Ever the dreamer, Miamian Michael Beltran once aspired to be a football player, but a middle school teacher told him that would happen when pigs fly. While playing football and studying sociology and criminology at Averett University in Virginia, Beltran discovered a passion for the culinary arts. He toiled away at Applebee’s, and by 2007, he had received his bachelor’s, as well as an associate’s degree from the Florida Culinary Institute.

After graduating, he worked the line at Casa Juancho before spending two years at Red Fish Grill as sous. When Norman Van Aken opened Norman’s 180 in 2010, Beltran sought out the chef who would become his “culinary godfather.” He dropped off his resume at least 10 times until he was hired as head of production.

Eight months later, Beltran pivoted to become chef de cuisine at The Local Craft Food & Drink under Rising Stars Alum Alberto Cabrera. In 2012, Beltran returned to Van Aken’s tutelage as chef de partie at Tuyo. His break as executive chef came in 2013 with the opening team of Michael Schwartz’s Cypress Room.

In 2016, he launched his Cuban-American concept, Ariete. With business partner Andrew Falsetto, Beltran formed Ariete Hospitality Group and opened two restaurants in 2019: Navé with Chef Justin Flit at the helm and Chug’s diner. Beltran can be heard on Pan Con Podcast, through which he chats with local chefs and food specialists. Now a clear leader in the Miami restaurant industry, he made his company logo a pig with a parachute.

Among the criteria that Michelin judges purportedly look for in a fine restaurant is the fact that you can tell, by the dishes that are served, who’s back there in the kitchen. That’s undoubtedly true at any of Michael Beltran’s restaurants, where he bakes his Miami upbringing and Cuban heritage into his menus. His dishes at Ariete are often inventions, combining ingredients and techniques in ways nobody has tried before, and yet they’re approachable and delicious—the kinds of things you want to go back for many more times.

In normal times, chef Michael Beltran would have a straightforward plan: Take the seasoned staff from his existing restaurants and have them launch the new ones. These are not normal times.

Beltran needs to hire 85 people for the five eateries he aims to open this year. Meanwhile at his flagship fine-dining restaurant Ariete, as well as his more casual seafood-and-pasta spot Navé, both in Coconut Grove, he’s down dozens of waiters and short prep cooks.

The pasta guy failed to show up for his Navé shift, no phone call; a sous chef had to jump into the role. Both restaurants have been short on full-time help for so long in the dish room that managers are starting to bargain and cajole about who deserves a dishwasher just to get through weekend brunch service. Beltran wants Navé open seven days a week but doesn’t have the bodies to make it work.

Tourism is roaring back in Miami, vaccines and easing coronavirus restrictions filling restaurants and reservation books again. There is pent-up enthusiasm to dine out, even to splurge on Beltran’s 14-course tasting menu.

The days of only six customers in the dining room, of hustling to find any revenue stream — turning his third restaurant, Chug’s Cuban Diner, into a bodega selling basic groceries, offering cocktail kits to go, launching a pop-up seafood shack — seem to be in the past.

But Beltran faces an unexpected new threat. He can’t find anywhere near enough bussers, prep cooks, line cooks, bartenders, servers.

Chef Michael Beltran’s innovative New American restaurant was never envisioned as a takeout joint, but it might be one of many lasting changes spurred by the pandemic. With DIY meal kits and personalized in-house delivery, including top-tier wines sold to-go at retail prices, Beltran and his team found that they could bring the Ariete experience to a wider audience.

Meanwhile, an expansion of the wine program became a focus for both home dining and in the restaurant as a sense of normalcy resumes.

“This past year gave me the opportunity to take a closer look at Ariete and figure out ways to elevate the restaurant, and I realized one of the best ways to do this was with our wine program,” says Beltran. “Once we got back on our feet and saw ourselves in a good place, we decided to reinvest in the program. It’s made such a difference.”