Chef Joel Ehrlich moved from San Francisco back to his hometown of Fort Lauderdale last summer to take over the kitchen at One Door East, the global small plates restaurant next to Valentino Cucina Italiana.

Giovanni Rocchio, the founding chef and partner of both restaurants, had spent years trying to lure Ehrlich east. The two became friends after Rocchio ate at Coqueta, a modern Spanish restaurant on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, and was impressed with Ehrlich’s cooking.