My name is Julian Balboa. For months, I was hunting for a good name for my blog. If you’re thinking of starting yours, good names don’t materialize out of thin air very often. The trick is to make sure that they sound natural and, of course, relate to what you wanna do with the blog.
With Taste Notes of Miami, I wanted to combine my passions for music criticism, food, and beer into one. Thus, there are three main columns that specialize in different areas.
What’s Cookin’: With each passing release, I will pen a music review with my honest thoughts as I would review any album, but I will also pair it with a dish that I feel parallels the experience of listening to said album. These will be posted every Monday and Friday as a way for me to stay up to date with every passing release.
For example, To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar is a very focused blend of sounds and ideas that take from a variety of influences with an exceptionally strong maestro bringing it all together. Bebop jazz, hip hop, funk, spoken word, all of this comes alive within the album’s 78 minute runtime. Much like this, Finka Table & Tap’s Cuban Bibimbap is a wonderful blend of Cuban and Korean cuisines. A fairly simple plate that captures the many complex flavors of both countries’ food cultures. Rice, black beans, vaca frita, kimchi, carrots, zucchini, bean sprouts, maduros, and a fried egg on top of it all. Cuba and South Korea both incorporate rice in quite a bit of their dishes as a base to build around. Without going into the history of each part of the dish, a lot of the traditions Cuban and Korean cuisine share come together in a fascinating fashion. A fried egg will often accompany dishes from both countries, just as a meat will always balance out the rice. Growing up Cuban, I can testify that fried eggs were always an option offered with every plate of food leaving my grandmother’s kitchen. Just as the different genres of music bring out something new from each other when worked into the songs of To Pimp a Butterfly, the Cuban ingredients that are fused into the very Korean dish of Bibimbap bring a new angle to fans of both styles of cuisine. Feel free to blast “Institutionalized” as you take your first bite, and time it well when the beat drops.
Cafe Society: Just as I would review albums and pair them with a plate of food from a Miami restaurant, I will also review restaurants around the city and pair them with albums that I feel parallel the experience of dining there. From the location, to the ambiance, to the service, to the presentation, to the food itself (all three courses), all will be scrutinized. Hopefully, I won’t feel I have to pair a restaurant with Total Xanarchy. I’ll be adding these every Wednesday.
One Beer: The same will be applied to local beers from all the breweries in town. The Tank Brewing Co., Biscayne Bay Brewing, J Wakefield Brewing, MIA Beer Company, Lincoln’s Beard Brewing Co., Wynwood Brewing Company, Beat Culture Brewing, Concrete Beach Brewing, Veza Sur Brewing Co., Nightlife Brewing, Spanish Marie Brewery, Bouza Brewing, Tripping Animals Brewing Co, and any other breweries that open. These will be posted monthly on the last Sunday of every month.
Taste Notes of Miami will bridge the gap between music and food/beverages, but moreso, will put a spotlight on Miami’s food scene. It’s absolutely wonderful and not enough people give enough credit to the truly special places that exist within a 25 mile radius of their homes. There is always good food to be had. There’s a restaurant that serves Israeli breakfast. Hell, there’s even an Uzbeki restaurant here. The city is large, yes, but Miami’s palette is even more vast.
Taste notes are in everything. They are picked out from everything that makes up what you enjoy. It becomes your criteria of enjoyment. Certain taste notes are not palatable to you, but they are to me. In your food, taste notes are key to your enjoyment of a dish. Is it too sweet, smokey, bitter, spicy, sour, etc. In music, the way the notes are arranged in a song are crucial to whether it fits your taste or not. Is it too fast, slow, simple, complex, heady, pedantic… Is it just not your style? That’s okay, too. Nothing in the world of food and art is objective.
If you compare your taste notes to someone else’s, they will always be different.
Taste Notes of Miami 