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Who: Eileen Andrade, chef & owner of Finka Table & Tap
Where: Miami, Florida

For Eileen Andrade, the chef and owner of Finka Table & Tap, cooking is in her DNA. Her grandparents, Raul and Amelia Garcia, who immigrated from Cuba in 1977, are the founders of Islas Canarias Restaurant, known for keeping the Magic City in supply of real-deal croquetas.

Eileen cut her teeth at her family’s restaurant and bakery, making traditional empanadas, bocaditos, and pastelitos, while also studying traditional Peruvian cuisine and technique from the executive chef. By 2011, she was ready to step out on her own, opening the food truck CubanCube with her brother Jonathan; and a few years later, it was time to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Drawing heavily on her Cuban heritage, Finka Table & Tap puts a twist on traditional Latin food by incorporating Korean and Peruvian ingredients and techniques. “It wasn’t easy to turn people on to kimchi, wakame, and shiso,” she says. “But we have, and it’s a great feeling.”

Finka also takes pride in its fresh juices, homemade syrups, and craft cocktails — and, naturally, you can find her family’s famous croquetas on the menu.

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