FLORIDA
Review: Calusso at Pier Sixty-Six is the Most Ambitious Fine Dining Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale
★★★★★
2301 SE 17th St | Website | Instagram | Reservations
By Eric Barton | Feb. 26, 2025
There are moments in life when something once familiar feels strikingly new. The middle school you haven’t seen in decades. The house you sold, now renovated. And for me recently, Pier Sixty-Six—the place where I used to meet my grandparents for dinner—now looking like a resort from the future.
Following a $1 billion renovation, Pier Sixty-Six reopened with three restaurants, including its signature spot, Calusso. It’s not just the finest restaurant in Fort Lauderdale right now—it’s one of the best meals I’ve had in Florida.
At the helm is South Florida native Jonathan Kaiser, an alum of Joël Robuchon's restaurant empire and former executive chef at MAASS. Here, he’s creating delicately plated, entirely original dishes reminiscent of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. This isn’t your typical tourist-friendly waterfront menu of miso cod and swordfish steaks. Calusso is a playground for a chef given the freedom to be creative.
Dining on the cantilevered balcony overlooking the marina, we started with small bites: a caviar-topped deviled egg molded into a ramekin; buttery brioche with tuna, uni, and gold leaf; and oysters crowned with caviar and lemony sorbet.
For the crudo, scallops were sliced thin and reassembled into a rose, black truffle shavings jutting up like petals, Meyer lemon sauce below for balance. A burrata dish came with aged balsamic and a neon-green basil gribiche.
The filet arrived atop a rich au poivre sauce with crispy sunchokes, while the lobster parmesan—far from anything I expected—came segmented in an oblong metal bowl, served with fried basil, butter, and mozzarella. Odd, but delicate and compelling.
Desserts were no less striking: a heap of pretty cheese shavings concealing crunchy, sweet surprises, followed by a deconstructed tiramisu—cake cut tableside, drenched in espresso, and topped with sweet cream.
Of course, this kind of meal doesn’t come cheap. Calusso is quite likely Fort Lauderdale’s priciest restaurant. The lobster parm, for instance, clocks in at $115. A meal for two, with wine, may hit four figures.
But if you’re splurging on one extraordinary experience in Fort Lauderdale, this is it. With the Michelin Guide now in town, they’ll find a star waiting.
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