Foodie Field Trip to Miami

Hello Foodie Friends,

This past week I had ventured down to Miami, not once but twice within a 3 day period. The first occasion that brought me down was to attend a culinary walking tour of Wynwood, an eclectic artsy part of town which is home to Art Basel and is one of the largest open-air street art collections in the world.  This tour, conducted by Miami Culinary Tour's founder, Grace Della did a superior job of serving up both Miami's diverse food scene and its cutting-edge contemporary culture.

Chicken Empanadas & Sweet Maduros

Miami Culinary Tours Founder, Grace Della

Our group of 8 gathered at our meeting point, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar, where Grace began to explain what we could expect on the tour. A nice table was set out on the lawn for our group and soon we had some delightful Nuevo Latino bites skillfully prepared by Chef Miguel Aguilar, formerly of Alma de Cuba in Philly. The chicken empanadas were set atop a cilantro crema and the sweet maduros with queso frito were fantastic- both paired well with the La Rubia beer which came from a local brewery 5 blocks away.

Wynwood is considered an ever changing street museum, according to Grace who gave us some history about the area. She explained that a gentleman by the name of Tony Goldman brought street art to Wynwood in 2009 after doing so in NY. Prior to 2009, this area was a Puerto Rican neighborhood.

Grace explained how every year the Wynwood art walls are changed for Art Basel. She also pointed out along our walk the difference between street art, graffiti (text based) and vandalism graffiti.

Our next stop was The Butcher Shop, an abandoned warehouse turned old-fashioned butcher shop and beer garden. Here we experienced a "symphony of Eastern Europe's finest cold-cuts paired with a rare Russian Beer". The warm pretzel with cheese sauce was A+ in my book!

Awesome German pretzel with cheese sauce

A cone of Sopresata, Kilbasa, Capricola

Our next stop, Jimmy'z Kitchen, paid homage to long-time local favorite Chef, Jimmy Carey, who celebrates the district's Puerto Rican heritage by serving up Mofongo, his country's National dish. This specialty consisted of sliced and deep fried green plantains and mashed and incorporated with chicken stock, tomatoes, peppers and a drizzle of olive oil. Superb!
 

Chicken Mofongo

The next stop we strolled into was a rustic Southern hot spot known as Pride & Joy BBQ. The moment we stepped foot into this place, I could tell we were in for a treat. The aromas alone that permeated the room, were off the chart. We headed to a reserved section of the bar which had lots of charm and flair. Our tasty bite was a deviled egg made with chopped homemade pickles and topped with their scrumptious bbq pulled pork. It was recommended that we top it off with their homemade hickory bbq sauce, which I did, and it was da bomb!

Deviled egg with pulled pork

Our final stop of the tour was at Su Viche, an creative fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. The Causa, looks like a sushi roll, but is actually made with potato. (There are 200 varieties of potato in Peru). The causa is made with a lime and aji amarillo-infused mashed potato and topped with a finely diced chicken salad and served with canchita (toasted & salted corn seeds). The combination was so unique and just amazing! For dessert, we were treated to a cheesecake lucuma. Lucuma is a tropical fruit imported from Peru. It tastes like a cross between an avocado and sweet potato. Served on a torta negra crust.

Canchita

Causa

  

Cheesecake Lucuma

 

At the conclusion, each of us were handed a map of the area highlighting some of the places to come back to visit. The tour lasted for 3 hours and was packed with fun, interesting history and tidbits and I am looking forward to experiencing both the South Beach and the Little Havana tours in the future.

For more info on Miami Culinary Tours, visit their website at www.MiamiCulinaryTours.com

Next up: Simply Italian Great Wines Americas Tour 2014...

Until we eat again...
 
  I send you delicious wishes, xo

Denise

Chief Foodie Officer,
Denise's Foodie Events