The Whet Palette Productions: Miami Food Blog & Podcast
I’m a Cuban-American writer and podcaster who’s been telling Spanglish food, life, and travel stories since 2013.
What started as a passion project has become a trusted, recognizable brand in South Florida’s culinary scene. By keeping it authentic and always showing up with curiosity (and probably a wine or cafecito on hand), I’ve built real relationships with chefs, restaurateurs, and a dedicated following of fellow flavor-hunters.
My coverage ranges from white-tablecloth fine dining to the no- frills neighborhood spots. I was raised on pan con mantequilla, but my appetite spans the globe.
Beyond the plate, I bring a background in interior design and dance, giving me a flair for aesthetics, rhythm, and storytelling that resonates with our vibrant audience. Think of me as your go-to guide for all things delicious, beautiful, and culture-soaked.
Listen in as I tap into a hyperlocal community that’s vibrant, loyal, and always ready for the next bite (or adventure). Just don’t ask me to choose between a Michelin tasting menu and medianoche. I’ll take both, thanks.
Brenda
The Whet Palette Productions: Miami Food Blog & Podcast
S5 E77 From Artist to Restaurateur: A Conversation with Alvaro Perez Miranda
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In this episode of The Whet Palette Podcast, I sit down with Alvaro Perez Miranda (artist, restaurateur, and one of the visionaries behind Miami's acclaimed Japanese restaurants) to discuss the journey that brought him from Venezuela to Japan and ultimately to South Florida.
Alvaro shares stories on building restaurants in Japan, why he still considers himself an artist first, the inspiration behind Midorie, Hiyakawa, Ogawa, and Emelina. Plus, his hopes for Miami's future as a world-class culinary destination.
In this episode:
- Alvaro's path from artist to restaurateur
- Living and working in Japan for over 15 years
- The meaning of Omotenashi and authentic hospitality
- How Japanese culture transformed his perspective
- Designing restaurants with intention
- Miami's evolution as a global dining destination
- The stories behind Midorie, Hiyakawa, Ogawa, and Emelina
As always, from my "palette" to yours,
Brenda Fernandez Popritkin
Welcome to the Wet Palette Podcast. I am your host, Brenda Popridskin. Today's guest is a restaurateur, cultural bridge builder, and one of the most influential forces shaping Miami's modern Japanese dining scene. And then some, which we'll talk about. Born in Caracas and trained in the art world before spending more than a decade immersed in Japan, Alvaro's journey is rooted in discipline, craftsmanship, and a deep respect for culture. His work blends Japanese precision with Latin warmth, transforming restaurants into spaces of connection, emotion, and intention. Recognized by the Japanese government as a goodwill ambassador for Japanese cuisine, his mission goes beyond food. It's about honoring tradition, creating cultural dialogue, and elevating Miami's place on the global culinary stage. Today we're take talking about his journey, his relationship with Miami, and what he believes the city's culinary future can and should become. Welcome, Alvaro.
SPEAKER_05Thank you, Brenda, for having me here. I like that introduction.
SPEAKER_04Hey, I am a writer. Um, okay, so we're going to get into details in a sec, but to begin, in your words, who is Alvaro Pérez Miana?
SPEAKER_05I'm an artist.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05Was forced to be a restaurant.
SPEAKER_04You were forced to be a restaurant?
SPEAKER_05Um I couldn't leave, um, I couldn't make a living as an artist.
SPEAKER_04I get that.
SPEAKER_05And um, and I started working in a restaurant. And years passed by and I realized that uh um I was really good in what I was doing. I had this uh natural Latin touch hospitality that I connected with people, and I found my way to into the restaurant business um to bring the artistic and the sensibility side on it. And I did well. So basically, by heart, my heart is now uh first I'm an artist.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And then uh I do everything else. But I think uh the art and the art has taken um is a big uh part of my life. Collecting art, making restaurants, that the art is is a very important component. Um so that's that's what how I see myself.
SPEAKER_04Anything in childhood that shaped you were grew up in Caracas, so like in Valencia. Um okay. So anything in your childhood that shaped besides working in a restaurant? Like how did you end up there, that journey?
SPEAKER_05Well, I was born in Valencia, Venezuela. I come from a humble family.
SPEAKER_04And we had to talk about the clown.
SPEAKER_05Yes, of course. I graduated high school a little bit earlier, and uh then I started working as a clown, animating uh children's uh parties.
SPEAKER_04I still need to see a picture of that.
SPEAKER_05It was so much fun. It was so much fun. And um I started making some money, and um I was also reading about the Medici uh story, about the Renaissance, and I was dreaming about being an artist, about going to uh leaving Venezuela and just going and painting and make a living out of that. And um soon um then I went. I I left Venezuela when I was 18. Uh and then I arrived in Italy, then I came back to Venezuela, then I went back to um then I I I went to Los Angeles. And in Los Angeles I found a job in um in uh very shortly at um Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills, recently closed, and I met um a guy who is stealing my life, um Joseph, who was opening El Forno. And I talked to him and I'm like, let me do this and that, and you know, let me help you with the design and decorating and things like that. And um I worked there for four years, almost five years. And I became the manager of the restaurant at one point. Um a Japanese group of people came. Uh I really took care of really took care of them. Uh Il Forno in back in that day, in back in the 80s, that was a really, really good um popular restaurant. All the movie stars, movie directors, they were all there.
SPEAKER_04So hospitality was your strength? Is your strength?
SPEAKER_05I was a natural in that. I never thought when uh when I talked to Joseph, I'm like, I don't want to be in this business, okay? I'm an artist. Actually, and um I got um put myself through school. I went to Parsons, the School of Design in Los Angeles, Otis Parsons. And um two years later, I I I just couldn't pay anymore. It was getting too expensive for me. And then I got into the hospitality business. I'm like, okay, well, this is what I do. I was very popular as a waiter. I was making more money than anybody else.
SPEAKER_04You were hustling.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I was hustling in the restaurant, and I did well. Um, and then the opportunity came for a foreign to open up in Japan, and um I went without thinking about it. Uh uh and um with a company called Royal Host, who owned about 200, uh, 300 restaurants, Dennis type, family restaurants. And that also did all the catering, all the food for all the catering for all the planes that left from Narita Airport. And they wanted to have an Italian restaurant, so I worked with our company for uh for two years. I met uh then I started doing consulting. I was I did a job for uh about a year for Wembley, uh Wembley Stadium. They were planning to do the World Cup and Nishoe was a Japanese corporation was opening, um they were doing the the stadiums, and uh it that was a good experience for me because we were doing the food and beverage for the stadium. Then I met an investor and uh together we built uh 33 Italian restaurants in Japan. In Japan. So during the all the 1990s, um we were making all the restaurant, the restaurant, the Italian restaurant scenes, um we had we had a really successful restaurant where everybody came. Um we had pizza places, we had ice cream shops, it was really, really nice. Then in 2002, um I separated from the company, created a company uh called Metromet, which the name came from Metropolitan Grimhead, and um I was uh producing restaurants for other people. Um I love the creative side of building a restaurant. I see myself as uh a producer, you know. I think about the the chef and the design and how we're gonna do it and and I also loved uh doing a small restaurant because that's the way I like to do it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_05Um I like quality versus quantity. So doing a small restaurant for me is a lot of fun rather than to do uh restaurants, uh big restaurants, and and the company is um I have a partner who is Joseph, my first boss. And and that's it. And um we've been doing restaurants in in Miami.
SPEAKER_04Oh, even even now he's a partner.
SPEAKER_05Yes. Okay. He's a shareholder.
SPEAKER_04I don't think I've I've never met him.
SPEAKER_05No, he he lives in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05Um he's a shareholder of the company. Um and from Tokyo, I moved to New York. And in New York, from New York I came here in 2014, which um I met Avra, the owner of the Vagabond. And uh and uh we did the first restaurant in in Miami where I met this young chef, he was 26 at the time, um Alex Chan. And we opened the uh the Vagabond restaurant, which was really, really nice, fun, and it was very successful. Um and um eight years ago I started um Wabisabi, that is now Midoriya, with uh Masa. I met Masa and we talked about it, and um he was introduced to me by another chef. And here we are now, eight years later. Um Wabisabi now, Midoriye has eight years.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_04I went, yeah, I went way before Yakawa. So Midori, not Midori, because I keep saying Midori.
SPEAKER_05Midori, midori, midoriye. Uh actually, Midori means green in Japanese. And when you put the like the drink. Exactly. And uh when you put the i at the end, midoriye means like the green painting. Okay, or giving health or giving green something green to somebody. That that's what midori, midoriya means. Okay, but it's okay to say midori too. That's like it's okay.
SPEAKER_04Like I'm so gringa. That's like with um with um Chef Baltran, I would always say like Ariete. You know, and then they were like Ariette. And then one day, like when I have like just first met him, I was like, why do you keep saying Ariette? And he's like, Well, that's how people say it. I'm like, But it's Ariete.
SPEAKER_05It's Ariete. I say Ariete.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I I think it depends who I'm talking to, or I'm like Ariete or Ariet Ariette.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. If you're talking to a Latin guy, I know it's like why would I say Ariette?
SPEAKER_04Um, so though going back a little bit to the Japan part, what were some like um early on like culture shocks or things that were like very different because obviously um things are very different.
SPEAKER_05Well, there's like the first day that I arrived in Japan, they took me to eat kaiseki food in a really fancy restaurant. And I see this, like it was my first time eating kaiseki, right? And I see these little things that there were places, and I couldn't understand it because it lacked, you know. I I think to understand the food you have to understand a little bit of the culture, right? And for me, coming from uh Venezuela, Italy, the the US were salty, really salty, and you see the flavors and spicy. And I found myself eating that so delicate food. I was like, I don't know if I like this food. But my first spring is when I understood the culture about Japan. That was um the Sakura came. And the whole country goes nuts for the Sakura. Talking to you um 1990. When I see the Sakura the first time and people companies they give you days off so you can explain what that is. Um it's called the Ohanami, right? They give you a day off so you can have picnics under the Sakura tree in parks, and people drink and they bring, you know, bent uh bent boxes and you know they and they it's so beautiful. And I saw the Sakura for the first time, and I go, wow, this this flower is so delicate. Where if you put a bunch of flowers together, they look pink, more pink, and uh when you separate it, the color fades a little bit. And then I went, okay, Japanese about that. Then I went back and I go, that's why the food was so delicate, which I learned about sense. Between what it has to be and what it doesn't have to be, you know, so and I was like, whoa, that's amazing. And from that moment on I I had a tremendous appreciation for Japanese cuisine in all levels, because that you can you were tasting an eggplant and you actually tasted the eggplant. But the salty oh and the flavor in the umami did not interfere with with the with the flavor of the eggplant. So that balance is about the Japanese food. Then being Latin and taking care of people, because Venezuelans also we have this natural hospitality.
SPEAKER_04I think in Latin America we we do have it, where they come miamor, we've got facito and we're like, yeah, we're very confianzulos, like it's very we immediately like drop the guard. We're not we're not too formal. Yeah, humans are famous for that. I I always talk about that. How I love the whole mi amor, mi vida son like you know, right away I love the. And it's completely normal and it's normal, appreciated, and you don't even think about it until you're somewhere else where that's you know that's not the same. So and even the greetings though, even the greeting, right? Like you go in for like a kiss or like kind of like a partial hug. Or most cultures, even here sometimes it's kind of like, okay, I'm like, why are you coming so close?
SPEAKER_05Why are you touching me? Imagine the Japanese.
SPEAKER_04No, I'm like, come on, let me hold. And they were like, How are you?
SPEAKER_05So, but they started telling me that you're a Motanashi, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_04And like, and you were also in the Italian space, which is also very friendly and very warm, and so you it's not like you went to do Japan restaurants at first.
SPEAKER_05Right. So in in in the restaurant, we started teaching Italian to the Japanese guys. They were like go and say, Buonasera, buongiorno, when instead of I Dashaimase.
SPEAKER_04Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_05Because in Japan, they say mase when when you come to a place, that means welcome. We were like, no, we're not gonna say I shaymase, we're gonna say buongiorno, buonasera. And we started communicating, teaching the Japanese a little bit of Italian, like table numbers, um, uh call the table. This kind of thing, we like, so it was fun to see the Japanese uh speaking Italian, tavola, uh no, tavola 10, per favore, you know, they were like, oh, un cappuccino, due, tre.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So that that that kind of that was fun. So then I learned about Motinashi, but I was like, what is a Motinashi? Is the Motinashi is the hospitality from that comes from the heart, you know, that we're not gonna be able to do that hospitality. Genuine that did you go and you take care of that. And also me being Virgo and being like OCD, I I learned uh, which is the attention to detail.
SPEAKER_04Virgo's what month?
SPEAKER_05August.
SPEAKER_04I don't know many Virgos.
SPEAKER_05August 20 from 23rd on.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05So then I got the base of that. And these three principles is what I use in my company that I want to teach my my my employees, and I teach my team. This is like what really set us we want to set us apart from everybody else, is our uh service philosophy, which is komotenashi, komakai, and sensei. Um everybody in our company, every employee knows that. Every uh and we practice that. That's why we create, you come to our restaurants and we we we create that vibe that is like based on those three principles.
SPEAKER_04How does Miami come into the picture? Or you had already been before Japan, you had already been to Miami?
SPEAKER_05Oh yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, throughout your life you had been to Miami. Yeah, yes. So at what point does Miami come in as this is where we're gonna go next?
SPEAKER_05Well, I was living in New York, which in New York I was not really happy. I'm I'm more of a tropical person. Especially in February, by this time, I was already depressed with with the cold. Um I came on 2014 with my son for um the midwinter break, and we were uh on the beach in February, and I'm like, Yeah, let's move to Miami.
SPEAKER_04That's what everyone thinks.
SPEAKER_05And my son goes like Puppy with you. I'm gonna move, like we can move to the moon if you want to. And um, and we were here, and then I met Avra, became friends with Avra, we made the restaurant, and that the vagabond gave us the opportunity to really meet a lot of people. That that restaurant was good. Still, I find people uh that talks about uh the restaurant.
SPEAKER_04I I never made it.
SPEAKER_05You never went?
SPEAKER_04I never went. No. I went to that, I think we spoke about this. The I was covering that interview, that round table of chefs.
SPEAKER_05Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_04That it was Diego and Alex and Brad Kilgore, and so I covered that and I wrote about that for a publication, and then I that's it. I never I I was like, I need to go back. I never went back.
SPEAKER_05Yes, uh the Vagabond was a very special. Alex, uh super talented chef too.
SPEAKER_04And that spot like keeps getting stuff, but nothing like really sticks long term.
SPEAKER_05Uh after after us, what can I say? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Of course.
SPEAKER_05So you mean okay, so then um um ever I couldn't find Japanese food, real Japanese food in Miami. Every time I wanted to eat Japanese food, we had to go to New York. To go um uh and uh one time my my son, that was his idea, he goes, Baby, why don't you open up a um a Japanese restaurant?
SPEAKER_04Your son's trilingual, I guess, I'm guessing. Yes, his mom's Japanese.
SPEAKER_05Japanese, um, Tomas. And he goes, why don't you just open up a restaurant, Japanese restaurant? You are Latin, speak Japanese, speak English, I think you know, you've been in Japan for so many 15 years, I think you can do it well. And I was like thinking, what? So he put there. So I started looking for a chef. Yeah, and I met Masa. Masa and I were being together for four for eight years already. An amazing, amazing guy. I'm super love. Lucky to have him. He's become like a brother. You know, we he's amazing as a chef too. And Massa is about comakai. Masa is super comakai. Masa comakai is like the attention to detail. So for me to work with Masa, I had to really step up my game.
SPEAKER_04How did you connect with him?
SPEAKER_05Um, another chef introduced me.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05Masa was working in another restaurant and he was looking and met this guy, I mean, this Venezuelan guy who goes like, listen, um this is what I did in Japan. This is what I want to do here. Let's open up restaurants, but has to be about let's make people feel that they're in Japan. Has to be about quality. Uh has to be, you know, with attention to detail, the service, and and this is how we started.
SPEAKER_04I went. There I did go. And the first day I met you and Masa, and you came out and you gave me a postcard because Hiyakawa was gonna open. So you had a postcard that had the drawing, like the sketch of the ceiling and the whole thing, and you were like, Well, you think you like this, but we're gonna open this, and you know, I want you to come in and try this at some point, whatever, and then I think like maybe nine months, six months later, you opened.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I mean Hiyakawa was fun to do it because um it was like I really wanted to have the ceiling was had to be like an art installation.
SPEAKER_04It is an art installation, right?
SPEAKER_05And from the outside, the perspective, because Hiagawa is very open. Yeah, and I didn't want to have a sign that says Hiyagawa or anything, I wanted the restaurant to be the sign. And um so we gave the perspective of um the a theater, like a small theater when you see it outside, and Hiyagawa just turned five years last year. We're going through through through our sixth year. Time flies, Brenda. Whoa. So um, and then uh Matthew Vanderwerf came. Um he was I knew Matthew, I met Matthew on the Vagabond times. And Matthew was developing Little River. And uh one day he came to the restaurant and goes, Avro, if you want to do another restaurant, what would you like to? And I was like, I want to do a restaurant, Japanese restaurant, a small one, Omakase, but I want to do it with a garden. And um he was like, wow, okay. Two months later he called me up, took me out to dinner, and goes, I have the space for you. And we went to see it, and it was perfect next to the train truck. It makes you feel that you're in Japan, in Shibuya, one of these like Izakaya. Um and Masa was a little bit over, I don't know, because we can't put a high-end restaurant next to the train. But it worked out. Uh and when Masa and I we were like conceptualizing um Ogawa was about let's just focus to bring the best of the best, no compromise. And it was crazy because we opened up Ogawa. We had the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture come in uh to Tokyo, that was like on October 20th and uh 2023. Right, and we were rushing to open up to have that restaurant ready, and we opened um November 15th, 23. 23 and the day before we opened, I I haven't even tasted the menu yet. You were just blindly trusting we were like, okay, guys, it was Royce who worked with us from the very beginning, Jeff Royce, who is like that kid is amazing too. Um in Massa. And we opened up and the reservations went booked for the entire rest of the year. Uh and it was amazing. Then we received the invitation from Michelin 2024, we got the start.
SPEAKER_04Right, and that was not even six months, right?
SPEAKER_05Like the invitation, so if you open five months later.
SPEAKER_04You physically got it five months later, but if you open in November and the additions were announced like January, February. So that was like eight weeks later, like you were already because they announced usually like teasers. Until you physically got it in April or May. It's announced January, February, the additions. Right. So that was like barely two months in. They had already visited Ogawa.
SPEAKER_05They have already. No.
SPEAKER_04No.
SPEAKER_05They are they're so sneaky, these Michelin inspectors. Oh yeah. Um maybe we know we know who they are, but like they never say that they're inspectors. I have no idea.
SPEAKER_04Of course they're not gonna say.
SPEAKER_05I have no idea.
SPEAKER_04You're not looking up the lone diners and seeing like, hmm.
SPEAKER_05We cannot ever find everybody, you know, with has a legitimate. We have everybody has a legit background, nobody pays with we have no idea. With a different card, yeah. With a different theme's like, let's come on, guys. Let's I think we talked about this recently. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04And uh but reservation under one name, tip, hot tip. Pay with a different card.
SPEAKER_05Exactly.
SPEAKER_04That's not the name on the reservation. Right. Then you can look up that name.
SPEAKER_05Right. No, but like we we we paid attention to that.
SPEAKER_04And nothing, nothing. They're sneaky, sneaky Michelin inspectors.
SPEAKER_05And also with Hiyagawa, um, I don't know, like uh with Iagawa, uh the we were on on on the guide, and right I I thought with Hiyakawa we were gonna get a star when when we first got the invitation to to be on the but um I I don't think in Hiyakawa they even visit the the restaurant because they mention a game uh a chef that I had as a consultant, Novos Massa, who was the actual chef.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05Right?
SPEAKER_04That's another giveaway sometimes. It's what they write in the what they write in the paragraph or description of the restaurant. Sometimes, especially restaurants that are seasonal, they change their menu. So then you kind of have a window of when they visit it. But maybe sometimes it's just a matter of research.
SPEAKER_05I mean, not because it's my restaurant, but I think Hiyakawa is a very beautiful and well-and you recently changed the format of Hiyakawa. Yeah, we don't we we don't do, we don't we have a tasting menu in Hiyakawa. And now Royce, who was in Ogawa, and Jamie, who was in Ogawa too, they took over the kitchen. Royce is now a partner in Hiyakawa, and that's basically his restaurant. And um we are trying to update the information, but I think Royce and Jamie, who were in Ogawa, um, moved out in Hiyakawa, and they the food is really amazing in Hiyakawa. I love Hiyakawa. It's the restaurant that uh um I I love Ogawa, but Hiyakawa is my favorite.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean you have all three different tiers, kind of, right? So you have Tomidori all the way to Ogawa.
SPEAKER_05And now we have Emelina.
SPEAKER_04Yes, my phone rings. Hi, Brenda. I want to tell you something.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. You were the first one.
SPEAKER_04I'm opening a non-Asian restaurant. Oh, do tell. It's gonna be Cuban. What do you mean, Cuban?
SPEAKER_05I I think uh the concept of Emelina is really, really good. I think Osmel and Camila are fantastic.
SPEAKER_04It's West Palm Beach.
SPEAKER_05I used to go to entrance.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_05And um Osmel calls me and goes, Alvara, can we meet up for coffee? I'm like, yeah, sure, of course. Um, I'm into the uh the point of my life that I really want to mentor the young chefs who are about to begin their business and teach them. I think I have 43 years of experience in this business. I have produced and done more than 70 restaurants in in 42 uh uh years uh in Japan mostly, right? So Ozman calls me. Let's have a coffee and I go to Sweet Havana, which is my daily go coffee. And um he goes, Averal, um he was looking at the place who uh which is next to Hiyakawa. And um he asked me like where the Italian restaurant is? No. Exactly. Okay, and I'm like, would you be interested in in uh partnering with me to do a restaurant? And I'm like, yeah, of course. I mean he he has the pedigree. He's a good chef. I had the chance to to to see him and and and I think we share the we share the same values uh in terms of hospitality and what we want to give. And he had several ideas and he pitched uh Emelina. And when he said like Cuban cuisine moving, looking forward, what would it be of Cuban cuisine without restraints of uh communism or the revolution and going back to the essence of Cuban cuisine from the 1950 pre-revolution and taking taking it to his level um single thread and metador and all that, and I thought it was like, well, yeah, let's do it. And it was meant to happen because the my landlord was on beach for Midoria, which we're planning to open in April about we already started construction, had the space, and he called me up and and he goes, Salvaro, what do you think this space for Hiacawa? I'm like, no, I have something better.
SPEAKER_04That was a clutch gut, because that space is gorgeous.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and then I called Osmel. Osmel was in Spain. I'm like, you gotta come and see the space. This is perfect for for Emmelina. And here we are. We open up uh last uh Tuesday.
SPEAKER_04That's Tuesday. It's great. I recently signed in, and I'm just so excited for what's going to become because it's a strong start. But how do you start so strong? Like where is there left to go?
SPEAKER_05Exactly. Well, just just do where we do best, which is the hospitality, the food, uh, the connection with people. Um the response of last week has been amazing, honestly.
SPEAKER_04You're still doing so now you're starting with one seating?
SPEAKER_05We're we're starting already. It's it's going faster because um Oswell and the team and Camila and Letty and Alex, the the kitchen team, they're like make things happen. Like this Saturday we did just two seatings. Two seatings. And it it went so smooth. Yeah, and I was just like, let's take a little time, you know, to make the transition, but it was like I was surprised. I talked to them and was like, I'm so proud of you guys.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, if they want to go all in, then let them go all in.
SPEAKER_05We have um uh Ashley, who is the RGM, came from New York, she's really good too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, she was great.
SPEAKER_05So I think the the team, this restaurant was meant to happen. And I I believe this restaurant is meant to um change the Cuban and take the Cuban cuisine into a new direction.
SPEAKER_04Especially for that area, because that area, this is very it's a little more common in Miami, but it's very foreign in West Palm Beach. Have you had a lot of locals? What has the clientele been like? Have you had a lot of Miami people drive up and then the locals both and the locals are they're like blown away.
SPEAKER_05They go, wow, I never had anything like this before. This is fantastic. And I think the word of mouth is gonna be it's gonna spread uh um like wildfire.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, I think uh the the the we we even have, you know, in Japan, I had opportunities to open up Hiakawa and to bring a Japanese concept back to Japan.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05You gotta be.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say that takes cuts.
SPEAKER_05Well, but if anybody can do it, I can do it, you know, because I know the market and I know what it is.
SPEAKER_04How often do you go to Japan nowadays?
SPEAKER_05Three, three times a year.
SPEAKER_04So I was gonna say, do you miss something?
SPEAKER_05But if you go that often, then No, I go, uh I go, um I I have friends, my ex-employees, dear friends that I see go and eat for 10 days, my heart out, do some bring, bring an empty suitcase, bring it back with like Japanese goods, things like that. So jealous, oh my god. Um and um I think uh when in Japan when they heard about Emilina, it's like Avra, are you doing a Cuban restaurant? Like, yep. I'm like everybody's just like in fact that I have some Japanese uh people coming to see Emelina on uh on the 25th of this month. We have uh imagine so next week.
SPEAKER_04So what are we thinking, Michelin-wise? For uh hopes for Emelina.
SPEAKER_05I hope so. I I hope we can, I mean, I I want to be honest with you. Uh I hope that um um I think we have what it takes, you know, to to to do it. I don't know if the timing is right. Yeah, that's because we're like um, but they have not announced yet.
SPEAKER_04They haven't, and they're late this year, which is weird. It might work to your benefit that it's late. I hope usually by January or February they by now for these cup couple of weeks last week and this week are usually the weeks when they announce, and they haven't, as of this recording, announced anything yet. So I don't know if that gave enough time for someone to come in and stop in.
SPEAKER_05But in Miami, to be honest with you, with Michelin, um I don't know what to think.
SPEAKER_04We never know what to think. It's some of them are wild cards, yeah.
SPEAKER_05You know what I mean? It's just like um um we just we just focus on do what we do best. Which is which is uh and and whether happens, it happens. Um like I wish that you know Hiyakawa to be on on the missioning like level. I I know where we have. Right. Um and I think um we we wanna be we wanna establish Ogawa that is the restaurant which is happening. The people come from abroad and they come to to Ogawa to be a Miami uh staple. And I think Hiagawa also after five years is a very, very steady business too. Hiagawa, we do 50 people a day. That's all we do.
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say it sounds like not a whole lot, like we could do so much more.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um but Hiyakawa, also the quality of Hiakawa and uh and how Royce took Hiagawa to another level. I'm very happy with that.
SPEAKER_04And um, how many seats total is um Emelina?
SPEAKER_05Emelina has 12 seats in the counter and two tables of twos. So we have 16 people.
SPEAKER_04That's right, it was two or three. Two tops.
SPEAKER_05Two tops.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Um, I think you have gold on your hands, and I think ultimately I've said this before to you that I thought Ogawa is one of the few restaurants we have that's probably ready to be closer to look at two, because in everything, right? You have the entire package there. The food, space, the vibe, the hospitality, just it's a good package, and then obviously Amelina. Those are good, those are all to me like really good contenders to represent Miami and be the next ones to or the first ones to be leveled up because so far it's only been down here, Robushan.
SPEAKER_05Well, either it it does, we need to have a local operator. It's gonna be good for Miami to see whether it's whoever it is. Yeah, I I think Miami needs that.
SPEAKER_04That's my hope too, right? Because Robushan is kind of an import.
SPEAKER_05And Robushan is it's the brand, he's not the chef anymore. Right. He passed away. I knew him personally.
SPEAKER_04Um, and I think you know the way that it should happen, or it would be beautiful to happen is like you say, someone local. Right.
SPEAKER_05Someone like concept that's to us a South Florida concept. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04I think we're ripe for that, Michelin. Getting going. Come on. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_05Uh good luck with that.
SPEAKER_04Um, what do you think outsiders still misunderstand about Miami's food culture?
SPEAKER_05Well, Miami has um, you know, we have the foodies. The people who want to eat good food, the people who want to have the quality, um, they they understand the quality. And Miami has everything, and the people still have come to Miami and they want to go to the party restaurants with a TJ and and and the whole thing. So we have everything here. I think uh in in in the whole spectrum, I think is good for Miami anyway. I think it's getting better.
SPEAKER_04Uh I think you're helping him make it better.
SPEAKER_05In the next five years, Miami is gonna become uh a good destination. And we are focusing, we really we stay true to um the hospitality, to the service that that we have. Um, I went to a restaurant that just opened up a little bit, and they wouldn't serve me tap water. I didn't want to have the whole bottle. And uh and I was like, and and then I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna have anything.
SPEAKER_04And uh um my my glass was so you could have gone to the bathroom in theory, filled it up and come back and be like, Exactly.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. Here I am and uh but I ridiculous. I think we want to be able, uh I see because the hospitality that we provide is really like I mean, Miguelito in and Miguel in Hiyakawa is a personality. I mean, it's so much fun to to to be in Hiyakawa. And even in Ogawa. Ogawa's fun. Ogawa's fun. I I didn't want to make Ogawa like that. It's not stuffy.
SPEAKER_04It's not every time I go. I mean, I'm also a talker and shocker. And I could talk to everyone, and but everyone ends up talking to each other, and you learn how everyone got to the restaurant and all about how so many Instagram um friends that from all my dinners at Ogawa. From every single one. So it becomes a little bit of a dinner party by the end of the night.
SPEAKER_05Ogawa, yes, it does. I won't and MASA allows me to be behind the counter too.
SPEAKER_04Ah, you love that too.
SPEAKER_05You know it's a smoothie. Okay.
SPEAKER_04And then sometimes in one night you go from well, now it's a little harder with a melina, but you go from like one restaurant to the other restaurant to the other restaurant. You show up.
SPEAKER_05I love to, because this is like I wanna I want to connect with our customers. I want to tell them the story. Uh because um the chefs are always concentrating on on the food. So in Melina, also, Osman and Camila, they go, Oh yeah, you can be behind the counter too and and talk to people. And um I I like that and I see the chance when I have uh I love to tell the story about how Camila designed the dish, the first dish. Uh-huh. With the the right yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um it's a beautiful dish. I was turning it over.
SPEAKER_05The the composition with the waves and the sand and the shadow and the the sea grape uh tree and like um I think people should know that that story. And uh sometimes uh if they don't have the chance to say it, I wanna, I wanna I think this is the perfect dish to begin dinner, and it's like and you can grab it with your hands, so which gives you uh a little bit of informality on on that, that you can grab that in furniture, and it's like so good.
SPEAKER_04It's perfect, the the batter is perfect, and you have a little bit of the caviar on top to fancy it up and bring a little um salty, but no, it's a beautiful combination.
SPEAKER_05I I love that. I tell that I want to go to the movies with a bunch of these and just like and eat in the like that I love that dish. And the desserts are amazing.
SPEAKER_04Desserts were also part of my favorite. The yucca dish was I need I need to have that yucca dish again because I think I understood it and I had it, but a lot of the times I go home and I analyze what I just ate. Well, not a lot of times, all the time, right? So then I get the menu and then I look at my pictures in the video and I'm like, I feel like I need to have that cream yucca again.
SPEAKER_00That is so good.
SPEAKER_04There were so many parts in that, and I think I kind of scarfed it like too fast. I think I want to go and enjoy it a little more slowly.
SPEAKER_05That's one of the dishes that everybody loves. Yeah. And it's so simple because you open it up and you just like see there is Yeah, but there's a lot going on underneath. But there is a lot of going on underneath. I think uh I I think it's really good. So we're gonna I think Emelina has a bright future. I think we are talking um between Camila, Oswald and I, we are talking about um opening also other other other places. We have some ideas on the pipeline that are we we're gonna make it happen. Like already establish. Um look, I've been operating restaurants in Miami for already 10 years, you know. Like I'm a I'm a veteran on these successful restaurants that are happening. They they maintain the quality, the good level of service. So I'm I'm happy to for what to be here in uh in Miami and to be a restaurate in Miami. It's so much fun. Also to combine it with art.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, with your art.
SPEAKER_05I'm opening also in Fort Laureville, and I was like patient in Fort Laureville, and I commissioned an artist to do a 28 feet sculpture of origami cranes in aluminum. They look gorgeous.
SPEAKER_04For what were you gonna put that?
SPEAKER_05In in in Midoria one.
SPEAKER_04Okay. Do you paint anymore?
SPEAKER_05I do, but I don't like what I paint. I draw.
SPEAKER_04Pencil, sketch?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And uh I don't like um I I never transcended from the drawing. I'm really good at uh I can see you, I can sketch you, I can do, I can do perspectives, uh huh, I can make compositions and everything else. But um I love about painting, I love the to see the bro strokes on on paintings. I like textures, I like the composition. I like it, I like I like to find the beauty in the painting. Get into like the artist's mind, what they were they were making it. So um in all of my restaurants, the art is important. Midorie in 79, I have a beautiful piece. It's Mexican artist. Um I have uh quesarciso in Midorie on In Coconut Grove. Midorie for Loredol is gonna be Rafael Ranghel. They're all local artists.
SPEAKER_04That's great, yeah.
SPEAKER_05In Midoria in West Palm Beach will be Paula Mundarain.
SPEAKER_02That's April.
SPEAKER_05Uh which also I have him in Hiyakawa too.
SPEAKER_04That's the opening in April.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. So I I try to support um young artists. And also through the gallery I can fund my social work. That is um I I I take young kids from uh vulnerable areas in in Venezuela, teach them how to do business, um, teach them accounting, Excel, what do they have to do? And recently I opened up a barbershop for them, which is like nice, satisfying that.
SPEAKER_04Is that something maybe like a franchise? Like you could move that.
SPEAKER_05Now I'm gonna do the the the hair salon for the ladies, for the young girls. Because what happened in Venezuela also, you know, look, you you go to these areas and you find 15-year-old girls with a already with a baby. And it's hard to see. So these are the the um I'm I've been going through um doing conferences in high school and things like that to motivate them. And I find that super rewarding. So that that's the the the the other part, the philanthropy part that I've been taking now that I'm uh 60, over 60. So I'm gonna be 62 this year.
SPEAKER_04Doing great, I know. Do you ever relax? What is your idea of relaxing?
SPEAKER_05I do meditation.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_05Every morning. For how long? Uh 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_0420 minutes in silence or music?
SPEAKER_05No, in silence. Like no music. I cannot really that that's the first thing I do in the morning when I woke up. It's just like no. If I laid down, that's what I would do.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but it's like any chance to fall asleep, I'm there.
unknownSo funny.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so sit seated.
SPEAKER_05Seated, straight up and and 20 minutes. And you know, they I do transcendental meditation, which is like 20 minutes is equivalent to eight hours of sleep. So sometimes I really need it. Or sometimes in the afternoon, when I'm like, I go to my car and I sit down and I'm like close my eyes and meditate for 20 minutes and I'm like ready, ready to go.
SPEAKER_04Because thoughts are gonna keep creeping in.
SPEAKER_05So get out of here. Because I I do 14, 16 hours sometimes. I go to all I go to all the restaurants. I say hello to my customers.
SPEAKER_03I've been there, I know.
SPEAKER_05I I say hello to my customers. I make sure that everybody's okay. Um, I take reservations. I have a list of customers that are VAPs that you know, and that's the other thing about um that like I wanna I want to make sure that like we take care of our customers. I never want to be that kind of restaurants that you call and you kind of make a reservation for like two weeks. Or you call and you go like, no, we're full for the rest of the month. I want to I want to make sure that we always have a space for our regular customers. And that's I think also makes us different. You know, like customers they call me up uh even the same day and we try to accommodate except it's Saturday that all the restaurants are booked because it's Valentine's Day.
SPEAKER_02Valentine's Day.
SPEAKER_05And so like there is nothing I can do. Yeah, uh Louise and my staff, they go like, do not take reservations.
SPEAKER_04You're done. Emmelina's doing two seats on Saturday?
SPEAKER_05On Saturday.
SPEAKER_04Nice.
SPEAKER_05And we're booked.
SPEAKER_04Of course.
SPEAKER_05We're doing we're doing uh we're doing uh seatings at five and and at eight o'clock.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04What do you eat on a regular day?
SPEAKER_05I go to Flora.
SPEAKER_04Flora?
SPEAKER_05Uh planned kitchen, yeah. That is close to uh what kitchen? Uh Flora Kitchen is on 54th in Biscayne, close to like where Andiano was. Um I have juices in the morning, I have a nice, they have like a healthy menu salads and things like that. So I go there often. Um I eat in my restaurants as well. Uh in Ogawa, I don't eat that much because I found that I don't have the patience to do the three-hour two and a half hour experience.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, two and a half hour experience.
SPEAKER_05And but sometimes I have to entertain somebody in Ogawa. And I'm like, okay. And I just go like skip the first part. I'm just gonna eat the sushi.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And I make it a little bit later uh when I have doing business or have to bring somebody else uh there. I think we I sit down with you one time. Yeah, last time, yeah, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the last Manogawa. You ate.
SPEAKER_05You ate, I ate it. Yeah, yeah. I ate the sushi.
SPEAKER_04You ate the sushi.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_04And then we had the special, your special um hand roll.
SPEAKER_05Exactly. That was that was a really good one. Yeah. Uh and so that's the I like other restaurants that I like. I like Rekoveco. I think they're doing a good job. That's such fantastic. That generation, I'm really proud of that generation.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. These kids nowadays.
SPEAKER_05Young chefs that are doing really good, you know.
SPEAKER_04They are they're so focused too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, they're they're they're they're they're fantastic. I'm I'm really down. I'm I'm really down. And um, well, not talking about my my partners, all smelling and camila. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04What are the same brilliant same same generation?
SPEAKER_05They're they're they are really brilliant. They're like the same generation, and they're doing really good.
SPEAKER_04What about splurge? You have a sweet tooth? Anything like that's like a splurge, like today. I'm gonna have. You were telling me the other day.
SPEAKER_05I'm Latin. I love and the and the sweet tooth.
SPEAKER_04But you were telling me the other day about a steak.
SPEAKER_05Wagyu burger. Wagyu, shadow wagyu.
SPEAKER_03Shadow wagyu.
SPEAKER_05Shadow Wagyu is that's the only burger that I ate in town. Yeah, I love it. Listen, yeah, Shadow Wagyu. I love Shadow Wagyu. I think the guys are great. Um their menu is fantastic. We gotta go to the uh chef table.
SPEAKER_04I know. I want to do that. I definitely want to do that. It's been on my list for years.
SPEAKER_05I want to do that too.
SPEAKER_04For years. And what desserts do you like?
SPEAKER_05Um, I like Jamie's desserts at Hiyakawa. That strawberry shortcake that she does. Um she bites a lot of uh amazing fruits. Um I love the flann that we have, the Japanese flann that we have at Midorie. Actually, in the afternoon, I get into like around four or five o'clock.
SPEAKER_04I just get into the sweet cravings at that time and we need a little pick-me-up.
SPEAKER_05That is just like, and I go and I steal the flan.
SPEAKER_04You drink coffee? Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER_05And I steal the flan and the chefs sometimes they hide it from me, and I'm like, where's the flan? No more flans? Like, no, we don't have flans. And I'm like, I know the line.
SPEAKER_04Of course they are because the clients are supposed to come, uh we're coming in.
SPEAKER_05And then I'm just going like open the refrigerator. I know where they are now. So um um I like um Midoria was the last one I did.
SPEAKER_04It was very good. If I had one by my house, I would go more.
SPEAKER_05Well, you can go to the coconut grove location.
SPEAKER_04I live in Pembroke Pines.
SPEAKER_05Pember Pines. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_05And uh Letty's desserts are what she blew my mind.
SPEAKER_04She is she almost made me cry.
SPEAKER_05So she is amazing.
SPEAKER_04The mantecado with uh that last dessert I had with the Uñelos too, and the coquito, then like and she was like, try this try this, try that. Like that whole thing was yeah.
SPEAKER_05That was fantastic. And the other day she goes and she makes this like um little box made out of white chocolate with the tap and everything, so fancy, and this is like I want to do that. I'm like, so you can eat that, you can break it and eat it. And yeah, it was amazing. So I'm um I'm I am her fan. I I love what she what what she does is good.
SPEAKER_04Is there anything I haven't discussed that you want the listeners to know?
SPEAKER_05I'm okay. I think um we had a nice conversation. I think uh the future of Miami is bright. I think we are going to focus on what we do best, which is to do small restaurants that are about quality. Um I love what Osman and Camila also are doing with the locals. Emelina is all local ingredients. The fish, the vegetables, and and and I love that. I think uh when you're eating something that you know that is healthy, it's it's medicine for you. And I like I like that. And I think uh thank you for having me. Thank you for coming. That was a nice conversation and chatting with me. Like, we can have that without even a post, but I know.
SPEAKER_04Well, you know, it was actually hard half the time. I already knew the answer to it.
SPEAKER_01Exactly.
SPEAKER_04But I'm kinda like so. Please tell me about this. I'm like, I already know. I already know your story. How do you make pretend, right? You gotta do it for the podcast. Uh thank you so much, and thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for bringing us these wonderful um restaurants that I'm a fan of and that we're all fans of, and if you haven't been, get to them. And that's it. That's it for today.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for tuning in and spread the word, tell your friends, and share until next time. Bye. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.
SPEAKER_05Thank you, Brenda.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much.
