MIAMI
Chef Mitchell Hesse Brings Global Edge to Delilah Miami’s Glamorous Dining Room
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By Eric Barton | Aug. 29, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
The original Delilah in West Hollywood became a magnet for celebrities, thanks in no small part to its strict no-photos policy. When the h.wood Group opened a Miami outpost, I half expected more of the same—a glamorous dining room where dinner was just an accessory to the party. But then I ate there.
The food, from the throwback pigs in a blanket to the towering seafood platters, was not just serviceable but genuinely stood up to the stylish surroundings. OK, I got why Drake, Kendall Jenner, Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber have spent their hard-earned money on chicken fingers—because they were damn great chicken fingers.
Now, Delilah Miami has brought in a top-flight chef, Mitchell Hesse, and with him in charge of the kitchen, the question isn’t whether Delilah can deliver on the plate, but just how much better it can get.
Chef Mitchell Hesse
Hesse’s arrival marks a subtle but important shift: the supper club already had its look and vibe figured out; now it gains a chef with the chops to push the menu further. “We’re creating dishes that are not only light, fresh and flavor-forward, but let mother nature do most of the talking,” he told me. That perspective comes from years in kitchens where precision was the only option—Zuma, Novikov, COTE—and from his own decade-plus of cooking in Miami.
Hesse grew up in Perth, where his grandmother’s baking and a couple of Greek chefs cooking over open fire taught him early on that food could be both playful and exacting. “As a 12-year-old, seeing these guys laugh and joke while playing with knives and fire… really drew me in and made the experience all the more memorable,” he recalled. By 16 he was apprenticing, and before 20 he’d already earned his chef title.
Seafood Tower
Tomato & Mozzarella Salad
Those formative years led him to kitchens where pressure was a constant. At Zuma he managed a team of 60 while trying to keep every plate consistent; at COTE, Simon Kim and David Shim gave him a crash course in what Michelin-level discipline feels like. “They really held me to task,” he said. “Some of the most valuable lessons I learned there included managing vendor relationships, staffing efficiently and leading from the front.”
Roasted Chicken
At Delilah, his influence is already visible. The seafood tower has been upgraded into spectacle: oysters, lobster, hiramasa ceviche, crab salad, tuna, dill aioli, cocktail sauce, even a house mignonette. Small plates like twice-cooked octopus with harissa aioli or charred corn with leeks and pickled jalapeños show off technique without stealing focus from the table. Even the pigs in a blanket remain—only now with better sourcing and polish. “Having these dishes on the menu gives us all a little stroll down memory lane,” Hesse said, “and allows us to experience our very own throwback.”
The entrées lean both comforting and elevated: lobster mafaldine in spicy vodka sauce, pan-seared snapper with summer caponata, roasted chicken with truffle jus. “I’m not here to plate with tweezers,” Hesse said. “I want dishes that are elegant but never fussy.” It’s a balance that fits a supper club where theatricality is baked into the room design but dinner still needs to earn its price tag.
Pigs in a Blanket
Key Lime Pie
After 11 years in Miami, Hesse has watched the city’s dining scene grow teeth. It’s no longer the soft landing spot for half-baked international concepts it once was; now, the competition is fierce and diners are harder to impress. Delilah already had the velvet banquettes, the Gatsby glow, and the celebrities slipping in through the side door. What Hesse seems intent on proving is that it can also be a restaurant where the food isn’t an afterthought—and if his early changes are any sign, he may just be already there.
