Chef Rakeem Miles died last Sunday at the age of 31. (picture provided by me)
For Chef Rakeem Miles, food and family are inseparable love.
Executive Chef Mr. Miles Harbor Waterfront Bar & Grill He died in his sleep last Sunday at his Wading River home in the village of Greenport. He was 31 years old that year.
Port partner Keith Bavaro called Mr Myers “the hardest working man in that restaurant”.
“He’s very proud of his menu, very excited about going into the season and is a very, very good leader in the kitchen,” Mr Bavaro said. “It was such a joy to be in the same room with that man, he always had a smile on his face.”
Those who know Mr. Myers point out that it wasn’t just a passion for his craft that ignited his passion.
“He spends all of his down time with us,” said Dagna Griciute, Mr. Myers’ fiance and mother of three daughters. “The girls meant everything to him. He always said he worked for us and he wanted to make sure the girls had a good life.”
Mr. Miles has loved food since he was a child. He was born at St. Charles’ Hospital in Port Jefferson and was raised by his grandmother Betty Miles (he called her “Nanny”) through much of his childhood and adolescence, first at her home in Akerberg , and then in Conyers, Georgia. After moving in 2005. His grandmother’s home was his first culinary school.
“A lot of his influence comes from her,” Ms. Grisut said. “They’d call and he’d talk to her about menus he was working on and things like that…she was always helping him with different recipes that he wanted to input.”
Recently, Mr. Miles’ grandmother — his harshest critic who would often wake him up late at night after long shifts — helped convert him after expressing her displeasure with an asparagus recipe. Asparagus Recipe. She told him not to try the black asparagus, but opt for a delicious stir-fry instead.
“I said, ‘I promise you this is going to be a hit,'” Ms. Myers recalled. “I gave him the special seasoning and he called me and he said ‘Nanny, I’m selling asparagus like crazy.'”
“That was my baby,” Ms Myers added. “We talk every day. ‘Nanny. I want to tell you about this, it’s been a hit for the job, that’s what I do, and they love it.'”
Work-life balance can be a challenge for those in the culinary field, but Mr Miles still manages to spend time with his fiancé and kids at the water park, play miniature golf and cook a well-marinated steak at home. Salmon and pasta.
When Porter’s 2023 season began in May, Ms. Grissett, who raised her children full-time, decided to serve as a waitress at Porter.
“It’s another day we spend together,” she said.
Mr. Miles enjoys playing the video game Fortnite with friends and discussing food, Xbox games and hip-hop while wandering around the village. Ms. Grisiut said her outgoing fiancé sang and danced wherever there was music playing wherever he went.
“He could touch any genre of music and be with it,” she said. “He could go into any bar that played any type of music and let me tell you, you wouldn’t even know he didn’t know that song.”
In face-to-face and group chats with colleagues at the Port, Mr Myers often shared how much he loved his daughters.
“Everything he did was really for his family,” said Parker Giovan, general manager of Porter. “I remember him always sending me Snapchats of him watching TV or playing video games with the kids.”
Ms Myers said she was proud of him being a father.
“He’s very family-oriented…my heart always feels good when I see him,” she said. “It always feels good to know that he loves his kids so much.”
The chef’s sudden death has caused shock throughout the wider culinary community in Greenport. Those just passing him notice his adeptness for seafood, which goes well with his upbeat demeanor. Chef Jennie Werts of Ellen’s on Front recalled Mr. Miles looking out the kitchen door, smiling, giving a curious thumbs up/thumbs up and asking if she had enjoyed her meal.
“I really like the calamari there,” she said of Mr. Miles’ favorite dish. “The yuzu aioli is delicious and the breading is always crispy.”
Some of his Porter Harbor favorites include sea bass, stuffed clams, and crab macaroni and cheese.
“He’s an artisan who specializes in seafood,” Mr Bavaro said. “He really knows how to break down the fish and sear it, and his sauces are perfect for the fish. Any seafood he touches is outstanding.” Mr Bavaro also praised the chef’s hamburger, which he created with A recipe my grandmother made together.
At Porter, younger employees view Mr. Miles as a caring leader.
“He was always there to help anyone and everyone,” recalls Eric Galicia, a food delivery man at the port. “He was always smiling, giving advice to everyone, and helping them. If you needed help, he would. He would always check on me and be like, ‘How are you, buddy?’”
Several of Mr. Myers’ colleagues and loved ones have lamented the lost potential of the 31-year-old, who saw a flourish in his first role as executive chef.
“He’s very happy working at Porter,” Ms Grissett said. “That’s where he wants to be…he just wants to hang out with Keith and see what happens next. But we always talk about eventually opening a restaurant one day. Something to pass on to the girls.”
Ms Grissett said she and Mr Miles were longtime friends before they started dating in 2015. They got engaged on Christmas Eve that same year. The following year, Ms. Grisiut gave birth to their first child, Amiyah, 6, followed by Ariah, 4, and Ava, 2.
“We just knew we wanted to get married,” she said. “We’ve always loved each other, we’ve always had kids…we were going to [get married] After this summer. “
“He was the best dad, the best fiancé,” she added. “He was my best friend. I’m not even sure what we’d do without him.”
A GoFundMe page has been created titled “Supporting Rakeem Miles’ Family,” and the page’s description says its $10,000 goal is to “help ease this transition for his family and children.” As of Friday morning, 75 donations had raised $8,130.Anyone interested in learning more about the GoFundMe campaign can visit gofundme.com.
