Running a hit restaurant in Miami is a task right up there with winning the Super Bowl and opening a pistachio. Running two? You may as well plan on hitting the Powerball. But Raheem Sealey has struck gold twice now at Kyu and Drinking Pig, and the St. Croix native sat down with us to talk about his fondest memories of food in the islands, and his love of thoroughbred horse racing.
Name: Raheem Sealey
Position: Corporate Executive Chef at KYU and Chef/Owner of Drinking Pig
Nickname: Only a couple people call me by my middle name, Adowa.
Favorite childhood memory of leftovers: Always Thanksgiving. Turkey. In St. Croix we do this thing called potato stuffing, but it’s like mashed potatoes. You season it with sofrito and tomato paste. You mix it into the mashed potatoes and you bake it. It’s like my favorite side dish.
What dish of yours makes the best leftovers?
I would say any of the barbecue stuff. The brisket, the short rib, the fried chicken. Like I take the fried chicken, chop it up and make a big fried chicken sandwich.
What’s your favorite restaurant to bring leftovers home from?
I would say Stage Palm Beach.
What would your last meal be?
Red pea soup with pig tails, pig feet, and dumplings. Me and my grandmother, we did that together all the time. And it’s my favorite thing to eat. It just brings back so much nostalgia, you know?
If you were a guest in your restaurant, what would you order?
At Kyu, I get the, the fried chicken, the rice, the burrata, cauliflower, of course the duck burnt ends.
What music is playing in your kitchen?
The same thing that’s playing in the dining room - old school hip hop. When I’m in the kitchen and I’m cooking, it’s Bob Marley. I like to stay calm. Let’s keep the vibes nice and chill, you know? I don’t need too much energy so early in the morning.
What do you wear when you’re cooking at home?
Whatever I wake up in, if I’m in my pajamas and cook in my pajamas.
What’s your go-to cooking tool?
A grill. Anything open fire - smoking, open fire, saute. I think it gives food so much flavor, and I tell people all the time, gas grilling is not grilling.
What’s your favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
A lot of the locals are still winning. The Macchialinas and the Tam Tams and the guys that kind of like grew up here in the industry. The Michael Beltrans of the world, Mike Pirolo, the guys that grew up in the Miami culinary scene, being able to see them thrive is the best feeling.
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What’s your least favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene?
When you have a lot of different influencers coming into your restaurant and they’re charging you all this money to be able to just post the story, to say that your restaurant’s good and they’re all saying the same thing. Because there’s so many people that actually make really good food and can’t afford to pay them the kind of money that they’re asking for and don’t get the visibility that they deserve.
What do you drink after work?
Lemonade.
What would people be most surprised to know about you?
I’m into horses and horse racing. People freak out because it’s like, “Do you have race horses?” And I’m like “Yeah. I got them tattooed on my arm.” I have multiple at Gulfstream, Del Mar, Tampa, we go different places. There’s not a better feeling than when your horse wins a race. I’m telling you. You jump up, you scream, you run, you’re excited. It’s, it’s the best. I’ve been into horse racing my whole life. My uncle was actually a jockey, he retired recently.
That. And old school Volkswagens. Yeah. I got, I got like six of them.
What’s your favorite thing to cook at home?
When it was me and my wife, I would get up and I would cook breakfast for us and lunch and dinner. But now the roles are reversed. But when I cook, it’s grilling. Always steak, sausages, making Johnny cakes, fried chicken.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing?
Horse trainer. Absolutely.
What advice would you give to an aspiring restaurateur?
You gotta work here. You gotta do every job, figure it out, see how it’s done before you decide that you wanna open a restaurant. And you gotta love it. You love hospitality. Like, if you don’t wanna do any of those things, don’t own a restaurant.
What is your number one guest pet peeve?
Modifications. You go somewhere to eat, there’s a menu item. We take a lot of time to put it together for it to be that way. And then, you don’t want the sauce or you want the sauce on the side, and now you’re not really eating the dish that I created. So how are you experiencing what I had set for you to be able to enjoy? And then you’re gonna leave a review saying, oh, that was the worst experience. But you’re the one who deconstructed the dish, you (messed) it up and now you’re upset that it didn’t live up to your expectation. If you’re going to go and change the whole menu, go somewhere else where you’re going to be comfortable.
What’s your favorite city to visit for food?
Mexico City. I just love the culture. It reminded me of when I was in the islands. The guys is washing the greens right on the street and putting it in his store. Everything tastes different there. The limes are different. The cilantro, everything is just so fresh. And then you go to the market and the guys are looking to run you over with all these big bundles of sugar cane and the ladies are shaving the corn and the grapefruits. It’s the most eclectic cultured city that I’ve ever been to.
And the food is next level. Every taqueria is amazing. And then the restaurants that are actually on the 50 best list, they belong there. I could go and spend 500 bucks and have the whole entire menu. I can’t do that here. The love that they put into the food and just the freshness of the quality of the ingredients is like, it just blows me away every time.