This week we introduced you to Melina Almodovar a salsa singer, songwriter and dancer who has had several albums, the latest being “Corazon Salsero”.
Melina is on the board of AYUDA Miami a non-profit that helps at-risk families and elders. This Thursday she is performing in a special Bolero Night concert to benefit AYUDA Miami. This intimate concert show will kick off the Miami Beach Salsa Fest that will take place next weekend.
You can go to eventbrite.com to buy tickets for Bolero Night tickets for $100 and also register for free to the Miami Beach Salsa Fest that will take place on Saturday September 28.
Follow the link to our interview with Melina and discover her favorite places to dance and the Puerto Rican restaurants she adores.
Go to citylifeguru.com to see interviews with our other gurus and discover their recommendations for unique places and experiences throughout South Florida.
Melina Almodovar, "La Muñeca de la Salsa"
Melina Almodovar grew up in Puerto Rico in a family of musicians, artists, poets, and sculptors. Her dad sang bolero music and her mom danced flamenco so it is no surprise her dream was to become a salsa singer. Today she is known as La Muneca de la Salsa (The Doll of Salsa), the title of her first album. She is a prolific salsa singer, songwriter, dancer, and entertainer and you can currently download her fourth album "Corazon Salsero".
Melina founded the Miami Beach Salsa Fest at the Miami Beach Bandshell over ten years and today this concert and the one she produces in Hollywood are among the largest Hispanic events in Miami after Calle Ocho. On September 28th salsa bands and dancers from many countries perform all afternoon in the Miami Beach Bandshell.
Register for free at eventbrite.com
Follow the link to our interview with Melina and discover her favorite places to dance and the Puerto Rican restaurants she adores.
Go to citylifeguru.com to see interviews with our other gurus and discover their recommendations for unique places and experiences throughout South Florida.
Melina Almodovar grew up in Puerto Rico in a family of musicians, artists, poets, and sculptors. Her dad sang bolero music and her mom danced flamenco so it is no surprise her dream was to become a salsa singer. Today she is known as La Muneca de la Salsa (The Doll of Salsa), the title of her first album. She is a prolific salsa singer, songwriter, dancer, and entertainer and you can currently download her fourth album "Corazon Salsero".
Melina has produced the Miami Beach Salsa Fest at the Miami Beach Bandshell for over ten years. Over two thousand people attend to see salsa bands from many Latin American countries. Go to eventbrite.com to register for this free concert that will take place next Saturday, September 28.
Follow the link or go to citylifeguru.com to discover her favorite places to dance and listen to music. Find out where you can take salsa lessons and discover her favorite restaurants from Puerto Rico.
Melina Almodovar #LaMuñecadelaSalsa
AYUDA
#HollywoodSalsaFest
#MiamiBeachSalsaFest
🎬 @charly.fiorentino
Edouard Duval-Carrié, "The Chevalier Guru"
Edouard Duval-Carrié is a famous Haitian artist known for his mixed-media paintings encompassing magic realism, Voodoo, and mythology exploring the Caribbean's history with colonialism. He is an integral part of the Little Haiti community where he has his studio, has raised his kids, and has served as curator for many exhibits at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. His work has won numerous awards and is part of the private collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Pérez Art Museum, and the Musée de Panthéon National Haïtien among others.
We visited his beautiful studio when he was finishing a monumental work of the Everglades composed of several 30-foot panels that will be installed in the new downtown courthouse at the end of this year. He is fascinated by the natural beauty of the Everglades, depicting the flora and fauna in a magical environment that seems untouched by humans almost as if he was painting what nature created five thousand years ago.
Follow the link above or go to citylifeguru.com to see our interview and hear how he almost lost his studio when the city began planning the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. Learn about the Centre d'Art and how it propelled Haitian art to Europe. Go to the Guru Guides section on our website and follow our self-guided Little Haiti Guru Guide to discover this unique neighborhood.
Edouard Duval Carrié
Little Haiti Cultural Complex
City of Miami Online Guide
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (ig)
Yellow Green Farmers Market, by City Life Guru
For years we have been wanting to visit the Yellow Green Farmers Market right off 95 in Hollywood. When we interviewed Sandra Abi-Rashed, she insisted we visit as it is one of her favorite places to shop in Miami.
This is the largest farmers market we have visited but the appeal here is its authentic charm. Locals bring their friends and family for the afternoon and shop in dozens of stalls run by small producers and artisans selling fruits, vegetables, spices, plants, dresses, and art. There are so many options for having lunch: choose from Cajun, Italian, Vietnamese, and Venezuelan dishes. Stay for a drink at one of their many fun bars that have music.
Open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am - 6:30 pm.
📍 3080 Sheridan St., Hollywood
What is your favorite farmers market?
Water Women Collection Miami
Earlier this week we introduced you to Sandra Abi-Rashed, an award-winning Woman in Tech professional, who founded Mentoro a company that connects young professionals with mentors in their specific industry. The idea is simple, to change the world, one coffee at a time. Mentors commit to meeting with their mentees for three conversations over six months. The Mentoro community has grown to over 1,200 people in New York, Montreal and Miami.
When she arrived in Miami five years ago Sandra did not have a network of friends and professionals. Soon she joined the Water Women Collective and met women who loved the ocean and shared a passion for surfing, free diving, and other water sports. Follow @waterwomencollective_miami (ig) to follow their weekly activities. Follow the link or go to citylifeguru.com to see our complete interview with Sandra and discover her love affair with Miami, her favorite coffee shops, farmers market, and go-to places for paddleboarding and kayaking.
#waterwomencollectionmiami
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (Ig)
Sandra Abi-Rashed, "The Networking Guru"
Sandra Abi-Rashed is an award-winning Woman in Tech professional, who started working in luxury retail at L'Oreal and Elle Magazine Canada. As her career took off, she wondered how she could help younger executives and realized that she would have benefited from having more access to mentors. Along with her friend Melanie Frappa, she founded Mentoro, a company that allows younger professionals to connect with mentors in their specific industry. The idea is simple, to change the world, one coffee at a time. Mentors commit to meeting with their mentees for three conversations over six months.
The Mentoro community has grown to over 1,200 people in New York, Montreal and Miami. On August 15, they start accepting applications for their Retail Cohort. If you live in the Greater Miami Area and have 7-10 years of retail experience you are welcome to apply. To see the impressive list of mentors for this session go to mentoro.co .
Follow the link or go to citylifeguru.com to see our complete interview with Sandra and learn about her involvement with the Water Women Collective. Discover her love affair with Miami, her favorite coffee shops, farmers market, and go-to places for paddleboarding and kayaking.
Mélanie Frappa
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (Ig)
The Collective 62
Earlier this week we introduced you to local artist Alex Nuñez whose monumental contemporary pieces are colorful interpretations of nature using acrylic paint with metallic tones, pastels, and gold leaf. Her studio is at The Collective 62, an all-women studio artist-run space founded by artist Nina Surel in Liberty City. Next Saturday Aug. 3 from 12-5 you can visit these 15 working artist studios housed in three buildings and then continue on to other galleries that will be open across Little Haiti and Little River for Art Days. Follow @thecollective62 to learn about future exhibitions and their Open Studio days.
Click the link above or go to citylifeguru.com to watch our interview and learn about art trips run by different groups in Miami. Find Alex's favorite restaurant recommendations from Kendall to Miami Beach and learn about her radio show Sunday Painter which interviews artists and gets their music recommendations.
https://linktr.ee/shockingly_unambitious
Visita Miami
Visit Miami
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (Ig)
The Contemporary Art Guru
Tomas Redrado studied Foreign Affairs and planned for a career in Diplomacy in Buenos Aires, but the year he graduated, COVID hit Argentina. The government took extreme measures to keep people from leaving their homes. During lockdown Tomas started helping his artist friends sell their work. And so began his unlikely career as an art dealer and eventual gallery owner.
Today he spends time between art shows in Argentina and his art gallery, Tomas Redrado Art, located in North Miami. We recently attended the opening of the exhibit "Montes No Visibles" showcasing the work of international artists: Julia Retz who uses “caucho”, a natural rubber, to cover architectural models of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier; Peruvian Andrea Ferrero, currently a resident at @fountainheadarts , makes delicate architectural sculptures entirely of chocolate; and Colombian Henry Palacio who uses ordinary materials like soup alphabet letters to create powerful messages about society. The exhibit closes on Tuesday.
Follow the link or go to citylifeguru.com to watch our interview and hear Tomas talk about the contemporary art scene in Buenos Aires, why he was comfortable opening a gallery in Miami and his favorite places in Little Haiti and Allapattah.
@tomasredradoart (ig)
@coffeedates.midnightcarrides (ig)
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (ig)
“Danny wants people to dig in…enjoy and hopefully remember something from their childhood.”
We asked Danny Serfer how he fell in love with food: “I’ve just always loved food; I think about it all the time. I love eating it. I love cooking it. I love reading about it.” So when he came up with the concept for his restaurant Blue Collar, a Miami comfort food institution since 2012, he told us it’s really a reflection of how he likes to eat - very rich, very meaty, and very nostalgic. It's just classic stuff prepared well with good ingredients. Blue Collar serves a lot of what you might have grown up eating in Miami and what your grandma may have made for you. Danny says he didn’t want to be too creative or make a plate so beautiful you feel bad to eat it; he wants people to dig in and enjoy and hopefully remember something from their childhood. The Blue Collar menu has a lot of personality and Danny enjoys sharing that with everyone in the neighborhood.
See our interview to hear stories of his childhood running free in Miami and how he travelled around the country following bands. Find out about their Miami Spice menu, where he goes to eat when he is not working, and his recommendations for unique and delicious places in Miami.
Blue Collar Restaurant
@henryssonanddad
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (Ig)
Cindy Lou's Cookies - How did COVID change your business?
Three years ago we started seeing hot pink cookie boxes all over social media. Cindy Kruse, owner of Cindy Lou’s cookies, had just started her business, and Covid arrived. Cindy wasn’t going to let it stop her, and like a fairy godmother, she kept her business going by making cookies and donating boxes of them to hospitals, firemen, and teachers. Everyone was so grateful, they posted pictures all over social media of their smiling faces with these delicious cookies and her pink boxes became a sensation.
Follow the link or go to citylifeguru.com to see our interview and discover how she got her first job with Wolfgang Puck, why she returned to Miami with her partner Eric Paige and how she started Cindy Lou’s Cookies out of her garage in Coconut Grove. Learn about the places she frequents in Little River where her first shop is and her expansion to Atlanta, New York, and soon Chicago.
Comment below and tell us your favorite dessert at Cindy Lou’s!
@cindy lous cookies
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (IG)
Cindy Lou, "The Sweet Guru"
No one radiates more positive energy than Cindy Kruse, aka Cindy Lou. People literally clap when she arrives to deliver her fresh baked cookies in her famous pink boxes. In Miami people gift her cookies as a show of love, to say thank you or to share their obsession with these unique and decadent treats.
Cindy got her love of cooking from her mom. After graduating in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Boston University she attended the famous Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York. She landed her first job as a Pastry Chef for Wolfgang Puck in Las Vegas and became famous for her delicious desserts.
See our interview to discover why she returned back to Miami with her partner Eric Paige, how she started Cindy Lou's Cookies out of her garage in Coconut Grove and how Panther Coffee became her first client. Learn about the places she frequents in Little River where her first shop is located and of how she has expanded to Atlanta, New York and soon Chicago.
Cindy Lou's Cookies
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (ig)
Miami Vintage Lane
Wanna take a walk down vintage lane? Stroll the corridor from 72nd to 83rd street on Biscayne Boulevard and sort through jewelry, clothing, and home decor from hip and glamorous gone-by eras.
First stop is Fly Boutique, a treasure trove of couture clothing, accessories and midcentury modern furniture. With new things to sort through each week the owners have an eye for what’s “fly”.
Walk north to Harlow’s Vintage to find unique clothing for men and women, jewlery, vinyl and books. Owner & curator Mariet understands the thrill of the hunt and is always there to help.
Continue North on Biscayne and you will find Berber Designs of Morocco at 83rd street. This is the Palm Beach designers’ secret shop for all things Morocco: hand carved armoires, intricate mosaic tiles, colorful poufs and gigantic lanterns and chandeliers. With containers arriving every month make sure to make a special request if you don’t find what you are looking for.
Grab an Uber and head west to our final stop: Casa de Barcelona. This hip, high end curated vintage furniture store has pieces you will find nowhere else. The owner chooses iconic furniture pieces and brings them back to life with customized designer fabrics. You can also find hand picked brutalist sculptures and mid century art.
Take a break and sit at the comfortable leather sofas at Imperial Moto Café across the street. Order their Nicaraguan coffee and a tasty Argentine empanada. Go to our website citylifeguru.com and read our Guru Guide Upper East Side to continue discovering cool and unique places in this neighborhood.
📍
Fly Boutique
786-332-4156
7235 Biscayne Boulevard
Harlows Vintage
305-726-4310
7617 Biscayne Boulevard
Berber Designs of Morocco
305-759-8849
8330 Biscayne Boulevard, #1
Berbertrading.com
Casa de Barcelona
305-332-7503
210 NW 73rd Street
@flyboutique
@harlowsvintage
@berbermoroccandesigns
@casadebarcelona
How do you disconnect?
Melissa Garson wrote the book The Recipe for Real Happiness - Four Simple Ingredients to help people start the positive change they seek in their lives through easy daily techniques.
Follow the link to our complete interview to learn about the principles of Positive Psychology and her tips to start Mindfulness training. Learn about the four simple ingredients to happiness and the practices that you can start applying to your daily routine.
Go to citylifeguru.com to see interviews with other interesting change makers in South Florida and find out the events and places they recommend.
Melissa Garson Coaching & Speaking
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (IG)
How many years in a row have you had the same New Year's resolution? How many times have you promised yourself you will read one more book, take a course or learn a new activity. Routine and life get in the way of accomplishing new things. In our interview with Melissa Garson we learned she wrote the book The Recipe for Real Happiness - Four Simple Ingredients to help people start the positive change they seek in their lives through easy daily techniques.
See our interview to learn about the principles of Positive Psychology and her tips to start Mindfulness training. Learn about the four simple ingredients she talks about in her book and the practices that you can start applying to your daily routine. Go to her website melissagarson.com and sign up for her free motivational monday emails.
Melissa Garson Coaching & Speaking
🎬 @charly.fiorentino (IG)
