Food is only one of the crafts being served up at Tundra, a new restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Fresh every night there are also ice carvings, both inside the eatery and out.
“We’re an ice infused restaurant,” says David Berman, founder and owner. “ We’ve successfully merged eclectic fine dining with ice focal points, ice plates and ice chilling spheres for drinks.”
The ice is exciting, he adds. “Ice adds art to a dining experience and is something absolutely unusual. Nobody doesn’t like ice carvings.”
And the appeal is long lasting, he says, since tourists want to come and see it and locals want to bring back friends and visitors to see an unusual restaurant.
Ice is everywhere: Ten eight-foot chandeliers set in a cathedral ceiling look like icicles; an infinity mirror gives the illusion of looking into an ice cave; there’s glistening white onyx in the bar area; and an ‘ice mountain’ partition separating the dining room from the bar.
Every night there are ice sconces, frozen roses in ice on the bar and communal tables, and various sculptures inside and out, showcasing geometric designs, seasonal art such as leaves in the fall, and mosaics.
All of the ice is fresh every night. Set up at 6 p.m., it lasts until the restaurant closes. The restaurant is kept at 74 degrees.
Ice also has a practical purpose at Tundra—all seafood is served on ice plates, and cocktails are kept cool with three-inch “cooling spheres,” designed for faster chilling and less dilution. These are three-inch, perfectly clear, perfectly round ice balls that are cradled inside martini glasses and freeze when properly cooled.
A chef for 20 years, 16 years ago Berman established Deerfield, Florida-based Sculptured Ice Creations.
Ice became in such demand, he says, because computer technology allowed the art to be automated, lowering the costs. This technology, he says, “takes 50 percent of the work out of it, but it still takes a lot of skill and it’s all done by hand.”
Ice carvings at Tundra can be customized for catered events, which Berman anticipates will constitute around 10 percent of business, although he’s not started marketing them yet.
But the ice isn’t the only thing to contemplate at Tundra. The restaurant’s interior is designed to mimic natural tundra and the food, says Berman, is even more elaborate than the frosty creations.
This cuisine, he says, is eclectic modern cuisine, yet locally sourced as much as possible.
“The menu is seasonal. We like to keep things fresh and capitalize on what’s offered in our region to capture the season,” he says.
Some of the most popular dishes are featured in the Tundra Tour—an orchestrated meal featuring 16 plates served progressively about four minutes apart—for $59 per head.
These dishes include Kobe beef meatballs in a truffle Madeira sauce; ahi tuna; braised short ribs; fennel dusted scallops; fried strawberries (tempura fried, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with white chocolate crème anglaise); and white chocolate cheese flan.
The Tundra Tour is popular with groups and individuals. It’s served on the hour every hour “because it’s a very taxing thing to orchestrate and we need to be able to serve all the guests and not slow down the à la carte dining,” Berman says.
Many groups calling for reservations opt for the Tour—almost 100 percent of them, says Berman. This not only makes life a little easier in the kitchen, but also boosts sales, he says.
Tundra promotes the Tundra Tour on its website and on the menu in the hope of encouraging more diners to try it since it boosts the check average of $65 per person up to $75 to $80.
Next up will be an upscale restaurant Chill, slated to open January 2012 in South Beach, Florida.
By Amanda Baltazar
