Nothing brings people together like La Ventanita. The Miami Herald interviewed some of the world’s best chefs to get a window into their lives, while tasting strong Cuban coffee and delicious traditional Cuban snacks.
Chef José Andrés, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, sees the United States and all it represents in every bite of a pastelito or croqueta.
Before Michelle Bernstein was one of the first women on the Food Network and before her Miami restaurants made her a culinary favorite, the award-winning chef was the only woman in a kitchen full of men.
A dropout at 14, Daniel Boulud turned a childhood cooking in Leon, France into becoming one of the best living French chefs. Now the owner of 15 restaurants, he has a recent fascination with Cuban food.
Growing up with four brothers and single working mom inspired Thomas Keller to nurture families around the dinner table. Then he changed American fine dining with his restaurants, including French Laundry in Napa Valley and his new Miami spot at the Surf Club.
Chef and TV star Marcus Samuelsson got his culinary start thanks to his adoptive mother, who helped him write to every Michelin-star restaurant in Sweden until he got a job. He’s opening a high-end eatery in Miami.
Norman Van Aken was a carney, field hand and pumped concrete as he hitchhiked down to Key West, where a Cuban meal would change his palate — and his life.