Bal Harbour

ou can take the boy out of California, but you can't take the California out of the boy. That's a good thing if you consider the cuisine at Aba. The re s t au r a nt , wh ich opened l a s t November, transforming the space formerly belonging to Makoto, comes from the mind and travels of chef CJ Jacobson, who plates what he calls Mediterranean fare with California notes. That means inspiration from Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, and Greece, but with enough latitude to let Jacobson, who grew up in Orange Count y and played professional volleyball in Europe and the Middle East , " take advantage of his roots and California's natural resources." The space, with its lanterns and olive trees, and color palette of white and weath- ered stone, evokes a bit of endless summer along a far-o‚ coast. Though Jacobson describes the culinar y landscape of his youth as "pret t y boring " ( he couldn't ta ke spice), that a ll changed when he traveled for volleyball. "There are all these food moments when I was like, this is really gnarly, this is really, really good!" Case in point: The shawarma drowned in molten gouda in Ant werp and the meat skew- ers at the Tel Aviv bazaar, where he first tasted foie gras. "It was foie gras over coals, the whole thing kind of caramelized into a lit tle nug- get that just melted ever y where —fat , sa lt , sizzle. I wa s like whoa , these are new flavors!" Those flavors propelled him, upon his return to the States, to knock on the back door of two-Michelin-star Mélisse in Santa Monica and ask for a job. It was love at first adrenaline rush. "It was competitive and you had to be good—let's go let's go! And there's a guy calling stu‚ out and people had to respond to him and it was very much like a team. So that was it." From there he worked w ith Mark Peel and Nancy Silver ton at Campanile in Los Angeles, was a private chef for celebs, staged with René Redzepi at Noma, appeared on Top Chef twice, and opened both Aba and Ēma in Chicago, as well as an Austin outpost of the former. At Bal Harbour's Aba, Jacobson is most interested in exploring the pa r a l lel s bet ween Med it er r a nea n a nd Ca l i for n i a n cl i m at e a nd produce. "I like to be inspired by those parallels and see what else I can do. I like going fur ther east to the Arabian Peninsula and into Asia Minor and India." A prime example is the avocado hummus with Maine lobster—a dish served only in Miami. "That sort of lobster salad is very, very typical of California," he says. The chilies, cucumbers, and the pickling liquid from the chilies as a vinaigret te are countered with a luxe hummus made mostly of avocado and topped with Thai basil. A winner for me was the charred eggplant spread. It's surprisingly light with a haunting smokiness. A fresh mint garnish adds something windy and cool. Another favorite from the mezze section of the menu is the whipped feta with an assor tment of olives: but ter y sweet Castelvetranos; big, meaty red Cerignolas; smokey Kalamatas; and crisp lemony Picholines. They're all bathed in an herb and spice oil that adds little punches of heat to set o‚ the cheese. And be sure to try the Stracciatella with marinated tomatoes and challah croutons. Jacobson's iteration emphasizes both the cheese's creaminess and its elasticity, "I love string cheese and cream, so this is the perfect union," he says. The cheese's nooks hold lemon juice and a whisper of pesto. "It's really a caprese salad in disguise," he says with a playful smile. A not her fa scinat in g dish is t he raw ha machi w it h cha r red avo - cado, g inger, sca llion, and sweet chunk s of k iw i sit t ing in a pool of h ibi scu s tea , F resno ch i l i s , fi sh sauce, a nd lemon ju ice. Jacobson douses the top of the fish w ith a spiced oil that hit s the v inaig ret te once you ta ke your first bite. The collision, a ll occurring around the hamachi, will make you happy the California boy found his way to the Mediterranean. CHEF CJ JACOBSON BRINGS A CULMINATION OF HIS TRAVELS INTO THE KITCHEN AT ABA. BY BILL KEARNEY PORTRAIT BY GESI SCHILLING Y Peripatetic PALATE P H OTO BY R U B E N C A B R E R A 148 BAL HARBOUR

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