After 26 years, chef leaves Miami Beach icon to open new restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

Miami Herald

07-02-2025

Like most of the people he worked with, Chef Andre Bienvenu assumed when he left the kitchen of Joe's Stone Crab, he'd be heading into retirement.
After spending 26 years at the iconic Miami Beach restaurant, which opened as a small lunch counter in 1913 and grew into one of Miami's most famous culinary landmarks, Bienvenu hadn't envisioned going anywhere else. He loved his work serving locals and tourists and mentoring young cooks, but like many South Floridians was weary of the grueling commute from his home in Pembroke Pines.
But fate had something else in store. A friend in the restaurant business reached out and wanted to know if Bienvenu was interested in opening his own restaurant. So instead of retiring, Bienvenu, 59, is now a partner and executive chef at Catch & Cut in Fort Lauderdale, joining the trickle of Miami-area chefs and restaurateurs testing the Broward market.
'I love the family there,' says Bienvenu of Joe's. 'The employees, the staff, they're unbelievable. I walked away learning more from them than I taught them. . . . but that commute was really tough, and it's not going to get any better.'
Located on Las Olas Boulevard in the former space of the New Orleans-themed restaurant The Balcony, Catch & Cut focuses on steak and seafood. Stone crab is on the menu, but Bienvenu said the restaurant won't be known specifically for the seasonal crustaceans in the same way Joe's is.
'I'm looking at the last 35 or 40 years of my career and seeing what I can come up with,' he explained. 'We have a very good menu, and the staff has done well with it. I'm surprised by how fast they've caught on.'
The two-story restaurant, which has been fully renovated and redesigned by Gravity Architecture & Design, covers 9,618 square feet, with seating for 287 diners. The large first-floor dining room features an open kitchen and a full-service bar as well as raw and sushi bars led by Chef Inyoman Atmaja, where customers can order oysters, ceviche, shrimp and lump crab cocktail or a seafood tower.
Sushi offerings include spicy tuna crispy rice, hamachi jalapeño crudo, tuna tataki and a variety of rolls.
The upstairs seating area is more casual, a spot to have a bite and a drink or perhaps enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine before your table is ready, with balcony seating that overlooks busy Las Olas Boulevard.
The menu includes appetizers like surf and turf meatballs with Maine lobster, beef tenderloin, tomato confit and truffle crumbs; crispy wrapped shrimp with ponzu sauce; Pemaquid black mussels with fra diavolo sauce; and calamari with pickled giardiniera. There are soups like stone crab and cream corn chowder as well as crab and avocado salad.
Seafood entrees include Alaskan King crab, Maine lobster tail, sea bass with steamed shrimp, clam and coconut curry sauce; blackened mahi with a roasted corn reduction and salted popcorn salad; and miso-glazed Faroe Island salmon.
The meat menu, with steaks from Allen Brothers, includes the usual suspects: filet mignon, New York strip, ribeye and the wagyu cut of the day, as well as a steak burger.
But Bienvenu is determined to pay attention to service as well as the menu, something for which Joe's Stone Crab has been known for decades.
'We're bringing old-school hospitality,' he said. 'Joe's does a phenomenal job with this. There are very few restaurants like Joe's, the way the family runs it and the autonomy they give their employees. Everybody's on board. I carried that philosophy with me.''
The new restaurant also allows the chef to step out of his usual role and work with front of house staff, something he truly enjoys, as well as interact more personally with diners, regulars or otherwise.
'It's exciting for me,' he said. 'I feel like more of a teacher than anything else. I feel like I'm in a classroom every day. And I'm meeting a whole new clientele. I hope they become friends. If you're going to put this much work in, you want your customers to become friends.'
Bienvenu's move to Broward comes at an auspicious time. Over the past couple of years, culinary stars like Timon Balloo (The Katherine in Fort Lauderdale) and Raheem Sealey (J&C Oyster in Hollywood) are testing the Broward market. Last fall, Daniel's steakhouse from owner Tom Angelo and chef Daniel Ganem of Fiola in Coral Gables opened just south of the Henry Kinney Tunnel in Fort Lauderdale. Earlier this week, the Michelin Guide announced plans to include Broward restaurants in its 2026 guide.
For Bienvenu, the move north feels like the right decision at the right time.
'There's a better mix of locals with tourists here,' he said. 'Las Olas has grown, too, with Pier 66 opening and more condos, it's a good neighborhood for restaurants. We're going to fit in really well. We're going to revitalize the neighborhood. This is no longer a sleepy little town.'
Catch & Cut
Where: 1309 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale
Hours: 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4-9 p.m. Sunday
Reservations and more information: catchandcut.com or 954-533-1838