COVID relief cookbook to benefit many South Florida restaurants

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
COVID relief cookbook to benefit many South Florida restaurants
Chef Yisus prepares one of the dishes featured in the cookbook.

After running into a slight delay, Taste of Miami, the much-anticipated COVID relief cookbook was released recently featuring 50 recipes provided by some of Miami’s favorite restaurants.

Neuelane, the creative agency behind the book, has promised to give 100 percent of the profits back to those eateries that have been struggling through this pandemic by way of the non-profit, The Great Miami Cookbook.

Co-founders at neuelane, Brandon Rodriguez and Michael Campos, enlisted the help of Celebrity Chef Yisus from Univision Network, who donated his time to prepare each dish on camera and assist in organizing the recipes. The hip and colorful book offers a nice array of Miami staples that people have come to know and love.

The recipes in the book are the very same foods that people order the most, such as the Cap’n Crunch Pancakes from Eating House, Green Curried Mussels by Phuc Yea, Lomo Saltado from 33 Kitchen, Rabo Encendido from Finka Table & Tap, Jupiña Express, a burger from PINCHO, and Abuela’s Ham & Chorizo Cuban Macaroni by Sergio’s Restaurant.

“Miami and beyond can now make the same recipe used by the chefs at these restaurants at home, yet support the restaurants with charitable dollars,” said Brandon Rodriguez, president at neuelane.

It wouldn’t be a Miami cookbook if it didn’t have Croquetas, and neuelane did not disappoint. Foodies from all over will now be able to make the famous Reuben Croqueta that can only be found at Kush by Stephen’s. They can also tackle the award-winning Chorizo Croqueta recipe from Doce Provision, or the decadent Sunday Brunch Croqueta, which Dos Croquetas used in their Masterclass in the 2020 SOBEWFF. Ceviche lovers will be pleased to know that YOLO, SuViche and even Chef Jose Mendin all provided their most popular recipes.

Celebrity Chef Ralph Pagano from Naked Taco hopes people will #GetNaked with his Blackened Fish Tacos, while Taquiza went bold with their Tacos de Lengua recipe. Chef George Patti provided the Guava BBQ Ribs recipe, a favorite at MEAT Eatery. Meat lovers will be happy to see that Smokey Bones gave up their Big Beef Ribs recipe, El Rey de Las Fritas provided their Homemade Cuban Frita Burger, and Latin House Grill offered their famous Madlove Ribeye Steak.

Meanwhile, getReal has offered food-lovers a healthier meat option with their Reverse-seared Rack of Lamb, and Burger Beast provided the book’s Foreword along with his recipe for the BEAST-loaf.

In addition to a few sweet recipes, including Monty’s Raw Bar & Grill’s famous Key Lime Pie, the discerning palette will be able to indulge in Pastelitos de Guayaba y Queso by CAO Bakery & Café. As a bonus, creators have provided three recipes found exclusively for Taste of Miami from Coyo Taco, Arbetter’s Hot Dogs and Miami Grill.

To top it all off, Gabe Urrutia, author of Miami Cocktails and ambassador for the city, shared a new take on classic cocktails including the Old Fashioned, Margarita, and the Mojito, to name a few.

A digital version is available for $24.99 and $34.99 for a hardcover at https://www.cookbook.miami/.

“The initial delay had everything to do with conversations we were having with potential sponsors,” said Michael Campos, neuelane CEO.

In the end, a handful of sponsors signed up to provide in-kind support. Due to pandemic budget cuts, three major sponsors had to drop out, leaving neuelane with the bare minimum to cover the following costs: Mahmud from Downstairs donated $2,000 that went towards covering the food needed to make each dish on camera, talent, and legal fees. TRP Taste donated $15,000 in kitchen rental fees to test and photograph the dishes. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach donated their members-only bar at the Club Level to capture content. Perera Barnhart Aleman, Attorneys at Law donated thousands of dollars in legal fees, and Yelp Miami came on board as a media sponsor to help promote the book.

“We at neuelane have already donated thousands of hours in putting this labor of love together. All we need is for people to embrace this cookbook. Buy it for yourself, and if you can, your friends and your family, so that our non-profit, The Great Miami Cookbook, can start dishing money to the restaurants in this book,” Michael Campos added.


Connect To Your Customers & Grow Your Business

Click Here