Bienvenidos A Miami

This summer, I had the good fortune to spend six weeks in Miami as part of AFSCME’s Union Scholars Program. After a week’s training at Harvard Law School, I was dispatched to South Florida along with two other interns to assist Council 979 in their organizing efforts. While I was busy trying to help workers from Miami-Dade County Public Schools to Jackson Health System, I had plenty of time to explore as well. Check it out!

I wasted no time and made my way down to Little Havana on my first day in Miami. The main drag here is Eight Street, known as Calle Ocho. There’s a monument with an eternal flame dedicated to the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, which sets the sociopolitical tone for the Cuban community down here (ICYMI: they are conservative as hell).

I pay a visit to the famous El Rey de las Fritas, a Cuban greasy spoon diner where they’re famous for its flagship sandwich, the Cubana frita. There’s a ground beef patty that’s somewhere between a burger and a Sloppy Joe. It’s topped with tiny crispy fried potato sticks, and pretty much anything else you want (on one occasion I got a fried egg, another time it was Swiss cheese and sweet plantains aka maduros). As day turned to night, I ended up at one of the many nightclubs where live salsa music and mojitos are a way of life. When the club gets too hot and crowded, head back outside and chat it up with the omnipresent domino players, a staple of the community (although my lack of Spanish language skills hinders conversation).

Bringing an arepa to the beach is always an excellent idea. After you eat it and you’re covered in grease from your nose to your elbows, you can rinse off in the water! I also saw a baby sea turtle (and by saw I mean I almost ran over it with a bike before hopping off to make sure it made it across the boardwalk safely).

The coffee scene in Miami might have been the highlight of my six weeks there. Cubans do not play about their coffee. Much like my favorite variation of coffee – Vietnamese – Cuban coffee is tooth-achingly sweet enough and strong enough to fuel a jet plane. The last two weeks of my internship were spent at various Jackson Health System hospitals, where I had to be there at 6 am so we could catch workers coming off the night shift as well as those just starting their workdays.

Here at Jackson Main, they have a Cuban cafe right next to the cafeteria. While the cafeteria serves up dishwater coffee, they have the real deal next door. A cortadito (shot of espresso with steamed milk) and a Cubano hit the spot after hours of early-morning organizing conversations. There’s also a glass case full of pastries, sweet and savory alike.

In my last week, I was sent to the Jackson West location, which lacks a Cuban cafe, so I had to plan ahead. Luckily, I found a 24-hour Cuban bakery just a few minutes away, so I was able to get my colada, cafe con leche, and pastelito. Colada is a cup of about 3-6 shots of sweet espresso, and they give you tiny cups smaller than a shot glass, as it is meant to be shared with others. At this point, I had built up a pretty strong caffeine tolerance, so I was able to drink the entire thing myself without having a heart attack. The larger cup on the left is cafe con leche, more espresso with lots of steamed milk. In the bag is my pastelito, an amazing flaky pastry almost like a turnover but with guava jelly and cream cheese. This was my breakfast many times over.

There’s plenty of Jewish food in Miami too, though much of Miami’s Jewish community has migrated north to the Fort Lauderdale/Boca Raton area. I had the good fortune of introducing babka to my fellow intern Luna.

The only thing I consumed more than coffee in Miami was probably empanadas. This was a cool outdoor mall-type place for baked empanadas and raspados (shaved ice with fruit).

Cafe Versailles is the most famous Cuban bakery in Miami. They have sweet and savory pastries alike, not to mention fresh-squeezed orange juice. Tres leches cake pairs perfectly with a cafecito.

Miami has food from literally every country in Latin America: Colombian, Dominican, and Argentinian pictured here. The Colombian chicharron on the left was amazing. The American conception of pork rinds is dry and crunchy, like a potato chip. However, the South American version is vastly superior, with juicy chunks of pork belly crowned with crispy skin.

Pollo Tropical is a regional fast food chain that pretty much only exists in South Florida and Puerto Rico. While they are famous for their flame-grilled chicken, they also serve mean roast pork, in addition to cheesy yuca bites, cubanos, and guava lemonade. It’s a damn shame that this chain hasn’t found success in other geographic areas. Pollo Tropical has entered my tier of elite regional fast food restaurants, along with In-N-Out Burger and Culver’s.

Too Good to Go is an app I started using in Miami. Basically, you can buy food for cheap from restaurants with the goal of reducing food waste. The catch is you don’t get to pick what you want. But I found this little pizza place with a real Italian-speaking pizza maker where these three big slices only ran me $7. I highly recommend you download this app so you can eat for cheap and help reduce food waste!

This was a legendary sandwich (or should I say sanguich) in Little Havana. I decided to not get a cubano for once and instead enjoyed this roast pork sandwich with pickled onions and salsa verde. I also had a sexy iced coffee with caramel. You can see some of the assembly line action needed to run a successful sandwich spot.

Even though I was in Asia for like 9 months, I never made it to Jolibee, a fried chicken chain from the Philippines. I drove up to Pembroke Pines to sample it, and while it was pretty good, Popeyes is still the best in my eyes. I appreciate that gravy comes with every chicken order for dipping.

My Day 1 homie Mete came out to visit me for the weekend. While we didn’t go to Salt & Straw (although they have them in Miami), we did visit a Jewish deli that served a ‘Jewban’ sandwich complete with pastrami and coleslaw but also roast pork and mustard and pickles. We also had some beach time that was cut short abruptly by a storm.

This plate of oxtail was absolutely life-changing. I know Jamaican food exists in DC, and I’m now on a mission to find a good spot. Washed down with a ginger beer, this is the type of meal that demands a nap afterward.

I seized the opportunity to have a Turkish dinner with their native son. Coincidentally, the same place with the baked empanadas and raspados also had a Michelin guide Turkish restaurant.

Back down to Little Havana one more time, where a Charlie Chaplin impersonator made an appearance. I really enjoyed my time in Miami, and this was an incredible internship, but I’ve also had my fill of Florida for now. Peace!