At Daniel’s in Fort Lauderdale, The Finest Beef is Raised Here in Florida
When you think of Florida’s best local foods, you might think of citrus fruits, avocados, fresh-caught seafood — but probably not beef.
Nonetheless, Daniel’s, a new restaurant in Fort Lauderdale that’s an homage to all things Florida, is committed to its mission of sourcing local ingredients for its guests from the Keys up to the Panhandle, and that includes doing the unheard of — serving Florida beef, and at a steakhouse, no less.
▪️
Florida’s humid climate, wetlands, and sandy soil make it an unusual place for cattle ranching, but the local farms that do often sell their steaks directly to consumers, with Florida beef still a rare item on menus across the state. Few restaurants can afford to source local beef from these small Florida farms, but chef Danny Ganem goes as far as to meet his suppliers midway between the restaurant and their cattle ranches in Central Florida up to the Panhandle to load up his car with their Florida grass-fed and Wagyu beef cuts (sorry — they don’t deliver).
Along with local beef, the team at Daniel’s has partnered with dozens of farmers, fishermen and food purveyors across the state of Florida who provide local dairy, meat, seafood and produce — many of whom are recognized right on the menu. This hyperfocus on local sourcing all started with owner and Gioia Hospitality Group founder Thomas Angelo’s family upbringing. Thanks to summers in Italy, Angelo discovered an appreciation for provenance and eating locally grown foods that he’s brought to Daniel’s.
“Having spent many of the past summers in Puglia, Italy, where my father was born and where the food that is served is almost all local, I really wanted to create a Florida steakhouse that sourced locally as much as possible, honoring the flavors and ingredients of this incredible state,” Angelo says.
When the opportunity arose to open a restaurant with his daughter in Fort Lauderdale, Angelo knew there was only one person he’d want to work with to helm the kitchen – his executive chef at Gioia Hospitality Group’s Michelin-recognized Miami restaurant Fiola, Danny Ganem.
“With Danny’s experience and passion for Florida, we are showcasing local produce and meats in ways that are both innovative and deeply rooted in the essence of the state,” Angelo explains. Now, it all comes together at this ambitious steakhouse in a Florida-forward menu that encapsulates Ganem’s culinary career, from the fresh pastas he perfected at Fiola to his time serving up the freshest seafood in the Keys.
We sat down with Ganem to learn more about the lengths they’re going at Daniel’s to bring the best local ingredients to their guests.
More From Resy
Resy: Why is it so important to you to source local products as much as possible?
Danny Ganem: The restaurant’s owner and founder of Gioia Hospitality Group, Thomas Angelo, comes from the Puglia region of Italy, which is known throughout the world for its organic farming, soil cultivation and for using most of its local produce in their cuisine. It’s a similar approach that we take here at Daniel’s, as we strive to embrace that same culture by utilizing local products made here in Florida.
For us, it’s important to go the extra mile to source local ingredients so we can create an experience and an ode to Florida for our guests. Due to weather, seasonality and location, Florida can be a bit tricky. By having a personal relationship with the farmers, ranchers and fishermen, we have a great advantage of knowing what is the best available throughout the year.
Our goal is to be one of the best steakhouses in America.— Danny Ganem
Can you share some examples of dishes from the menu that highlight local products and tell us about the farmers and purveyors behind them?
Our goal is to have a large percentage of our dishes be made or finished with Florida ingredients; we have dishes that are 100% Floridian, and we also have dishes that have been touched by artisans that make the ingredients in Florida. As an example, we have a fennel sausage that is made by Sunshine Provisions here in Deerfield Beach, Florida and finished with Jimmy Nardello peppers from Swank Farms.
One of our signature dishes, the foie gras crème brûlée, is an ode to the Florida Keys that tells a story of my time as the executive chef of the three Michelin Key rated Little Palm Island. The foie gras and crème brulée represents a Florida Key, and the coconut powder represents the waves crashing into the sand and rocks, which are represented by the toasted coconut, cashews and mango. Daniel’s is a true love story to the Sunshine State that will continue to bring in the best from Florida.
How have you gone about the process of searching for your suppliers?
Times have changed. I got back to Miami from my stint in the Basque region of Spain in 2007 and from then on until 2016, it was a lot of word of mouth – farmers recommending each other and building a network of people that love what they do and put passion into their daily life. Currently this process is still very much alive, especially with people that want to see other people succeed, like Jodi from Swank Farms, Roberto from Tiny Farms, and Tamer from Harpke Family Farms.
Also, thanks to technology, it now plays a big part in our research and ability to connect. We can be in contact with farmers from North Florida in a couple of minutes, when 10 years ago it was impossible because some of them didn’t have the platform to be seen. When we were planning to open Daniel’s, our owner, Mr. Angelo, went on Google and identified three ranches he wanted us to work with. He gave me the opportunity to personally visit them to establish relationships and supported me to meet with them before we opened the restaurant to see their operations. It was important to Mr. Angelo and I that we truly embraced the concept of being an authentic Florida steakhouse, and it wasn’t just talk.
Was there anything that surprised you about the products you found in Florida?
I did not expect to find such beautiful Wagyu and grass-fed beef from Florida. It is very hard to get amazing beef from Florida due to the hot weather, but our ranch partners, like Suwannee River Wagyu, Arrow Head Beef and Providence Cattle, have done an exceptional job at taking care of their cattle, feeding them the highest grade of grass and feed, and most important of all, really putting love into their calling.
Do you know of any other South Florida restaurants that are sourcing Florida beef?
Due to the challenges related to the small operations the ranchers have in Florida, most of them are very boutique and sell their steaks online through their websites directly to the home cook. There is one restaurant in Miami called EntreNos that recently got awarded with a Michelin Star and a Green Star this past year – they are great chefs and colleagues. Due to their volume and specific usage of the beef, they bring a couple of pieces of Florida beef to their menu. On our end, we needed to see how we could make the business model work for the ranchers to sell to a restaurant, so we also help them use the rest of the parts the cattle produce.
What impact does sourcing locally have on your dishes, your guests, and your business?
Sourcing locally tends to be more expensive; it can drive the food cost a couple of points higher than usual. But our goal and commitment is to bring in ingredients that are at their peak flavors, create dishes that are sustainable to the environment, and reduce waste to the point that one day we can be zero waste. For example, we have our zucchini tataki dish on our menu — we peel the skin and cut the zucchini into a perfect rectangle. Some chefs would throw everything away, but us, we take all the scraps, confit them in olive oil, and make a zucchini crema full of flavor for this wonderful dish.
For our beef program, the ranchers have very small operations and are very boutique and exclusive. That’s why you don’t see them in restaurants because of the limited quantities available, and restaurant demands are always premium cuts of beef like filet, NY strip or ribeye. On our end, we understand the limitations, but we want to work with them, so we commit to their program by buying not just the premium cuts but also the ground beef and their offal cuts to make agnolotti or slow-cooked items, or by using the tallow fat in our fryer so we don’t fry our food with seed oils.
Some of these ranches don’t have other business in Fort Lauderdale, so it’s hard for them to justify delivering to this area. I try to help and connect them with other chefs so they can hopefully start to deliver directly. Even though their quality is amazing, they are also more expensive, so most restaurants cannot bring these local ingredients to their kitchens. We’ve found a compromise to make it work – I meet many of them halfway and load up my car with their product so we can support their farms and have beautiful ingredients in our dishes.
What are examples of things that might not be possible to source locally, if any, or that you chose to source from other areas and why?
Our goal is to be one of the best steakhouses in America, so we do bring some of the best Wagyu steaks from around the world to supplement our Florida sourcing, including from Australian Margaret River Wagyu, Stone Axe Wagyu to Snow Aged Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. They raise their cattle with meticulous care in a stress-free environment and are fed a specific diet of high-quality grains to enhance their well-being. It’s important that whoever we partner with shares our same values.
Lyssa Goldberg is a Miami-based freelance writer and content strategist. She loves telling stories about food, wellness, and travel, and you can find her byline in Parade, The Points Guy, U.S. News & World Report, American Way, Mashable, Time Out, and more. Follow her on Instagram and X. Follow Resy, too.
