12 March 14-20, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | Culture | Night+Day | News | Letters | coNteNts | Miami prides itself on being flashy so it’s no surprise that the menus at the city’s high-end Japanese restaurants often include glitzy accents - think caviar, gold leaf, and torched bone marrow. Álvaro Perez Miranda is bucking that trend, though, focusing not only on serving authentic cuisine at his four restaurants but also on representing Japa- nese culture as a whole. Clearly, he has succeeded. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries named him a Goodwill Ambassador for Japanese Cuisine. A mere 187 people hold this honor worldwide, only 21 of those are in North America, and Perez Miranda is the first Latino in the US. Perez Miranda took a unique path to get here. Born into a modest family in Venezuela, he left home to study art - first in Italy, then Los Angeles. He began working in the restaurant industry to pay the bills and as he rose through the ranks he landed an op- portunity to open Italian restaurants in Tokyo. Over the course of nearly a decade, he would go on to build a 33-restaurant empire in the Land of the Rising Sun. Eventually yearning to reconnect with his Latin American roots, Perez Miranda made his way to Miami, where he first opened a restaurant in the emblematic Vagabond Hotel. Upon the suggestion of his teenage son, he decided to pivot to Japanese cuisine with his next venue, Wabi Sabi, which opened in 2018. Now his Miami portfolio includes the fast-casual Midorie, the high-end Hiyakawa, and the new omakase restaurant Ogawa, which debuted in late 2023. No matter which of these restau- rants they’re visiting, diners are immersed in three Japanese principles: ometenashi (selfless hospitality and anticipation of guest needs), komakai (attention to detail), and sensai (delicate balance of flavors). Perez Miranda is very much aware of the weight his ambassadorship carries. “It is a great honor to have my restaurants recognized by the Japanese government,” he says. “The goal has always been to edu- cate not just the U.S. but South America, as well, on the nuances of Japanese cuisine and culture - to transport the diner, as if they were in Japan, keeping it as authentic as possible.” ADVERTORIAL TRADITION OVER TREND How Álvaro Perez Miranda Became the First Latino Goodwill Ambassador for Japanese Cuisine Álvaro Perez Miranda miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Cafe con Libro Ventanitas explores Miami’s coffee culture through interviews and photos. BY CAROLINA DEL BUSTO T here are few things more synony- mous with Miami than a tiny window attached to restaurants and cafés that dishes out cafeci- tos all day long. It’s a place where people congregate to talk shop, politics, or just straight shoot the shit with a stranger. Ev- eryone is welcome at a ventanita. And, if you’re lucky enough, the ladies behind the window might take a liking to you and learn your name and coffee order. These windows are embedded into the culture of the Magic City. After all, Cuban coffee fuels Miami, and that coffee tastes best when it comes from a ventanita. In honor of this cultural staple, O, Miami has published a coffee-table book aptly titled Ventanitas: A Window Into Miami’s Coffee Culture. Written by Daniela Perez Miron and photographed by Gesi Schilling, the book was released on March 5. Perez Miron was born in Guatemala and grew up in Miami. It wasn’t until three years ago that she embarked across the pond to get her master’s in graphic design in London. It was there that she first had the idea to write a book about Miami’s café culture. She was in- spired after reading an article that advised patrons not to congregate at these café win- dows due to COVID restrictions. Perez Miron found the story humorous and told her Brit- ish peers, none of whom understood why it was funny. “They had no idea what I was talking about,” she laughs, adding how she recog- nized she was the issue. “It was a classic Mi- amian mistake, underestimating how special and unique the city is until you leave,” the de- signer says, speaking to New Times via Zoom from her London flat. The idea for Ventanitas flourished from there. Perez Miron began to put together a list and coordinated a bevy of interviews. She first spoke with local food writer Carlos Frias and Felipe Valls Jr., owner of Versailles, for guidance, two men whom she says she is eter- nally grateful for their counsel. “The more I spoke to people, the more I realized how special and interesting [ventani- tas were], not just visually, but the stories are what kind of kept me coming back and en- couraged me to keep going,” she explains. Nearly every neighborhood was shown some love. There are the classics like Ver- sailles, Islas Canarias, Enriqueta’s, and even Mary’s Coin Laundry. And then there are more obscure finds like Boia De (yes, the Mi- chelin-starred Italian restaurant) and the now-closed All Day. Once her initial draft was submitted, Perez Miron enlisted the help of O, Miami to bring this special slice of Miami to proper fruition. “It was so reassuring,” says Perez Miron of working with P. Scott Cunningham and his team at O, Miami. “When working with a local publisher, they already knew how special the story was, and I didn’t need to try to convince anyone of why the book should be made.” The O, Miami team certainly knew what a gem a book about Miami’s coffee culture would be, which is why they enlisted the help of photographer and Miami native Gesi Schilling. As you’re nearing the corner of NE 29th St. and Second Ave. in Edgewater, the smell of freshly baked Cuban bread seeps into your car. The intoxicating scent only gets stronger as you approach Enriqueta’s Sandwich Shop. While the spot is known for its sandwiches (clearly), the ven- tanita is a neighbor- hood treasure trove. It’s covered in stick- ers and makeshift printed signs that read “No pets al- lowed” or “Minimum credit card pur- chase.” And, in true ventanita fashion, there’s a large water cooler by the open window. A couple leans on the ledge of the window pane, patiently waiting for their order. Schilling arrives and heads inside. While her go-to ventanita order might be just a stan- dard colada, today she’s enjoying a proper sit- down lunch consisting of pollo a la plancha with a side of café con leche. “I feel so lucky to have gotten to be the one to go and take pictures [for this project],” says the seasoned photographer as she takes a seat inside Enriqueta’s. “I got to meet amazing people and drink coffee and eat delicious food. It was fantastic.” Schilling spent the summer months of 2023 driving up and down South Florida to document these windows. The original list she was handed contained a little under two dozen spots. As Schilling was driving around Miami juiced up on coffee, she says, “I was coming across so many others that I had to stop [and photograph them].” In the end, Ventanitas features 50 win- dows with 15 unique interviews and various poems sprinkled throughout the 245-page book. While the initial assignment was to photo- graph just windows, Schilling began to notice that there was so much more to each place than just the small square where they sell cups of coffee and pastries. “As I started shooting, I went beyond the window,” Schilling says. She captured the essence of what makes the space so special, including the people who come to these windows, the neighborhoods they’re in, and the people behind the windows. These ventanitas are a gathering place for the community. “When you’re at a window, it just makes you feel like you’re immediately a part of something,” says the photographer. “You’re part of the fabric of the city. It’s so wel- coming. I mean, it’s literally an open window.” Ventanitas: A Window Into Miami’s Coffee Culture. By Daniela Perez Miron and Gesi Schilling. O, Miami. 245 pages. Hardcover, $58. [email protected] ▼ Culture Cuban coffee fuels Miami. Photo by Gesi Schilling CUBAN COFFEE FUELS MIAMI, AND THAT COFFEE TASTES BEST WHEN IT COMES FROM A VENTANITA.
