Essensia Restaurant and Bar, a celebration of mindfully sourced & healthy cuisine
MIAMI - Nestled within the historic Palms Hotel and Spa on Miami Beach, Essensia Restaurant and Bar offers a celebration of mindfully sourced healthy cuisine, both indoors and outdoors.
At the helm of Essensia is Chef du Cuisine Diana Tandia, whose culinary journey began in Mauritania, Africa, where her family instilled a love for scratch-made food. After honing her skills with renowned chefs like Daniel Boulud and Jean Georges Vongerichten in New York, Tandia discovered her true calling.
"Then one day I just picked up the phone and I called my mom and I said I would love to be a chef," she said. "But being African, our parents have really high expectations. Being a chef wasn't enough. You need to be a doctor, a nurse, or an engineer, or marry a corporate guy."
But Tandia persevered, facing the challenges head-on.
"Honestly, there were not that many people that looked like me, my color, and being a woman. So I needed to work 10 times harder than everybody to break the barriers," she said. "And I think once we become a chef, we can do it better than anybody. Because we are very nurturing. We pour our heart into what we do."
That's clear in her Jungle Seasonal Vegetable Curry, a vegan delight crafted with locally grown produce and served with stir-fried forbidden rice. Even during Ramadan fasting, Tandia's passion for her craft shines through.
"It's so stepped up elegant, so much flavor," said CBS News Miami's Lisa Petrillo after tasing. "The vegetables are so fresh and tender. And how about that rice? Really great."
"That rice goes back centuries," she said. "Only the emperor of China was allowed to eat it."
Tandia's worldly influences shine in dishes like her Thai-inspired Grilled Jumbo Sun Shrimp Tail Duet, featuring coffee lime butter, and her whole roasted Florida snapper marinated in lemongrass, tamarind, and her homemade seasonings.
"It's the lemongrass and the tamarind paste with this super fresh fish that gives it so much flavor," Petrillo said. "Oh, this is a special fish."
The culinary journey concludes on a sweet note with Essensia's Citrus Olive Oil Cake paired with olive oil gelato, a perfect harmony of moist sweetness.
Essensia Restaurant and Bar welcomes guests seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.