Gaby by Call Me Gaby

Calabrian heat at the pass

Olive oil, chili peppers, and seafood set the first grammar for Andrea Amelio , Chef at Gaby by Call Me Gaby in Aventura. He works from Calabria outward, not as a theme but as a discipline: bold flavor, direct seasoning, and the Southern Italian habit of letting a staple hold the plate without overworking it. Amelio has described Calabria as a region known for bold and vibrant flavors, and at Gaby that reference gives the kitchen its line. The restaurant frames itself as an authentic Italian trattoria, with traditional recipes, imported ingredients, and a dining room built for the ease of la dolce vita. His station sits inside that promise, where generosity has to stay composed and pleasure still needs structure. What is stated is enough to understand the working base: Italian-chef discipline, Calabrian memory, and a menu that treats regional flavor as method rather than decoration.

The Andrea pizza and the Southern Italian method

The clearest bench-side signature is the Andrea pizza, built with stracciatella, speck, fig jam, and rosemary. The construction depends on pressure and release. Stracciatella softens the bite, speck brings salt and smoke, fig jam rounds the center, and rosemary cuts through with its resinous lift. It is not a maximalist gesture; it is a set of contrasts held within the frame of a wood-fired pizza program. Around it, the kitchen keeps to familiar Italian architecture: truffle burrata pizza, eggplant parmigiana, fresh seafood, and plates suited to both à la carte ordering and family-style passing across the table. The stated ingredients matter here. Not garnish language in Amelio’s cooking, they are the working materials of the region he names. The method favors clarity. Heat should arrive cleanly. Richness should have an edge. Seafood should keep its own sweetness. In that sense, the trattoria brief is less casual than it first sounds. The room can be easy; the seasoning cannot be loose.

A garden room with vintage Italian edges

The room at Gaby by Call Me Gaby works around an intimate garden courtyard, where al fresco dining gives the Italian table its pace. The setting is described through simplicity married with style: vintage Italian touches, a cozy welcome, and enough polish to keep the service in an upscale casual register. That matters for the food. Wood-fired pizza lands differently when the counter and courtyard share the same mood, warm but not crowded with performance. Conversation can stay at table level. Wine and craft cocktails sit beside the cooking without turning the meal into a program about beverage. The pass has a Mediterranean ease around it, but the kitchen’s reference points remain specific: Calabria, imported ingredients, traditional recipes, seafood, oil, chili, dough, fire. The setting gives those things air.

What the plate keeps in view

Gaby by Call Me Gaby does not need a complicated argument for why Amelio’s cooking belongs in the room. The work is strongest when it stays close to the Southern Italian table and lets contrast do the shaping. If the menu has a personal marker, it is the pizza carrying his name, where those toppings make the case for Andrea Amelio without leaving the craft of the Andrea pizza.