Miami's Culinary Community Mourns the Passing of Ghee's Eddy Alicea

Update: A viewing will take place on Monday, Aug. 12 at 4 p.m. at Vior Funeral Home. The burial will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at noon at Caballero Rivero Dade North.

Family, friends, and the staff of both locations of Ghee Indian Kitchen are reeling this week following the untimely passing of 27-year-old cook Eduardo "Eddy" Alicea. He celebrated his birthday Saturday night at the Design District location where he works before heading out for a night in Miami Beach. He never made it home after a car crash early Sunday morning.

"He was a devoted father, son, and brother," Alicea's sister Rosalina Tejada wrote on a GoFundMe page launched to help his family. "His two sons, Jose Antonio and Eddy, and mother were unable to see him and wish him a happy birthday. The boys waited and waited for their daddy to come home to wish their daddy a happy birthday but instead were sent home with their mom because daddy never made it."

While boarding a Miami-bound plane from Jacksonville, Ghee owners Niven and Shivani Patel learned of the accident and that Alicea had been transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Friends and family learned of his passing later that night.

The Patels brought a counselor into the restaurant Monday to help employees.

"I did pull them together and said to them: 'We love you guys so much. We spend more of our time with you guys than our loved ones,'" Shivani says. "'We’re not saying don’t party. We’re just saying don't risk your life; allow a sober body to take you home, even if it's Niven and I. Even if we live in Homestead, we will come and we will take you home, or use Uber. Nothing is more important than your life.'"

In a WSVN story that aired Sunday morning that didn't name the victim, witnesses said they saw a car swerving and traveling in excess of 100 mph on the MacArthur Causeway before flipping off the road, ejecting the driver, and finally stopping after hitting a palm tree.

Alicea's sister Tejada says she saw the report and, although she was never contacted by police and that she and the family waited more than five hours at Jackson Memorial Hospital for an update on her brother's condition, recognized the car as his.

"He’s not just my brother; he is my best friend. He always told me to stay positive, to do what’s right; he always told me to look out for my mom and always try to be positive and be there," Tejada says.

His mother, Ana Rivera, says her son began working alongside her at a restaurant she managed when his then girl friend Veronica Guzman became pregnant with his first son; he started out as a busboy before moving up to server and eventually to a spot in the kitchen. As a cook, "he always talked about how much he loved his job. He was so dedicated, and sometimes he would cook dinner for us and it was amazing," she says.

But Alicea was more than a cook; he was also a devoted father who loved playing basketball and who saved every penny for his young sons, who are 10 and 7 years old. "He was quiet, he was funny, and he cared about everyone," his mother says.

Ghee chef and owner Niven Patel met Alicea when he was a young cook newly hired at Michael's Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District. Alicea, Patel, and a few other cooks used to play basketball together a couple of times a week, and thanks to Alicea's stand-up work in the kitchen, the pair formed a quick bond.

"He just wanted to learn everything, and he was always taking notes," Patel remembers. "The best thing was I would explain stuff to him; he would absorb it and not deviate from it at all. He would follow the recipes. He was a really good cook."

"Eddie worked for our company for several years and we are saddened by this tragedy," Schwartz himself wrote on the fundraising page. "He was a great guy and many still kept in touch with Eddie. Our heartfelt condolences to the family."

When Patel left Schwartz's restaurant to open his own venture, Alicea followed him, but the commute to Dadeland was too much, so Alicea took a job at Schwartz's Latin restaurant, Amara at Paraiso, in Edgewater before moving to Mandolin Aegean Bistro in the Design District. When Ghee's Design District outpost opened following the flagship's success, Patel knew he had to ask Alicea to work at the new location.

Alicea's girlfriend, 22-year-old pastry cook Carolina Torres, says the two dreamed of one day opening a restaurant together. They met while he was a line cook at Michael's Genuine and she was a culinary school intern.

"He used to work next to me, and he’d try to come every day and try to talk to me," she says. "You know how it is when a guy likes a girl."

Eventually, she succumbed to his charm. She recalls he was always there to lend a hand.

"He never wanted anybody to feel like they were dumb because they were new or didn't know something, and he spent the time to try to teach them whatever they knew," she says. Alicea would often step in when she was overwhelmed with orders — "in the weeds," as cooks call it — and simply ask her what she needed.

Meanwhile, the staff at Ghee is struggling to cope with the loss and decided to close for lunch Monday afternoon to gather and remember Alicea.

"Cooks work long shifts, they don't sit down and have a proper meal, and they're running around all night, and then they go out partying and drinking," Shivani Patel says. "I want every cook to know that partying is OK, but be responsible. Sleep it off in the car or call someone you know... and say, 'I'm really drunk; I can't drive.'"

She adds, "I think that this industry, and the world in general, feels that nobody wants to support anybody who's at their lowest point. People think that misery loves company, but why don't we change that mindset to think that people want to support us."