Mike Linder isn’t exactly intimidated by the prospect of opening a new restaurant. The man behind YOT and Jet Runway Café knows how to roll out a concept. With a more recent restaurant, however, he was faced with a different problem: how to add to a longstanding, popular restaurant without taking away what made it so popular in the first place.
“It’s totally different than starting a restaurant from scratch,” he says.
That’s not to say Linder had to think hard about taking over Canyon. But when it came to actually doing it, he stopped looking at it like a patron and started looking at it as a restaurateur. In the months before closing the deal, he would go in two or three times a week. Sometimes he’d get a full meal; sometimes he’d sit at the bar. He noticed plenty of things he liked, the main one being consistency in both the food and the service.
A year later, he has no regrets. The plan now for Canyon is similar to the plan for many popular legacy restaurants – keep that event, special occasion vibe, and expand business to attract more diners for whom the “occasion” is, say, Tuesday.
“We just need to find new, innovative things that keep people coming,” Linder says. “We’re trying to turn Canyon into a place that keeps the specialty but you don’t just go once every six months.”
Canyon, he has found, also has a loyal fanbase. The restaurant that for years sat alongside the Gateway Cinema on Sunrise before moving south of the river brings in many longtime diners who, shall we say, had a few questions for Linder. Were there changes to recipes? (There weren’t.) Is the bread pudding smaller? (It isn’t.) But Linder’s an on-the-floor, work-the-room kind of owner, and as he talked to regulars more, he found them being won over.
Changes include a back bar that features an extensive tequila menu and which Linder hopes will bring in more of that casual crowd without changing the vibe in the main dining room. Other standards including the Prickly Pear Martini and that signature bread pudding (again: same size as before) – those things remain the same. And for Linder, this remains absolutely the right call.
“When I had the opportunity to buy the place, it was ‘How do I pass up a legacy restaurant and one of the best restaurants in South Florida?’ I’ve always said Canyon’s my favorite restaurant.”
The Dish: Huevos Rancheros
Ingredients
For the Potato Pepper Hash
- 4–5 Yukon gold potatoes peeled and diced into small cubes
- 1 poblano pepper deseeded and cut into julienne
- 1 red bell pepper deseeded and cut into julienne
- 1 white onion finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Ranchero Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ lb. guajillo peppers (dried, destemmed and deseeded)
- 2 cups water
- 1 qt. low sodium chicken stock
- 1 can of 14.5 oz. diced tomato
- 1 large white onion peeled and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 3 tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp dried oregano leaf
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp chipotle puree (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Finishing the dish and garnishing
- 8 eggs (2 per person)
- ½ bunch of cilantro
- 1 avocado (scooped out and sliced)
Pico de gallo (your favorite brand works for this)
- 2 cans of beans, cooked
- 8 corn or flour tortillas (2 per person)
- 1 lime cut into 4 wedges
- 1 cup queso fresco
Method
For the Potato Pepper Hash
1. Preheat oven to 350° and place a medium-large sized oven-safe sauté pan or cast iron skillet on the stovetop at medium-high heat. 2. When the pan is almost smoking, carefully add the potatoes into the pan. Make sure the potatoes are dry to avoid any popping oil or splatter. 3. Once the potatoes have gotten a little color on all sides, place your peppers and onions into the pan and stir. 4. Season with a bit of salt to taste and place the oven-safe pan into the oven and allow to roast for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
For the Ranchero Sauce
1. Place a sauce pot or Dutch oven on the stove with medium heat and add the olive oil. 2. Add the spices, constantly stirring to allow the spices to toast and become fragrant. 3. Next add the onions, garlic, and dried guajillo peppers, stirring until soft and season lightly with salt. 4. Once the onions are slightly translucent, add chicken stock and water, allowing it to simmer on low for about 30 minutes. 5. Once you see that the peppers have become completely softened and almost falling apart, add the can of tomatoes with the juice. 6. Let simmer on medium-low heat until the sauce begins to thicken slightly about 30 minutes. 7. Remove from heat and puree with a blender or stick mixer. 8. Season with salt and add red wine vinegar and if you like some heat, add a tablespoon of chipotle puree. Pro tip: Add chipotle puree for a little spice that pairs well with eggs.
Finishing the dish and garnishing
At this point, you can begin to build your plate in the same pan as the potatoes, onions, and peppers right from the oven. This is how we do it at the restaurant, but we use cast irons. In the event you cannot or would prefer otherwise you can poach the eggs separately as opposed to baking them in the sauce using the below directions: 1. Adjust oven temperature to 325 degrees. 2. Add the beans to the pan with the potatoes, onions and peppers and mix well. 3. Add 1 heaping spoonful of the pico to the pan and stir until fully incorporated. 4. Add the Ranchero sauce to your vegetables and bring it up to a hard simmer. 5. Once simmering, turn off the heat from the stove and crack your eggs into the pan. Try to keep the eggs about ½- 1 inch apart so that they cook evenly and it will be easier to distribute. 6. Place the pan in the 325° oven for about 15 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your preference. 7. Pull the pan from the oven and pop the tortillas in the oven to warm for a couple of minutes. 8. While the tortillas are warming, set the pan out for garnishing. You can decorate the dish straight in the pan or plate it – your choice. Once decided, top the plate with sliced avocado, fresh pico, queso fresco, chopped cilantro and a couple of lime wedges. After garnishing, take the tortillas out of the oven and place them on a side plate, and enjoy.
