Here’s How Double Luck Bridges Regional and American Chinese Cuisine
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The rise of Double Luck Chinese was anything but accidental. As another ambitious pop-up that’s evolved into a full-fledged restaurant, it’s proof of what Miami diners suspected all along: the Tâm Tâm crew knows how to turn a simple meal into a full-blown celebration.
With its bold regional leanings and a flair for showmanship, Double Luck delivers high-energy, personality-driven Chinese dining: red lanterns cast a warm glow over the buzzing room, Cantopop hums from the speakers, and every dish hits with unapologetic flavor.
The concept comes courtesy of Tâm Tâm’s founders – the husband-and-husband team of chef Tam Pham and sommelier Harrison Ramhofer, who have partnered closely with chef Adrian Ochoa on Double Luck’s menu and vision. With a culinary background rooted in Asian cuisine, Ochoa had worked in kitchens like Ghee and Itamae that traversed regional Indian cooking and Nikkei flavors, before helping open Low Key, which at the time also hosted the Tâm Tâm pop-up.
That’s where Ochoa met Pham, sparking a friendship that eventually led the former to join the Tâm Tâm team as sous chef and, later, to co-create Double Luck Chinese. The concept debuted as a weekly pop-up at Tâm Tâm before growing into a more steady operation inside the former New Schnitzel House space, which officially became Double Luck’s permanent home this winter.
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But even loyal fans might not realize how the Double Luck idea truly began. “Double Luck actually started as a plan to revitalize the menu of a fast-food Chinese American place on Miami Beach,” Ochoa explains.
A friend who had recently purchased the business asked Ochoa to come on board as chef and develop more traditional Chinese and Taiwanese dishes for the menu. But longtime customers weren’t thrilled with the changes.
“I realized that while that restaurant may not have been the perfect home for it, Miami wanted to explore regional Chinese cuisine,” Ochoa says.
Now at Double Luck, Ochoa has been able to introduce locals to regional Chinese flavors through what he calls polished versions of Chinese American classics, bridging the gap between traditional mainland Chinese cuisines and America’s own home-grown Chinese fare, a regional cuisine unto itself. “What began as a journey through Sichuan and Hunan ended up as something uniquely Chinese Miamian,” he says.
Here are five of the restaurant’s creative takes on Chinese American dishes you’ll want to try when you visit Double Luck.
Crab Rangoon
As the perfect example of Double Luck’s playful approach, the restaurant’s version is presented as a crispy wonton wrapped around an entire claw. It’s stuffed with a filling of snow crab and cream cheese and served with a side of sweet and sour sauce for dipping.
Ochoa wanted to reimagine classic Chinese dishes like this to lure in diners with something familiar while getting them comfortable with exploring more adventurous options.
“I came up with the dish as an answer to people serving chicken legs with the feet still attached or using the chicken’s neck as a sausage,” Ochoa says. “Just a not-so-subtle reminder that you’re eating an animal.”
Tempura Eggplant
Ochoa knew he wanted eggplant on the menu from the start. Double Luck’s tempura eggplant appetizer features tempura-battered Chinese eggplant served with a tangy fish-fragrant sauce, as well as chile oil.
Sichuan cuisine is known for using fish-fragrant sauce, which, despite its name, actually contains no fish. Its complex flavor usually comes from spicy fermented bean paste, chile, garlic, ginger, sugar and vinegar. The name stems from its traditional usage on fish dishes, but it’s now also a popular accompaniment with pork, eggplant and chicken.
“The tempura batter we use to fry the eggplant started as a recipe for soft shell crab at Tâm Tâm,” Ochoa notes. “I knew it would help the eggplant shine, as well as make it a little more approachable for people that usually stay away from veggies.”
Hennessy Orange Chicken
You might be able to guess from the name, but Double Luck’s plate of orange chicken comes doused in a mandarin-cognac sauce, and servers arrive tableside to set it ablaze in a fiery flambé. This spirited take on orange chicken was actually Ramhofer’s idea — and Ochoa got to work creating it.
“This dish was the bane of my existence for the first couple months. Getting the sauce right, the batter for the chicken, the marinade, even the amount of liquor we add to light it on fire. Everything changed at least eight times before we got the dish to its final incarnation,” Ochoa recalls. “With everything said and done, I love it now.”
And so do guests. The sweet, citrusy crispy chicken dish has become Double Luck’s most photographed plate.
Soy Braised Short Rib
Another showstopper, the Soy Braised Short Rib at Double Luck Chinese features a bone-in beef short rib from Niman Ranch (yes, those massive ones you might also know of as dino ribs because they’re that huge). The dish is heavy on various soy sauces, ginger, and a hearty serving of sugar to allow the meat to really shine. The flavor was inspired by a popular Chinese dish, Dongpo pork belly.
“I really wanted to showcase a beautiful piece of meat on the menu and have something that wasn’t as spicy as the rest of the dishes I was offering at the time,” Ochoa says. “We serve this very unctuous piece of meat with shaved celery and pickled garlic salad to cut through the fattiness.”
Oolong Panna Cotta
Most of the desserts on Double Luck’s menu change with the seasons, and a recent favorite is the Oolong Panna Cotta. Inspired by comforting autumn and winter flavors, the creamy panna cotta is infused with oolong tea.
It’s garnished with salted cream and served with warmed slices of five-spice poached pears, with the poaching syrup pooled around the panna cotta. It’s then finished with a cold, crunchy crumble of ginger granita.
“The dish is cold, but the flavors are warming, and I love the playful contrast of textures and temperatures,” says Callie Pumo, who doubles as pastry chef and front-of-house manager.
