La Ventanita podcast: Mitchell Kaplan’s bookstore cafe is Miami’s top writing hideaway
Mitchell Kaplan made Miami lit(erate).
Besides founding Books & Books, a single Coral Gables bookstore that has grown into a brand over the last 40 years, his independent bookstore’s cafe is also a major gathering place for Miami-area writers. Forget Starbucks, his cafe is Miami’s original “third space,” where people not at home and not at work could stop in for coffee, a bite to eat from a James Beard Award-winning chef and a change of scenery to write The Great American Novel.
On the May 12 episode of La Ventanita, the weekly Miami Herald food podcast, Kaplan spoke to us about partnering with top chefs, like Mango Gang member Allen Susser, to create the food at his cafes. Plus we talked about his stores’ 40th anniversary, going beyond books and starting a film production company which has produced major movies, and why it’s important to him to promote local writers.
Tune in Thursdays at 11 a.m. to watch La Ventanita live on YouTube and the Miami Herald website. Find every episode of La Ventanita podcast at the show page and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Megaphone, Stitcher and MiamiHerald.com.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
