Remembering the ‘always smiling’ chef Rakeem Miles of Port Waterfront Bar and Grill

For chef Rakeem Miles, food and family were inseparable loves.

Mr. Miles, the executive chef of Port Waterfront Bar and Grill in Greenport Village, died in his sleep in his Wading River home last Sunday. He was 31.

A grinder by all accounts, Port co-owner Keith Bavaro described Mr. Miles as “the hardest working person in that restaurant.”

“He was just so proud of his menu, and was so excited to get into season, and was just such a great, great leader in that kitchen,” Mr. Bavaro said. “It was just an absolute pleasure to be in the same room as that man, and he had always had a smile on his face.”

Those who knew Mr. Miles noted that it was much more than a passion for his craft that fueled his fire.

“He spent all his days off with us,” said Dagna Griciute, Mr. Miles’ fiancé with whom he had three daughters. “The girls meant everything to him. He always said that he worked for us, and he wants to make sure that the girls have an amazing life.”

Food was always familial for Mr. Miles from an early age. Born in St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, his grandmother, Betty Miles, who he called “Nanny,” raised him for much of his childhood and teen years, first in her Aquebogue home, then in Conyers, GA. after a 2005 move. His grandmother’s home was his first culinary academy.

“A lot of his influence came from her,” Ms. Griciute said. “They’d be on the phone and he’d be talking to her about the menu that he’s making and stuff like that … She always helped him with different recipes that he wanted input with.”

Most recently, Mr. Miles’ grandmother — his toughest critic who he would often awaken with a late-night phone call after a long shift — helped change his asparagus recipe after she expressed her displeasure with it. She told him to drop his attempt at blackened asparagus and opt for a flavorful sauté.

“I said, ‘I guarantee you it will be a hit,’” Ms. Miles recalled. “I gave him special seasonings to use and he called me and he said ‘Nanny, I’m selling asparagus like crazy.’”

“That was my baby,” Ms. Miles added. “We talked everyday. ‘Nanny. I want to tell you about this, this was a hit at the job and this is how I did it and they loved it.’”

Work-life balance can be challenging for those in the culinary field, but Mr. Miles still managed to spend time with his fiancé and children at water parks, playing mini-golf and cooking well-marinated steak, salmon and pasta at home.

When Port’s 2023 season began in May, Ms. Griciute, who raises their children full-time, decided to take up a position as a server at Port.

“It was another day for us to spend together,” she said.

With his friends, Mr. Miles enjoyed playing the video game Fortnite and discussing food, Xbox games and hip-hop while hanging out in the village. Wherever he went, Ms. Griciute said, if music was playing, her outgoing fiancé would sing and dance.

“He could be around any kind of music and get along with it,” she said. “He could go into any bar with any kind of music playing, and let me tell you, you would not even know that he doesn’t know that song.”

In person and in group chats with his Port colleagues, Mr. Miles frequently shared how much he loved his daughters.

“Everything he did really was for his family,” Parker Giovan, the general manager at Port, said. “I remember him always sending me Snapchats of him with his kids, watching TV or playing video games with them.”

Ms. Miles said she was proud of the father he became.

“He was very family-oriented … and when I saw it, my heart always felt good,” she said. “It always felt good to know he loves his kids like that.”

The chef’s sudden passing came as a shock that reverberated throughout Greenport’s wider culinary community. Those who only encountered him in passing noted his knack for seafood that paired well with his upbeat demeanor. Ellen’s on Front chef Jennie Werts recalled Mr. Miles peering through the kitchen door, smiling and giving an inquisitive thumbs up/down to ask if she was enjoying her meal.

“I really liked the calamari over there,” she said of her favorite dish from Mr. Miles. “The yuzu aioli was nice, and the breading was always crispy.”

Among his most popular offerings at Port were his sea bass, stuffed clams and crab macaroni and cheese.

“He’s a craftsman with all things seafood,” Mr. Bavaro said. “He really knew how to break down the fish and sear it off, and his sauces complimented the fish really well. Anything that he touched with seafood was just outstanding.” Mr. Bavaro also praised the chef’s hamburger, a recipe he worked on with his grandmother.

At Port, younger staffers viewed Mr. Miles as a caring leader.

“He was always there to help out anyone, everyone,” recalled Erick Galicia, a food expeditor at Port. “He was always smiling, giving everyone advice, and just being there for them. And if you needed help, he would. He would always check up on me, like ‘how are you doing man?'”

Several of Mr. Miles’ coworkers and loved ones lamented the lost potential of the 31-year-old they saw thriving in his first position as an executive chef.

“Working at Port, he’s been so happy,” Ms. Griciute said. “This is where he wanted to be … he just wanted to stay with Keith and see where it went from there. But we always talked about opening a restaurant eventually, one day. Something to pass down to the girls.”

Ms. Griciute said she and Mr. Miles were longtime friends before they started dating in 2015. They became engaged on Christmas Eve that same year. The following year, Ms. Griciute gave birth to their first child, Amiyah, 7, followed by Ariah, 4 and Ava, 2.

“We just knew we wanted to get married,” she said. “We always loved each other and we just kept having kids … We were planning to [get married] after this summer.”

“He was the best father, the best fiancé,” she added. “He was my best friend. I’m not even sure what we’re gonna do without him.”

A GoFundMe page titled “Support for Rakeem Miles Family” has been created, and the page’s description says its $15,000 goal is to “help ease this transition for his family and children.” As of Monday afternoon, 97 donations had brought in $10,750. Anyone interested in learning more about the GoFundMe campaign can visit gofundme.com.