Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Taveras.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my journey as a food reporter at Saveur magazine in the heart of NYC many, many moons ago, where I interned for a summer. This was the experience that cemented my love for food storytelling. It inspired me to return to graduate school, where I majored in Digital Media Journalism. While in grad school, I chose Washington Heights, known for its large Dominican community, as my neighborhood beat. Being originally from Santo Domingo, I felt right at home. I wrote stories on religion, politics, the arts, but I always found that telling food stories was my favorite thing to do. At the time, I started a food blog and did a brief stint as a Youtuber. Most importantly, I loved how food connected me to some of the happiest, most carefree moments of my life back home in the D.R. Slurping oysters on the shore with Dad, tossing bread cubes I carefully cut out into Mom’s stellar bread pudding.
I relocated to Miami four years ago after my daughter was born to be closer to home and worked as a freelance creative copywriter. Food was always in the back of my mind, but I didn’t know how to bring it to the foreground. Last year, to temper the anxiety and social disconnection I was feeling, I would pull my daughter to the kitchen and we would bake chocolate cake, blueberry pie, apple cobbler. Food became a lifeline and my most reliable creative outlet again. I thought to myself; there must be people out there who are looking for that sense of connection too. So I reached out to a local cookbook author Sara Liss, to see if she would be interested in doing an interview. She said yes! That conversation was one of the best conversations I had had in a long time. It was filled with kinship, energy, and hope and would mark the birth of the IGTV series Latinfoodie LIVE! I looked around and noticed that there was a brand new crop of entrepreneurs sprouting up all over Miami. People were reassessing priorities in their lives. Many, voluntarily or involuntarily, were being forced to reinvent themselves.
I started reaching out to food entrepreneurs in town and the more I talked to them, the more I discovered there were people doing really cool and innovative things. Some, like Jennifer Kaminski and her sister, were mashing up flavors and cultures, bringing Korean bibimbap to Miami with their Coconut Grove pop-up “2 Korean Girls”. Others, like Giovanni Fesser, were reimagining traditional Miami staples like the Cuban pastelito, using innovative fillings and flavor inspiration for his “Pastelito Papi” concept.
In less than one year, the Miami food scene has transformed into a destination for big names in the culinary scene like Carbone, Uchi, Cote, bringing imports from important U.S. food cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Austin. The Miami food scene now finds itself not only invigorated by all this new energy and attention but finds itself benefiting from the “rising tide lifts all boats” effect where entrepreneurs are also enjoying spillover success.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
This passion project was born from the pandemic because I myself was struggling to find connection. As we are slowly coming out of this challenging year and start to look forward to a hopeful future, I often question myself is this work still going to be relevant, one, three, five years from today? I have a vision for Latinfoodie LIVE! and know there is enough talent and enough stories to tell. I often find myself thinking of the things that entrepreneurs I talk to struggle with themselves: finding the patience to grow slowly and steadily, finding funding for the project, finding ways to help and give back to my community. There are days I really wish for three versions of myself to be doing all the things that need to be done to really make the impact I envision. Right now, I am a one-woman show that takes care of pre-production, production and some post-production. Sometimes I feel like calling out and yelling HELP! with a little white flag. But deep down, I know that I just have to keep my head down and keep moving forward.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the host and producer of “Latinfoodie LIVE!”, an online show in which I interview food personalities in Miami and Latin America, unlocking the talent and creativity that abounds in this rapidly changing space. What I am most proud of is being able to connect like-minded food entrepreneurs and create a platform where people can collaborate and get inspired.
What sets me apart from others is that I am fully bilingual and bicultural and have over 15 years of experience as a content designer and media specialist. I love food and have a passion for connecting with people here in the U.S. and in Latin America.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
As a writer and reporter by trade, what really makes me happy is when I get to talk to people and learn their stories. I am naturally a very curious person so I think that having the chance to talk to people really energizes me and satisfies that innate curiosity. Plus, I think people are just infinitely fascinating and I enjoy talking to entrepreneurs, who are highly creative, enthusiastic individuals and visionaries. I feel very inspired when I get a chance to talk to them and hear how they are able to build something out of an idea through pure passion and grit.
Contact Info:
- Email: taverasstudio@gmail.com
- Website: www.latinfoodie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinfoodie/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/latinfoodieblog/
