La Ventanita

Latest Episodes:

Rane Roatta, Miami Fruit (Cuban sandwich debate, Miami Spice preview) Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

Rane Roatta’s Homestead farm, Miami Fruit, figured out early on that if they posted videos of the phallic-looking rare exotic fruit they grow, those videos would go viral.

Imagine that — the internet likes phallic things!

Rane and his partner Edelle Schlegel have been growing ultra-rare exotic fruit in the Redland for more than 8 years. They also partner with hundreds of local farmers to sell this fruit strictly online to the tropical-fruit barren places across the country. He’s a talented musician, a competitive cyclist — He’s going to Italy for a championship race soon — and he’s devoted to living an environmentally friendly lifestyle.

PLUS! New fodder for the Cuban sandwich origin debate. Havana (duh!) and New York (yikes!) have entered the chat!

My guest co-host is Alex Harris, the Miami Herald environmental writer and host of the podcast "Smoked," which tells the story of Randy Lanier, who financed a racing team by dealing marijuana(!).

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Randy Alonso, Fox's Lounge co-owner (plus RIP Howie Kleinberg, sandwich talk, Cuban-Italian food) Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

Randy Alonso took on a tough job recently — resurrecting South Miami's Fox’s Lounge.

He and his business partner, Chris Hudnall, spent the last three years renovating the bar that had been open for 69 years in South Miami, Florida until it closed in 2015. Rather than build a new place and just slap the old neon sign on it, Randy looked at preserving what made it popular — a dark old bar with lots of history and familiar food.

We start with a remembrance of the late "Top Chef" alum Howie Kleinberg, who died in July. And we finish with an update on Carlos' sandwich press obsession.

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Netflix Street Food: USA director Mariano Carranza (plus fruit influencer banter) Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

Netflix recently launched a new season of their award-winning series, Street Food. The most recent season focuses on the street food in America and Mariano Carranza was the director of the Miami episode of Street Food: USA.

Mariano is a native of Lima, {eru. But he really did his homework when he tried to boil down what street food means in Miami and he had some interesting choices, from things you might expect, like Cuban sandwiches and fritas, the Cuban hamburgers, which finally get a national spotlight. To the unexpected, like the man from Miami Gardens who sells souse out of his house.

Plus we banter about the "fruit influencers" whose Redland tropical fruit went TikTok viral.

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Banter Show (Hanging out at Shoma Bazaar, Paradis Bread & Books bar) Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

We had very different dining/hangout experiences that we discussed on this episode of La Ventanita.

We tried the high-end food hall in Doral, Shoma Bazaar, that wants to be a destination. Who is this food hall for, with $30 ramen, single-origin coffee roasted right at the food hall, and a clubby bar? Amy and Carlos had thoughts.

Then to the other extreme, Carlos hung out at Paradis Books & Bread, where good wine is cheap and the bread is excellent, with a college coffeeshop vibe.

Plus, what we're excited to try with Miami Spice and new locations for Kendall's FishCo fish market.

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José Mendín, Pubbelly chef, plus Google review scammers, Thomas Keller's new restaurant Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

Our guest today is José Mendín.

What we love about José's Miami restaurants is that no two concepts are alike.

He’s opened a gastrobup, a sushi chain, a Sunset Harbour Italian restaurant and a Puerto Rican spot that tied back to his Boricua roots. His gift is mixing and matching flavors from outside a traditional cuisine to make something uniquely his.

He had a little controversy with his last restaurant, La Placita, when they painted the building like Puerto Rican flag. The Boricuas loved it but the city ultimately told him he had to paint it over.

He's a former college volleyball player, so he and Carlos nerded out about that.

We also talked about the scammers leaving one-star Google reviews for restaurants and extorting them for money to take them down. And we touch on Thomas Keller's new Coral Gables restaurant.

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Banter Show (Wood Tavern/Las Rosas close, Golden Rule fire, Burger Club) Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Boy, do we have a lot of food news to catch up on this episode of La Ventanita. Wagons West is being sold. A fire destroyed the popular tiki hut at Golden Rule seafood market and restaurant, which has been open since 1943. And Wood Tavern and Las Rosas bar in Allapattah have both closed as the area bends further toward tourism and away from locals.

Plus, will Amy defeat her White Girl Stomach long enough to attend a secret burger club?

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La Ventanita/The Sporkful: a collab Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

La Ventanita is off this week. But we want to point you to a special Miami episode of another great food podcast: The Sporkful with Dan Pashman.

The Sporkful aired an episode this week about La Ventanita co-host and Herald food editor Carlos Frías losing his father to gun violence. And how he found solace in a search for Miami's first ventanita.

Check out The Sporkful and give ‘em a follow. We’ll have a new episode of La Ventanita for you July 7.

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Chef Luciana Giangrandi, Boia De co-owner, Miami native Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Luci Giangrandi is a Miami-raised kid whose star has risen. Specifically a Michelin star.

She co-owns Boia De, a restaurant she opened with her co-chef and partner Alex Meyer in a strip mall in Little Haiti three years ago. They were named co-nominees for the James Beard Award for best chef in the South. And now, their little spot has got a star from the Tire Man.

But she actually started out as an aspiring food writer before training in the Scarpetta kitchen of “Chopped!” judge Scott Conant.

Miami first found out about them when they moved to Miami together and opened a tiny taco trailer in the Design District, La Pollita, where they made a killer chicken sandwich.

She talks to us about eating Vicky's croquetas in Miami Lakes, sharing the helm of a heralded restaurant to her trips with family to Livorno, Italy that shaped her.

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Michael Schwartz, 15 years of Michael's Genuine, Michelin Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

Michael did one of the hardest things a restaurant owner could do: He established a restaurant that everybody loved, that won every award — and then he totally changed it.

But Michael has done that for 25-plus years he’s been in Miami, always gone against the grain. Classic story of going into an unproven neighborhood and helping to make it cool.

Big Pink on South Beach in the mid 90s. Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in the Design District in the mid 2000s. Harry’s Pizzeria at the edge of Midtown after that.

We talk to him about making it through COVID – which he got and he lost his sense of taste for time. We’ll talk to him about the role his kids play in his restaurants and his career. And Michelin's recognition of Miami and his restaurant.

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Banter Show (Michelin star predictions with Ryan Pfeffer of The Infatuation) Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

It’s an all-banter show.

And to help us do that, we’ve invited a professional banter-er, Ryan Pfeffer, the main food reviewer for The Infatuation, the online restaurant guide that bought out the Zagat Guide. Ryan dines out for work more than anyone in Miami. He’s been to the fancy restaurants that could end up with Miami's first Michelin star. And he’s been to the hidden mom and pop restaurants all around Miami.

We talk about Miami's Michelin star possibilities and Carlos shares passionate food-nerd reactions to his list of predictions in the Miami Herald. Plus, we discuss our guide to new Miami restaurants in the Miami Herald.

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