Yes, Chef! FIU hospitality alumnus comes full circle

On any given day, you can find Chef Isaac Perlman, or Chef IP, as his foodie fans call him, in the kitchen of his restaurant PERL in North Miami Beach. This week is no different, except after 13 years as a professional chef, he’s throwing it back to the “OG,” the original kitchen where he got his college education. Chef IP will be serving up truffle bechamel sauce and perfectly plating cilantro microgreens during his homecoming to FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management to showcase his delectable dishes for Panther Alumni Week (PAW).

“It’s exciting to go back and be recognized,” said Chef IP. “I cooked my heart out in the kitchen for the last 15 years. Missed out on people’s birthdays, my kids birthdays and family dinners to be able to get somewhere and now to be recognized by FIU is amazing,” he added.

Chef IP’s menu for the event is a blend of the elevated cuisine and meticulous technique that he’s built his reputation around. On the menu, Kampachi Crudo, Heart of Palm Gratin made with Truffle Bechamel and Parmigiano-Reggiano and PERL’s signature Baby Gem Caesar Salad served with a delicious Wasabi-Truffle Casesar dressing.

While returning to FIU hospitality is a highlight, Chef IP is most looking forward to working with his young crew of sous-chefs from the Advanced Food and Beverage Operations class who help run the award-winning FIU Bistro. Chef IP will be teamed up with students and Lead Culinary Management Professor and Chef John Noble Masi. The FIU Bistro is the student-run restaurant located at the school’s Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Laboratory on the Biscayne Bay Campus, which is open to the public on Wednesdays. The restaurant wasn’t around when Chef IP was a student.

“I’ve never been there as a guest, so I don’t know what the guest reactions are. We’re bringing in dishes made outside of the box with classic French techniques. I’m looking forward to seeing reactions from students, hoping to potentially see a young Isaac say ‘hey can I come work with you.’ There’s always one student,” said Perlman.

FIU and HOSPITALITY: A dream combination

Panther Alumni Week or PAW, part of the McKibbon ’75 Alumni Experience, encourages FIU alumni to return to campus to connect with students and share their perspectives through class presentations and networking events. For Chef IP, who was born in Colombia and moved to Miami at age seven, hospitality and FIU were always his dream.

“Since I was 11 years old, I was into hotels, restaurants, entertainment and food. I applied to one school, FIU, when I graduated from high school,” said Perlman. Growing up near FIU in North Miami, it was the university he wanted to attend.

During his years here, Perlman took classes and thought he was going to work at a hotel. In order to graduate, he needed 1,000 hours of on-the-job experience, which led him to work in a number of high-end restaurants. “Without FIU, I don’t know if I would have even stepped into one of these jobs,” he recalls.

After several other internships and jobs at well-known restaurants, he honed his skills and passion for culinary and restaurant management. In addition, he also worked the South Beach Wine & Food Festival®. They paired him with the Executive Chef from Zuma Miami, an internationally-acclaimed restaurant in Downtown Miami.

“I was wow, this is awesome. I can’t wait for me to be on the other side of the table,” he said of his work at SOBEWFF®.

Social Media Stardom: From Private Chef to Restaurant Owner

Isaac Perlman graduated FIU in 2014 with his Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management. He was supposed to work in a hotel as the room service manager. But in those early days of Instagram, Perlman began posting pictures of the food he cooked at home. One day someone messaged asking to try his food and inquiring about hiring him to cook.

“I initially said no, I don’t want to be a chef. I wanted to be more managerial on the operations side of the business, but my friend said just do it, make some money,” recalls Perlman.

So, he did it. That 25-person dinner, led to a 45-person dinner, then a 125-guest birthday party. In his first year as a personal chef, along with the knowledge he gained at FIU Hospitality, he made more than half a million dollars in sales and his destiny changed forever.

Faroe Island Salmon and Kosher USDA Prime Boneless Ribeye are on the menu at PERL Restaurant.

“In 2014, being a private chef was a novelty, no one was a private chef,” he said. Perlman has been in the homes and cooked for many of Miami’s elite. But his dream was always to own a restaurant. In 2019, he found a location near his home and FIU in North Miami and signed a lease before the pandemic. In May 2020, with most restaurants shuttered, hospitality in a tailspin, and a deal he could not back out of, he decided to move forward with his dream. He officially opened PERL Restaurant on Miami Gardens Drive and 24^th Avenue in December 2020.

“We did great our first year because it was after the height of the pandemic, and Florida was opening up again,” he said. In December 2024, Chef IP marked his four-year anniversary. He’s now looking to potentially open a second PERL Restaurant in Palm Beach County.

The PAW lunch is his way of giving back to the future leaders of hospitality and students who may one day want to fill his shoes. This month he will also be making another appearance at the signature SOBEWFF® event, Fontainebleau Miami Beach presents Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best. It’s an accomplishment he is very proud of. At 33, Chef IP admits he has a long way to go in his field, but “it’s definitely rewarding and I feel a sense of relief that my decisions back then are paying off now.”

PERL Restaurant just celebrated its 4th anniversary in December 2024.