I am taking it to the 954, where “Michelin-level dining” used to feel like a Miami-only sport. Not anymore.

In this episode, I’m joined by Chef Jonathan Kaiser, a South Florida native quietly helping rewrite Fort Lauderdale’s dining reputation from the inside out. We talk about his path from early kitchen curiosity to big-league fine dining, including time in Chicago’s intense restaurant scene and a career-defining run cooking under Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas, where precision means measuring plating down to the millimeter and sauces are basically a love language.

Now, he’s leading the charge at Calusso, the jewel of the newly reimagined Pier Sixty-Six Resort, where luxury is the point, but fun is non-negotiable. We get into the details that separate “nice” from “next level,” like why he’s allergic to empty water glasses, why a bent fork tine is a personal attack, and how he thinks about creating a high-end experience at serious volume.

Also: the origin story behind his Instagram name, his obsession with consistency, the cheese dessert I’m obsessed with, and the restaurants he actually sneaks off to when he’s not running a kitchen. Hint: the name includes the word….PANDA. Yes, that one. 

If you’re curious about Fort Lauderdale’s culinary glow-up, what Michelin standards look like behind the pass, or why “luxury” is really just a thousand tiny decisions done correctly, this one’s for you.

LISTEN

• Apple
• Spotify
• iHeartradio
• Audible

or on any major podcast platform. 

WATCH on YouTube

Cheers!

Brenda