by | September 1, 2026
Editor’s Note: Jamie Rich Puts the Idea of Taste to the Test
From live music and local films to Miami’s Latin Caribbean food scene, Flamingo’s editor in chief explores why good taste is ultimately in the eye of the beholder.
My husband, Brian, and I are both fans of live music, but we tend to disagree on what constitutes good music. This summer, my daughter Audrey and I drove to Gainesville to see Morgan Wallen’s sold-out stadium show at The Swamp. We loved every minute of belting out “Whiskey Glasses” surrounded by 80,000 glowing wristbands pulsing to the music and pyrotechnics exploding. Brian stayed home. He prefers to see a decidedly nonmainstream musician like Sturgill Simpson performing in a small living-room-sized venue. But is one bad taste and the other good? (Brian certainly has his opinion.) To me, it’s all about the feels. If listening to an artist, wearing a designer, buying a painting or consuming a meal brings you joy, then the taste can only be good, right?
When it comes to music, art and food, finding consensus is difficult. There are, however, a few things in this issue I think most Floridians can agree on. The first is that Miami’s Latin Caribbean food scene is one of the most exciting in the country. In our cover story, writer Lyssa Goldberg maps out the city’s immigrant food corridors, starting with a Cuban frita (think hamburger) on Calle Ocho and eating her way through Nicaraguan fritangas, Haitian kitchens, Bahamian food fests and Mexican taquerias from Homestead to North Miami. With every bite, she discovers that the soul of a neighborhood lies at the table of a family-run restaurant. They’re the kind of places the Michelin Guide might miss, so save this story for future reference.
If listening to an artist, wearing a designer, buying a painting or consuming a meal brings you joy, then the taste can only be good, right?
—Jamie Rich
We also have our own long-standing food traditions rooted right here in the Sunshine State. Florida-raised beef is a rarity on menus, but a select few restaurants and even some professional sports teams are prioritizing homegrown meat. To understand more, writer Dave Seminara meets the Florida ranchers who are just as passionate about feeding customers the highest quality grass-fed beef as they are about staving off developers and protecting the land they have worked for generations.
Along with plenty to eat and drink inside this issue, we bring you music and film. Cinephile Steve Dollar pulls back the curtain on a collection of arthouse theaters reviving the magic of going to the movies. Screenings of cult classics and new features are giving moviegoers a reason to get off the couch and return to actual theaters.
Rediscovering something from the past that you once loved is exactly what happened to me when I sat down with Sister Hazel co-founder Drew Copeland, who opens up about the band’s staying power and the 30th anniversary of their hit “All for You.” I’ve had the song on repeat ever since our chat. After all these years, I’m still a Hazelnut.
More recently, I’ve become a fan of Jacksonville’s Chancho King, an Ecuadorian diner getting a lot of attention from the James Beard Foundation and the subject of our chef profile in this issue. I had been wanting to try it for a while. So, for my birthday in July, Brian and our older daughter, Elle, took me to celebrate. On the way across town, we hit a nasty thunderstorm. Lightning knocked the train signal out of order, backing up traffic going into the Murray Hill neighborhood. As we slowly rolled through flooded intersections, I worried our car might float away. Elle had major reservations. “It’s not worth it!” she shouted from the back.
“It’ll be OK,” I said, as Brian turned down the volume on a Morgan Wallen song playing on the radio.
Finally, the three of us settled into a cozy corner table and tucked into Shark Bite oysters sourced from New Smyrna Beach, a seafood stew chock-full of local fish and the signature pulled-pork sandwich. We toasted our oyster shells to my birthday (the last in my 40s) and surviving the storm.
Sometimes having good taste means knowing where to eat. And sometimes it means knowing that you’re willing to drive through a flood with your husband complaining about your music choices to get there. Here’s to good taste—and to deciding for yourself what that means.
For more editor’s notes from Jamie Rich, click here.
About the Author
As an editor and journalist, Jamie has covered travel and culture around the world. Her work has appeared in national and international publications. She spent much of her professional life abroad and worked in newsrooms from The Moscow Times to The Times of London. She holds degrees from Florida State and Georgetown. She founded Flamingo in 2015.
