Food

Beloved Captain Jim’s Was Just Reopened By A Member Of Miami’s Seafood Royal Family

What’s News In This Story?


Captain Jim’s has finally reopened after being closed for nearly a year.

The beloved restaurant and fish market has been delivering some of the best fresh seafood in South Florida since 1996. 

It was bought earlier this year by David Garcia. 

David is best known for running La Camaronera in Little Havana. He is from the famed Garcia family. 

-The family has a long history of fishing and being in the seafood business. They run Garcia’s, an historic seafood joint located on the Miami River. 

-David decided to keep Captain Jim’s name because of the near constant phone calls that he says he receives from old customers. 

-“Hopefully I meet everybody’s expectations,” David said in an interview. “I hope to be able to provide customers with fresh seafood and good service- make everybody happy and be a true, local, family restaurant.” 

IF YOU GO: 

Captain Jim’s

12950 W Dixie Hwy, North Miami, FL 33161

Monday to Thursday from 11:30 AM to 9 PM, Friday and Saturday from 11:30 AM to 10 PM, Sunday from 11:30 AM to 8 PM

(305) 892-2812

——Here’s Something Completely Different: ——

Meet The Three Frenchmen Who Are Taking Over Miami’s Culinary Scene

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Meet The Three Frenchmen Who Are Taking Over Miami’s Culinary Scene

What’s News In This Story?


 

–All the rage in North Miami is Cafe Creme, a French restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s the kind of place that you wouldn’t dream to find in this working class Miami suburb a few years ago.

-Cafe Creme co-founder Cory Finot and his partner Claude Postel were lured to North Miami by some grant money from the city’s community redevelopment agency.

-While additional future locations for Cafe Creme are in development, the three Frenchmen have embarked on another ambitious venture. 

-In mid 2018, they opened Sixty10, an old school place that serves classic French chicken dishes in a unpretentious way. 

-Claude owns the land it sits on in the heart of Little Haiti and the Frenchmen are betting that it becomes the Wynwood Walls of the neighborhood as it continues to experience gentrification. 

-If you think that sounds like a pipe dream, don’t be so hasty. Cory was mentored by the man who put Wynwood on the map, the late Miami developer Tony Goldman. 

 **IF YOU GO: 

Cafe Creme, North Miami- 750 NE 125th St, North Miami, FL 33161

Cafe Creme, Buena Vista- 5010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, Fl 33137

Sixty10- 6010 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137

——Here’s Something Completely Different: ——

Newly Reopened To The Public, Miami’s Iconic Freedom Tower Has Positioned Itself As An Ideas Hub

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Meet Miami’s Hip Hop Ice Cream Shop

What’s News In This Story?


–Mr Kream Wynwood has a pretty unique vibe for an ice cream place. Run by a group of Miami DJs, the shop is the perfect place for those with a serious sweet tooth and an ear for rap.

-The shop is just over a year old and has become very popular.

-Ice cream flavors are named after famous rap stars. An example?: 2 Live Blue.

-The stated goal is to give people a great desert while also teaching them about hip hop culture and history. 

 

Watch Another Story: Meet Miami’s Queen Bee And Her Backyard Insect Revolution

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The Future Of Haitian Food Is Being Crafted In This North Miami Office Building

 

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Miami’s Croquette Eating Contest Is One Of The City’s Strangest New Traditions

 

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Jack’s Is The Casual Italian Place That Miami Desperately Needed

If You Go: 

Jack’s Home Cooking

Location: 2426 NE 2ND AVE, MIAMI, FLORIDA 33137 

 

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WATCH MORE:

Did this South Floridian Just Invent The Next Tofu? 

Did This Miami Entrepreneur Just Create The Next Tofu?

What’s New With This Story: 

-Miami entrepreneur Taylor Cohen invented a new food product that is spreading fast throughout the Magic City.

-The product is a lentil based alternative to tofu called Adashah.

-Cohen and her brother Brandon started a business around the product in 2015. They now make over 600 pounds of it a week and distribute to over 15 South Florida restaurants.

-della test kitchen in Wynwood swears by the product, and it is a huge hit with customers.


Taylor Cohen was just your typical food justice warrior and outdoor educator a few years back.

Yeah, exactly.

Nothing typical about her.

Now Cohen, a native of Surfside, has taken her passion for making change to the business world.

Along with her brother Brandon, Taylor is poised to change the way South Florida looks at meat alternatives.

Her product is called Adashah and it is a unique lentil based food that is most similar to tofu.

She invented the product in the years following her diagnosis of Colitis.

Taylor Cohen is the creator of Adashah.

Doctors gave her a strict nutritional regime but few of those foods spoke to her.

“I started eating more of a plant-based diet and eliminating animal proteins from my diet,” Cohen told RISE NEWS. “I was focusing on the vegan meat alternatives that are on the market right now. But what I saw was that pretty much everything either had soy or gluten or I read the ingredients and they were full of chemicals that I didn’t understand.”

Cohen said that she wanted to create something similar to tofu in how it picks up flavors, but also something that would taste great on its own.

She seems to have made just that.

In just over two years, Cohen has scaled up to servicing over 15 restaurants from Boca Raton to Doral.

She said that she creates over 600 pounds of the stuff each week.

The product is a trade secret but Cohen said that it is 100 percent organic and preservative free.

Luis Garcia, the manager of della test kitchen in Wynwood loves Adashah.

He told RISE NEWS that his customers can’t get enough of the stuff and that he likes it much more than tofu.

To learn more about how to get Adashah, visit their website: https://adashah.com

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Watch More: Welcome to the Italian Mecca Of South Florida

First Weekly Miami Shores Farmers Market Proves To Be A Hit With Community

What’s New With This Story: 

-The first weekly Miami Shores Farmers Market was deemed a success by the organizer.

-Over 1,000 people attended the four-hour event.

-Over 20 booths were filled with local vendors and businesses.

-The event organizer hopes to extend the hours of the market by three hours starting next week, although no official announcement has been made.

——————————————————————————————————

The Miami Shores Farmers Market opened Sunday to strong community support, a sign that the village may be able to maintain a successful weekly open-air market for the long haul.

According to Claire Tomlin, the organizer of the market, the event drew more than 1,000 people to Optimist Park (NE 94th Street & NE 2nd Avenue) in Miami Shores.

Tomlin runs The Market Company, a South Florida based organization that runs 15 markets across South Florida.

Tomlin has had her eye on Miami Shores for over a decade.

Claire Tomlin, owner of The Market Company, the organization that runs the Miami Shores Farmers Market. Photo: RISE NEWS

She said at one point in the mid 2000s, she approached the Miami Shores Village Council for approval to start a market on NE 2nd Ave, but was turned down.

But she said that the new Village Council has been much more welcoming towards her ambitions.

“The town manager and the council are aware that the Village has changed and that young families want a place to come together,” Tomlin said. “The reception has been phenomenal. It’s been such a successful day.”

Over 20 different vendors had booths set up around Optimist Park, including those selling fresh fruits, vegetables, hot foods, soaps, jams, plants and flowers.

The Miami Shores Farmers Market will run each Sunday at the Miami Shores Optimist Park (at the corner of NE 94th St and NE 2nd Ave).

While the market is officially set to be open between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM, Tomlin told RISE NEWS that she hopes to extend the hours to 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM for next week.

She also said that there would be live music next week.

Photos: Scenes from the first weekly Miami Shores Farmers Market. (Credit: The Market Company)

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After Irma, North Miami Turned To Hardy Refuge Of Bagel Bar East

The day after Hurricane Irma impacted South Florida was a blur for many in the region.

Houses were plunged into darkness, almost all street lights were off and many streets were left impassable.

But after a stressful week, many people needed to get out of their homes and feel a sense of normalcy.

That’s what Bagel Bar East (1990 NE 123rd St) specializes in.

On a typical day, Bagel Bar East is a local eatery that people go to find interesting characters in North Miami and traditional New York style fair.

But over the years, it has also become known for being open almost immediately after hurricanes.

People line up outside of Bagel Bar East in North Miami the day after Hurricane Irma struck the region and caused widespread damage.

The joint is owned by Steven Hochman, a Brooklyn native who has lived in South Florida for over 20 years.

He believes that the community needs his place to be open in times of stress.

And he takes that commitment to his customers seriously.

As Irma started to impact South Florida on September 9, Bagel Bar East remained open until conditions became too dangerous and it reopened at 6:30 AM on September 11, even before the curfew in Miami-Dade County was lifted at 7:00 AM.

” I do it for the community,” Hochman told RISE NEWS as he served food the day after Irma passed. “Everybody needs ice, water and food. People have been saying thank you all day.”

Few locals were surprised by this.

“They know Bagel Bar is going to be open,” Hochman said.

They have a generator that runs the lights and gas powers the cooking equipment.

Dozens of locals from all around Northern Miami-Dade County waited hours to be served.

Bacon, eggs and cheese sandwiches were the big sellers that day.

This isn’t the first time Bagel Bar East has served the community.

They were open soon after Hurricane Wilma hit the area in 2005 as well.

“As long as it’s safe, they are going to be open,” Tracey Heldenmuth a North Miami resident and Bagel Bar East regular said while cheerfully waiting in line. “Thank you Steve for pulling through.”

Thomas Alexander, a baker at Bagel Bar East and North Miami resident was proud of his work that day. He’s worked at the restaurant for over 20 years and understands what it means for the community.

“Without us, they won’t be eating,” Alexander said. “It makes me feel happy. I love to see people eat and be happy.”

While Hurricane Irma caused widespread damage across South Florida, it also exposed a level of human goodness.

It also taught some folks in Miami how important something as simple as a bagel can be in the face of crisis.

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Wendy’s Spicy Sriracha Chicken Sandwich And What Makes Food “Asian”

It was over winter break when I first saw the commercial for ​Wendy’s new “Spicy Sriracha Chicken Sandwich.”​

I was flipping through channels on the television out of boredom when all of the sudden a white teacher appeared on my screening pointing to a chalkboard with the words “SRIRACHA (SEE-RAH-CHA)” written in plain view.

Then, the commercial cuts to a white man tattooing a heart with the word “sriracha” in the middle and a young girl in her sriracha themed room dreamily uttering the word, “sriracha…”

Finally, the commercial ends with a full description of Wendy’s new “Spicy Sriracha Chicken Sandwich” which includes a sriracha jack-cheese, sriracha aioli, and a sriracha infused bun.

Now, while the commercial is obviously an innocuous, kooky advertisement promoting Wendy’s new product, it got me thinking about the way white westerners are consistently fascinated by “exotic,” non-western foods and use that fascination to create dishes that, in my opinion, are neither bona fide nor appealing.

This isn’t the first time that Wendy’s has introduced a dish with an “Asian flavor.”

A few years ago, Wendy’s unveiled their ​“Asian Chicken Salad”​ which consisted of ​edamame, cashews, grilled chicken breast, sliced cucumbers, diced red bell peppers, and a lettuce blend dressed with a light spicy Asian chili vinaigrette.

Although this chicken salad, like the sriracha sandwich, seems completely benign, I feel it is worth questioning what exactly makes this dish “Asian”?

Is it the edamame?

The cashews?

What ingredients make this salad go from an ordinary salad, to an exciting, “Asian” salad?

Now, I’m not someone who expects Wendy’s to be the kind of restaurant that keeps cultural awareness at the forefront of their recipes, but I feel that some of their dishes are a part of this larger trend of slapping the “Asian” label on any foods that happens to include ingredients like peanuts, mandarin oranges, sriracha, and soy sauce.

Take, for instance, this ​Home Chef “Korean Pork Medallions” recipe​.

At the heart of this recipe lies a, what do you know, ​sriracha​ marinade.

And in spite of the fact that sriracha was created by David Tran, a Vietnamese-American man, this recipe is still given the label of being inspired by “Korean flavors,” which begs my previous question, “what is it about this dish that makes it Korean”?

Running in the same vein, ​this advertisement​ pointed out by Twitter user @CarmanTse showcases bibimbap (a Korean “mixed rice” dish consisting of seasoned vegetable, white rice, red pepper paste, and a fried egg) with kale and avocado which would make any Korean person go, “… excuse me?”

Photo Credit: CarmanTse/ Twitter

At this point, I’m sure you’re wondering, “why does this even matter? It’s just food. Why do you care?”

And to that, I respond by saying that as a Korean-American who grew up eating the foods that are now becoming the dish du jour, it is upsetting to see foods of my childhood be the source of an inspiration that has little regard for them.

Whenever I see “Asian” dish this or “Asian inspired,” I see dishes made by people who do not understand that Asia is a huge continent with a diversity of cultures, people, and cuisines.

East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian dishes all differ from one another, so the flippant use of the word “Asian” do not do these foods justice and displays a clear lack of specificity.

All too often, I feel that non-western cuisines are not allowed to be autonomous and are, instead, lumped with ingredients that do not make sense and are advocated by people outside of said cuisines’ cultural context.

For instance, a controversial article by Bon Appetit last september featured a white chef showing Bon Appetit’s audience the “proper way” of eating Pho (you can read more about the controversy ​here​ and watch the video ​here​).

Rather than feature a local Vietnamese Pho restaurant to discuss the topic at hand, Bon Appetit opted for a non-Vietnamese man to act as the cultural kiosk for this dish.

Time and time again, people who are not a part of a food’s culture do the dissemination and education as opposed to people who have the cultural background.

The “Korean Pork Medallion” recipe was not created by a Korean individual, and I find it hard to believe that a Korean person came up with the “kale and avocado bibimbap” recipe.

However, this article should not suggest that people should only make food from their own culture and that not doing so is cultural appropriation.

Rather, within this context, I feel it is important to think about the words we choose to use when describing food, to be respectful of the culture of where this food is coming from, and to be mindful of who has and doesn’t have a seat at the dinner table during these conversations.

In their “Spicy sriracha Chicken Sandwich” advertisement, Wendy’s claims to be “fluent” in sriracha.

But, for the sake of fluency, Wendy’s, and many other chefs, recipes, and restaurants, detracts attention from the nexus of where this food is coming from resulting in a contrived, whitewashed dish that quite frankly leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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Cover Photo Credit: Wendy’s Canada/ Youtube (Screengrab)

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