Happy birthday, Worthwyld!
Credit: Aaron Ferrier
Worthwyld’s first birthday comes with a new chef, a coastal cooking playbook and a reason to pencil in dinner on Las Olas. Fresh off its October 1 anniversary celebration, the Fort Lauderdale restaurant is preparing to debut executive chef Jose Diaz’s new menu on Monday, October 19—and Browardist chatted with him for the scoop.
At 350 E. Las Olas Blvd., Worthwyld pairs indoor and outdoor seating with a full bar and a neighborhood-minded setting. Its fresh-food focus has helped establish its identity; Diaz now wants diners thinking about it for a proper evening out, too.
The 35-year-old arrived in August with a résumé stretching from Milan to Miami. Born in Venezuela and raised in Spain, he began cooking at 17 after visiting family in Italy, running out of money and finding a prep-cook job at Cracco. Only months later did he realize he was working in a two-Michelin-star restaurant.
Stops in Belfast, London and New York followed, including The Clock Tower. When COVID shuttered restaurants, he became a private chef in Chicago.
“I worked as a private chef in Chicago for eight months and winter actually pushed me out of Chicago,” Diaz told Browardist. “It was a very, very brutal winter and I came to Miami.”
That move came in 2021. He subsequently worked at Le Jardinier, helping the team earn its first Michelin star in 2022, then joined Pastis Miami as opening chef de cuisine and later served as executive chef.
For Worthwyld, his chosen direction is modern American coastal cuisine, drawing from the United States’ East Coast and coastal Spain, France and Italy. Expect French technique, a pronounced seafood focus and dishes that give their ingredients room to shine.
“So, in my opinion, I like to work with one item, but maybe explore it in three different ways,” he says. “So, you can actually give this experience to the customer instead of just adding 300 things on a dish. I prefer just to simplify but make it more elegant.”
Among the forthcoming dishes: Atlantic halibut with Napa cabbage, leeks, pancetta and velouté with smoked trout roe. Diaz also described halibut with grapefruit segments, sea beans and pickled baby fennel.
The dining room’s appearance is staying familiar while Diaz works with cooks and servers on the broader relaunch. His ambition extends beyond a single menu – he wants to establish Worthwyld as a lunch, dinner and brunch destination, then explore what growth could look like in the years ahead.
“They are very hungry to expand themselves, to actually grow and be able to make something here on Las Olas,” Diaz says. “And for me, I like to call myself a young chef... I’m very ambitious too.”
