A Guide to Ordering & Drinking Cuban Coffee — Bite-Sized Guide: Miami

A cafe con leche, cortadito, and various pastries (including a guava pastelito) at Versailles

(Image credit: Tara Donne)

Stroll down Miami’s Calle Ocho and you’ll pass by any number of coffee windows, or ventanitas. The most famous one is at Versailles, but there’s no shortage on Little Havana’s main drag and elsewhere in Miami. And anywhere you can find a ventanita, you’re likely to find a crowd.

That’s because drinking a café cubano is a social activity. Sure, the coffee is good (and sweet!), but ordering a coffee is less about getting your vente frappu-whatever for the road so you can maximize your productivity and more about slowing down and catching up with your friend — or a complete stranger.

Read more: What Coffee Culture Is Like in Cuba

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A Visit with the Miami Bread King in His Kitchen — Bite-Sized Guide: Miami

Who: Zak H. Stern and Batsheva Wulfsohn, the husband-and-wife team behind Zak the Baker; their daughters, 2-year-old Abigail and 4-month-old Maya Maybel.
Where: Surfside, Florida

Zak Stern is better known as Zak the Baker (also the name of his bakery in the Wynwood Arts District) and, for many, he has an even higher title: He is Miami’s crowned king of bread.

Together with his wife, Batsheva, he has made Miami a serious baking destination, turning out loaves of sourdough, beautiful babkas, and braided challah from inside a purposefully understated oasis. The focus here is clearly on the craft of baking; it is a gleaming, industrial counterpoint to the visually loud neighborhood of bold, colorful street art.

Since opening five years ago, the bakery has grown from a one-man show out of a garage to a full-blown operation that is tended to 24 hours a day (since bread never sleeps). And just recently, the duo expanded their business to include a kosher Jewish deli, where the ever-changing menu might include kugel, sour borscht, or herring tartine.

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Recipe: Chorizo Chicken Chili — Recipes from The Kitchn

This 30-minute chili, featuring the flavorful power couple of chorizo and chicken, is what you make on Wednesday when you hit a wall on what to make for dinner. A change of pace from a beefy chili, this one-pot meal kicks up the flavor with spicy chorizo and seared chicken thighs. Smoky, fire-roasted tomatoes and two types of beans make up the sauce, with a few dashes of spices and herbs added in to give it a complex flavor.

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15 of Our Best Chicken Casseroles — Recipes from The Kitchn

We love a good chicken casserole. In all its many forms, this dish brings easy, comforting home cooking to any meal plan. On weeknights it’s the one-pan meal that comes to the table with a little something for everyone. For a low-key Sunday night dinner you can have classic chicken and biscuits cooked all in one dish.

Here are 15 of our favorite ways to bring the comfort of a chicken casserole to the dinner table. Reach for them when you’re craving something fast like a weeknight-friendly chicken empanada pie, or something classic like chicken and wild rice. No matter what, there’s something here to bring to your family table.

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The Wait Is Over! 5 Easy Veggie-Packed Recipes for Spring — Recipes from the Kitchn

Like clockwork, my longing for spring settles in right around the middle of March. We have all waited long enough, no? Enough with the stews and the roasts; enough with the Brussels sprouts and the winter squash. Bring on the light, bright flavors of the approaching season — I am ready to stuff myself with asparagus and radishes and green peas!

So let’s all have at it then. Put down the kale and make room in your grocery basket for the new season’s gems. These five easy recipes embrace some of spring’s most beloved produce, whether they’re featured in a wholesome main dish or made to sparkle in a simple side dish.

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Vacation Rentals We Love: A Sunny South Beach Kitchen — Vacation Rentals for the Cook

Vacation Rental: Brand New Lush Golf Villa in SoBe, Miami, Florida
Sleeps: Up to 12 people
Price: $1,512 per night
Why We Wanna Cook Here: All that sunny prep space.

We’re obsessed with the thought of blending up tropical smoothies and grilling fresh fish in this expansive Miami rental. The pops of blue in the bright white kitchen immediately transport us to the beach — which makes sense, considering the teal waters of South Beach are just two blocks away!

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