At just 32 years old, Chef Marc Vidal has amassed enviable experience working with some of the culinary world’s brightest stars. Named one of the top young chefs of Spain in 2005, Vidal holds two culinary degrees from the prestigious Escuela de Restauración y Hotelería de Barcelona. His résumé includes stints working under Ferrán Adrià in Spain and Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse in Paris. Vidal, the executive chef at Solea in the W South Beach, works from a palette of authentic ingredients and soulful flavors to create vibrant dishes that honor his native Spain.

Valencia Paella Serves 1

Olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 leek, sliced
4 large tomatoes, quartered
2 pounds fish bones (flat fish like snapper)
½ cup white wine
3 clams
3 mussels
3 shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ chicken, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon sofrito (recipe follows)
½ cup Calasparra rice, cooked
Salt, to taste

Pour enough olive oil into a large pot to lightly coat the bottom. Add onion, carrot and leek; sauté until soft. Add tomatoes. Add the fish bones. Add white wine and reduce by a half. Cover with water and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool. Strain the stock through a fine chinoise, reserving liquid.

Clean the clams and mussels. Set aside to soak in ice water mixed with a lot of salt.

In a paella pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the chicken pieces and sear until they are golden brown. Add the clams, mussels and shrimp. Cook until the clams and mussels open. Remove chicken, clams, shrimp and mussels from pan. Set aside. Add the sofrito and rice to the pan; sauté for 1 minute. Add the fish stock and continue cooking for 5 minutes on high heat. Reduce heat and return the chicken, clams, shrimp and mussels to the pan. Add salt to taste and cook for 5 minutes at a low flame. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, until rice is dried out. Serve.

For the sofrito:

1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
3 tomatoes, finely chopped

Combine ingredients in small pot and cook on low heat for 90 minutes.

Solea
W South Beach
2201 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
tel 305 938 3111