AFTER DINING AT MARK’S Place in North Miami, Paul Bocuse, probably the most famous chef in the world, stood and applauded the restaurant’s owner-chef, Mark Militello, then asked for an autographed menu.

Food writers have called Militello’s cuisine intellectual, dazzling, extraordinary. Food and Wine magazine named him one of the 10 best chefs in America. The Gault Millau guide, a French publication devoted to restaurant criticism, rated Mark’s Place the best in Florida. And in 1992 he received one of the most coveted of accolades, the James Beard Award as the best chef in the American Southeast.

As a result of Militello’s fame and talent, patrons regularly stand three deep at his restaurant’s bar, patiently waiting for the next table.

For all his popularity, the shy Militello remains remarkably unaffected by all the fuss. Celebrity, he says, is something he never planned.

IN THE EARLY ’70s MILITELLO enrolled in pre-med school at Marquette University in Wisconsin, hoping to realize a childhood dream of becoming a doctor. But after two months he quit.

“I found I didn’t have a taste for cutting into cadavers,” he says with a smile. “So I traded the scalpel for a kitchen knife.”

After earning degrees from the New York State University Hotel & Culinary School and Florida Inter- national University’s Hospitality & Hotel Management School in the mid-’70s, Militello planned to enter the hotel-management field.

But about the same time, California was experiencing a culinary revolution. The explosion of ideas and concepts — most notably organic food, fresh herbs and beautiful presentation — captured the young man’s interest.

“After a trip to California, where I saw that burst of originality and imagination, I became completely fascinated with cooking,” Militello recalls. “That’s when I decided to become a chef.”

It didn’t take long for people to realize that Chef Militello was something special.

First at the Bushwacker in Fort Lauderdale, then at Cafe Max in Pompano Beach, where he was the head chef, Militello awakened the palates of South Floridians to tastes they had never experienced. Cafe Max became an overnight success, and Mark Militello became a “name.”

In time, he came to realize that working for the upscale chain of restaurants owned by Dennis Max was not for him. He wanted to run his own show. So with a partner he purchased Max’s Place and changed its name to Mark’s Place.

AS MILITELLO DEVELOPED HIS signature style, acclaim and awards poured in from around the world, and he soon the leading authority on Florida-Caribbean cuisine.

“He has an instinctive sense of what goes together,” one food writer says. “Not only is he gifted with a kind of infallibility in combining ingredients and flavors, but he has a perfect eye for beauty and symmetry, so that you are eating extraordinary food both with your eyes and your palate.”

Militello never seems to make the blunder of overkill that so often mars the work of other young, ambitious chefs.

He is a perfectionist whose food must be the best. He searches constantly for the newest and freshest products, finding them as far away as Europe and Asia. He purchases his fish only from day boats. And he now has a farm in South Dade, where he grows a variety of lettuces and other vegetables.

“Mark Militello, probably better than anyone else, has been able to combine Florida’s culinary influences,” says author John Mariani, a food and restaurant writer for magazines such as Food and Wine and Esquire.

“These influences include Cuban, Caribbean, Latin American, Italian and American. To me, his restaurant is a sexy, glamorous place where the portions are generous and lavish. It represents a tropical hedonism that is just irresistible.”

According to Militello’s wife, Christie, he possesses a singular sense of commitment to whatever course he decides to pursue.

“His commitment to me and the children is always five-star, just as he has proved to be a five-star chef,” she says.

Her husband’s creativity emerges fresh each day with new dishes and menus.

Whether it’s his fresh-cracked Bahamian conch with spicy mango relish and vanilla-rum butter, the curry-fried oysters with tamarind-banana salsa and orange sour cream, or the pancetta-wrapped grilled loin of rabbit with creamy mascarpone polenta and black truffle sauce, diners can be sure that each dish is unique. When a particularly popular dish, such as sesame-seared rare tuna with jasmine rice, has been copied too often by other chefs, Militello retires it.

Never does one dine at Mark’s Place with a sense of deja vu. And in keeping with that philosophy, Chef Militello created a special menu for Sunshine’s Great Florida Dinners series. The recipes appear on pages 18 and 20.

APPETIZER

Crispy Potato Goat Cheese Tart with Poached Garlic-Tomato Vinaigrette

MAIN COURSE

Creole Spiny Lobster with Fresh Conch

DESSERT

Tropical Crunch Ice Cream in Coconut Tuiles with Pineapple Rum Toffee Sauce

CRISPY POTATO GOAT CHEESE TART WITH POACHED GARLIC-TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

5 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced (-inch thick

1 cup clarified butter, melted

1/2 pounds soft goat cheese

1 cup pine nuts

1/2 cups sweet peppers, roasted

All-purpose flour for dusting

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Dip potato slices in butter and arrange in a single layer on non-stick baking sheet. Bake until tender but uncolored (about 15 minutes). Pat dry with paper towels.

Line a 4-inch tart mold or pastry ring with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang. Then line with 1/4 of potatoes on bottom and up sides. Place a layer of goat cheese over potatoes. Next cover goat cheese with pine nuts and a layer of sweet peppers. Wrap potatoes over goat cheese, then follow by adding one layer of potatoes. Cover the mold with the overhanging plastic wrap and weight top of the mold. Refrigerate until solid.

Unmold tart and dust with flour. Saute in a non-stick pan until golden and crispy. Serves 12 as an appetizer.

POACHED GARLIC-TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

1/2 cup garlic cloves

1/2 cups Chardonnay wine

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Chardonnay vinegar

1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

cup peeled, seeded, finely chopped tomatoes

Peel garlic and thinly slice across grain. In a non-reactive pan, combine the garlic, wine and bay leaf. Poach garlic for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Remove garlic with slotted spoon and reserve. Boil wine until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Remove pan from heat and whisk in oil and vinegars. Stir in reserved garlic, herbs, sugar, salt and pepper and tomato. Serve with the tart.

CREOLE SPINY LOBSTER WITH FRESH CONCH

6 spiny lobsters (1 1/2 pounds each)

For Marinade:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

Juice of 4 limes

For Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 scotch bonnet chili (seeded and minced)

1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 cup dry Spanish sherry

2 cups peeled, seeded, finely chopped tomatoes

2 cups lobster or fish stock

1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (cut off the cob)

1/2 cup diced christophene

1/2 cup diced yellow yam

1/2 cup diced calabaza

3/4 cup ground fresh conch

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut lobsters in half lengthwise. Remove entrails. Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a shallow pan. Add the lobsters and marinate 10 minutes.

Prepare the sauce. Heat oil in a large saute pan. Add garlic, onions, bell pepper and chili. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until translucent.

Stir in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the sherry and boil until reduced by half.

Add the tomatoes and lobster or fish stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes.

Pass the sauce through a food mill fitted with a fine grate, into a clean saucepan. Return pan to heat.

Add the corn, christophene, yams, calabaza and conch and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in thyme and parsley. Correct seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the grill. Grill lobsters for 8 to 10 minutes, preferably over a hardwood or charcoal fire. Place two lobster halves on each plate and spoon sauce over and around them. Serves 6.

Note: Grind conch in food processor. Grill lobster with heads on, or remove and split the tails. Brown in olive oil, then simmer briefly in the sauce. Christophene (also known as chayote or mireliton) is a squash that tastes like boiled pear. Calabaza is a hard West Indian pumpkin. Jamaican yellow yam is a starchy tuber that tastes a little like a potato. All three are available at West Indian grocery stores.

TROPICAL CRUNCH ICE CREAM IN COCONUT TUILES WITH PINEAPPLE RUM TOFFEE SAUCE

For Ice Cream:

1 quart milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

12 egg yolks

1/2 cups sugar

For Crunch:

3/4 cup pecans

1 tablespoon corn syrup

3/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut

3/4 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate (Lindt) chilled

Coconut tuiles (see recipe)

Warm Pineapple Rum Toffee Sauce (see recipe)

For ice cream. Combine milk and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds with tip of a knife into the milk mixture. Add the bean and slowly bring to a simmer.

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk in the warm milk mixture in a thin stream. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat until it coats back of wooden spoon thickly. Do not boil or it will curdle.

Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Chill over ice.

Meanwhile, combine pecans and corn syrup in a bowl and toss well. Transfer to a baking sheet spread with parchment paper and greased with oil spray. Toast in an oven, preheated to 325 degrees, for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Let cool, then chop coarsely. Toast coconut on a separate baking sheet.

Freeze the egg mixture in an ice-cream machine following manufacturer’s directions. When nearly frozen, add nuts, coconut and chocolate. Finish freezing and let the ice cream “ripen” in the freezer for two hours.

To serve, place scoops of ice cream in tuiles and spoon sauce on top.

Note: Use fresh coconut in recipes.

COCONUT TUILES

1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 1 1/2 tablespoons) at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

5 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until fluffy and white. Beat in egg whites one by one, scraping sides of bowl and beating after each scraping. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour and beat at low speed just to mix. Fold in coconut. Let mixture rest for an hour.

Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter onto greased baking sheet. Spread with the back of spoon to form a 6-inch circle. Leave a few inches between each. Continue process.

Bake the tuiles for 5 to 6 minutes, or until golden, rotating baking sheets as necessary for even cooking. Using a wide spatula, lift the tuiles off the baking sheet and drape over inverted coffee cups. Let cool until firm and crisp. If not using the tuiles immediately, store in airtight container. Yields 10 to 12.

PINEAPPLE RUM TOFFEE SAUCE

7 ounces light brown sugar

6 tablespoons heavy cream

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 fresh pineapple, chopped

1/4 cup fresh pineapple juice

Combine all the ingredients except pineapple and the juice in a heavy saucepan and boil for 3 minutes. Stir in pineapple chunks and juice. Simmer until lightly thickened.