Cuban sandwich update

1. Havana Harry's
2. La Palma on 8th Street
3. Sergio's on Coral Way
4. Puerto Sagua on the Beach

more to come....

The Search for the best Cuban Sandwiches

Here is the list so far:

1. Havana Harry's (delicious!)
2. Sergio's on Coral Way
3. Puerto Sagua

On the Hunt...

For Miami's best Cuban sandwich. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I have decided to scout out the best places to get these tasty, filling Cuban delights.

Carnaval on the Mile

This is super late, I realize that. But sadly, this is the first time I have had the time and energy to sit down in front of my computer for any reason other than work for the past two weeks. I had been waffling over creating a post about COTM because it's been so late, but ultimately I decided better late than never. And the main deciding factor was because the two days I went, I was super relaxed. Maybe writing about that stage will bring some bliss into my life, right?

Anyway. So we went on the Friday kickoff event/Coral Gables Art Walk to see Conjunto Progresso, who were fantastic, as usual. The crowd had been milling around the stage for the previous band, but when Conjunto started, they gathered close to the stage, people played maracas and danced salsa with their loved ones. It was awesome.



It's hard to see in this light, but the band had as much fun playing as people did listening to them. They were an eclectic crew, most of which played several instruments and the younger guys liked to dance in sync. It was really fun.

As you walked around, there were the standard artists in the circles, as well as cigar rollers:

To me, the whole event of the Coral Gables Art Walk is a homage to the Cuban culture, with art galleries that happen to be open. And speaking of galleries, you tend to find some sort of vintage car outside at least one. But this one was unique:


During the actual Carnaval on the Mile, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, there were street vendors, food, art (most of it generic, but some good things in between) and bands. Lots of bands. With a lineup of Suenalo, Afrobeta, Locos por Juana, ArtOfficial, Brendan O'Hare and Conjunto Progresso, you cannot go wrong.

This was Brendan O'Hare. Super awesome sound.




And here are some scenes from COTM:




(Another example of art that is a homage to Latin culture... And one of my favorite things, Coffee)


There were lots of dogs. I kept pointing out the ones I liked as examples to El Hombre



Lebo Car!

I think my favorite thing was the fact that I was in my comfy bathing suite and BoHo gear, walking around in the sun, largely by myself at first, just exploring. After I got a free 5 minute massage from BlueCross BlueShield, I grabbed a coffee and a little table off the walkway, and soaked in the sun, listened to the bands in the distance and just relaxed, watching people with their families run past, looking at the street performers, games, giveaways and wares.

Miami BBQ

Only in Miami would you find a place where you pull off a major street to eat BBQ, ride ponys and rock out to salsa and reggaeton. And that place would be the Pitt, way down Calle Ocho/8th Street/Tamiami Trail, by the Miccosukee.

I am typically hesitant about BBQ in Miami because I am mainly a fan of Carolina BBQ, but when you've just come from a 15 mile bike ride, you get less picky. I ended up with ribs and El Hombre with the rib/chicken combo, and despite the fact that the ribs are all a dry rub, and not glazed the way I like, they were pretty good. They came with fries and a biscuit, which was more like a cross between a hush puppy and a biscuit. Tasty.

This place also had the cheesy factor which always appeals to me. I would never drive that far just to go for the food, but if you are out in the 'glades and you want to grab something on the way back, it's worth it to go.

My Miami Artsy Side

Has come out again. I know it's been a while since I've blogged but things have been really busy :) So, today I ventured out to North Beach to the 35th annual Festival of the Arts and saw some really cute things, ate some really good food, and tried not to get blown away along the shores of the Atlantic. It's nice that this neighborhood has this every year and it's also nice it's not as crowded as the Grove's art festival. A good day was had by all and a good mix of people turned out.

Wagon's West - Best Pancakes in Pinecrest!

This past Saturday I went to Wagon's West for the first time. I didn't know what to expect. Actually from my friend's description as a Western themed woodsy saloon meets a log cabin or something you would find in Wyoming, I was expecting to pull off of US-1 and see this free-standing spectacle. But low and behold, it is deceptively hidden in a strip mall (how Florida) called "Sunnyland" (I believe it's spelled this way - Sunniland looks too much like Sunni to me and un-Floridalike). Once inside, I was blown away. We had to wait for a table because according to my friend this place is like a South Florida institution. It was everything I had been promised and more because the food was that good. They have egg and pancake specials which are delicious. I recommend the blueberry pancakes which come packed with steroid-sized blueberries. And the decor - oh my. Anything that would make you think of the wild west can be found here, even a Skoal ad hanging on the wall. I took some photos and plan on going back for some more pancakes again and again:

The Sunnyland Strip Mall:

I love the basket lamps that hang from the ceiling:

The Skoal ad, a Longhorn, more basket lamps and Dudes:

Farmer's Market

I love produce and I love shopping. And I am constantly lamenting the poor produce sections in the grocery store near my house. So this story in the Herald makes me happy. I haven't been to the surrounding farmer's markets, but I used to go to the one on Lincoln Road all the time when I lived on the beach.

When I was little my mother would take us to the farmer's markets and we would run up and down the isles, picking at crafts and having a blast. I definitely want to check out the Homestead and Upper East Side markets. If so, expect to see pics soon!

Miami New Times Iron Fork

To calm my rattled election nerves, I have decided to post about one of my favorite things, food.

Specifically the Miami New TImes Iron Fork event. Originally scheduled for September, the event was postponed due to one of our fizzled-out tropical storms, and was rescheduled for the 30th.

Iron Fork took place at the Science Museum, which was pretty cool since I have never been. All I knew about the museum was that it has a giant dinosaur/monster standing outside the entrance, and it's across from Vizcaya.


entrance to the museum

The Iron Fork was a sold-out event. It's sponsors included several different types of restaurants, handing out food, wine and liquor sponsors, and a culinary competition, which was packed, as several local celebrity chefs were in attendance, including Chef Allen.

It was so packed that all we could make out of the competition was the smell and blurred action on monitors:


Since we couldn't see, we wandered around to several wine and food sponsors. This was one of my favorite things (hey, I'm into simplicity!):

Dark chocolate covered strawberries... doesn't get any better than that!

By wandering the event, we also saw alot of the science museum, and right now they have an awesome exhibit about Latin music.



Since I grew up on blues and 70s music instead of Cyndi Lauper and NKOTB, I was pleased to see a giant picture of Santana.

All-in-all the event was fun. We went as a girls-night-out event, and got to try a bunch of food and wine along with checking out all the exhibits. I think perhaps we were having a little too much fun for some people, but life is too short to be pretentious when you have good food, fun friends and an interesting venue, right? At least I think so... and we weren't stumbling around drunk, or flitting around in skanky Halloween costumes at least.

Delicias de Espana

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Miami - Delicias de Espana. It's a restaurant and a market with lots and lots of good stuff:

culinary adventures

So this week is Coral Gables Restaurant Week which means that select restaurants around the Gables have a special menu that's cheaper than what they normally charge. So El Señor and I went to eat at Cacao which is an amazing restaurant. I did not want to stop eating. After looking at the list of restaurants, the only other two I would want to go to are Por Fin and Caramelo.

Miami has been trying to hit that niche market of culinary tourism, which brings wonderful things like restaurant week, the SoBe Wine & Food Fest and Miami Spice

I've never gone to any of the events before, but now I want to make an effort (besides, I'm getting tired of the same spots that I hit)