pizza. Big fan of Wabi Sabi, but now it’s called Midorie (in Coconut Grove). Huge fan of Uchi. Wolf of Tacos, his tacos are incredible. Blue Collar, huge fan of Blue Collar. I like to know that I don’t make reservations. If I can’t go in and see someone that I know to get a table, then I’d rather not go.
Most overrated culinary trend: I don’t really get any trend. I don’t see why we have to glom onto an ingredient for a season or two and obsess over it, where it should just be kind of like seasonal and constant, right? Like, when brussels sprouts had their moment few years ago, then it became cauliflower. And when I see those trends coming around, I’m like, all right, we’re taking brussels sprouts or cauliflower off the menu.
Favorite thing to cook at home. Chicken cutlets, right? Actually I don’t like making my mom’s chicken cutlets, it makes a mess. My wife for my birthday a few years ago got me this huge outdoor wood burning grill. So just lighting that thing up and having these huge gatherings grilling meats and vegetables by the pool.
What advice would you give aspiring chefs: Don’t get promoted too quickly. The money will be there. Because there’s so many new restaurants and it’s so hard to find staff, people get promoted prematurely and then once you’re making money, it’s hard to go back. And I feel like you haven’t learned enough. If you really want to take this industry far, by taking the early promotion, you’re lowering your ceilings.
Biggest guest order pet peeve: We still get Fettuccini Alfredo orders occasionally, which we politely decline.
Favorite city to visit for food: Rome is up there. Mexico City is up there. New York City is up there. Just the diversity of it, the sheer variety of it. I feel like in New York, you can get better Chinese or Italian food than in their respective countries.
The Late Night Pizza Party sponsored by Lucci Lambrusco is Saturday, February 21 at 10 pm. If you want to see what Mike, Ashley Graham, and Marc Vetri are cooking up, get your tickets here!