Mark Millitello lit the match that inflamed the Las Olas Boulevard boom. For the past eight years, Mark's Las Olas - the senior of Militello four South Florida outposts-has showcased indigenous ingredients (think conch, black beans and banana leaves) and insightful preparation (from warm Caicos ceviche to pan-seared scallops with Jamaican-spiced oxtail). His signature tastes are simple enough to incessantly engage a local clientele, yet masterful enough to earn him the James Beard Award for the Best Regional Chef and an invitation to write an eight-week series of dining articles with Florence Fabricant of New York Times. The 47-year-old Buffalo, New York-reared chef first moved to study hotels and hospitality at Florida International University, and later partnered in award-winning ventures Café Maxx and Maxaluna. Although his first self-titled venture - Mark's Place in North Miami Beach-closed in 1997, Militello has continued to dot Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, South Beach and West Palm Beach with his deliciously marked flair.

CALL IT INTUITION: "Before we opened on Las Olas, the street had Mango's and a collection of antique shops and bridal stores. We were the first hip thing to happen in downtown Fort Lauderdale. During our building process, one of the old-time local chefs told me, "You'll never make it." He's out of business now. I just had a feeling about the area and got lucky. In the 1970s, no one was working with local resources. Everyone was still eating fried grouper fingers and fried shrimp. I started to contact the local farmers. The farm cabbage is a Florida state tree, so we had to buy from an Indian reservation. I had a lady cutting fresh hearts of palm from the trees on the Seminole ranch.

RAINBOW OF FLAVORS: " I like the food to be assertive but not overpowering. It's about creating a layer of flavors: They're sweet, they're acidic, they're salty. Diners need to taste all these sensations through the dish. And the dishes should make sense with their ethnic background-I would never prepare a Japanese dish with cumin."

TASTING CALIFORNIA: "I got start in restaurants at age 14, when I worked as a dishwasher at a chicken-wing place in Buffalo. The chef walked out so they threw me to take over! Although I first went to Marquette University to study medicine, I later went to culinary school and trained under French chefs in Europe. I went to California in the Î70s, and remember having dinner at Chez Panise, Stars and Spago. California cuisine was just beginning, and I had a revelation. They were using produce I had never seen on the East Coast, such as yellow tomatoes. I remember eating a braised lamb shank with roast garlic aïoliand these wonderful yellow tomatoes."

FROM PAN TO PEN: "I had worked with (New York Times "Off the Menu" columnist) Florence (Fabricant) on and off for years. I prepared food for her and Drew Nieporent (owner of New York's Tribeca Grill and Boca Raton's Lucca) at last year's South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and they liked what they tasted. I had been regularly reading Alain Ducasse's series in The New York Times food section, and never in a million years did I imagine that they would call me to write the next eight-week series. It was beyond my wildest dreams."