Meet Sam | Food Blogger & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam, what do you attribute your success to?
Authenticity is definitely a key factor behind a lot of my success. Whether it be a restaurant recommendation, recipe, or product; I think people can tell when someone is being authentic and when they aren’t. My brand is based a lot around my opinions and I recognize my audience is putting their trust in me. They want me to tell them when something is not worth their time or money the same way they want me to tell them when something is. When I started my brand, I promised myself I’d maintain authenticity above all else and I’ll continue to do that.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m a Food Blogger/Social Media Manager and I believe my willingness to push boundaries is what sets me about from others. I’m not afraid to make content for my clients that’s considered “out there,” but it’s usually this content that helps us meet our goals and we have fun with it.

I’m most excited to work with a lot of new restaurants that have been opening up around Miami, plus visiting some Miami staples that already have a name for themselves.

Getting to where I am today was definitely not easy. I’ve been in this industry for 9 years and it was definitely hard to see other people start later and instantly climb to success. The only way to overcome this challenge was to stay consistent and make my voice heard. Eventually, traction started picking up and I was finally seeing the fruit of my labor. This ties into the lessons I learned: stay consistent and let your own voice shine through your business.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The Miami food scene has developed so much within the last 10 years. A week is definitely not enough time to check out everything that Miami has to offer, but here are a few musts.

For breakfast/brunch:

-Keik
-Cafe Bastille
-Emissary
-Chug’s
-Eating House
-Greenstreet Cafe
-Big Pink

Lunch:

-Cote (if you can get a table)
-Michael’s Genuine
-Slab Daddy
-Sanguich
-Omakai
-Cowy Burger

Happy Hour (for locals)
-Phuc Yea
-Fox’s Lounge
-Lost Boys
-Elastika
-Thorn
-Vice Versa

Dinner
-Sunny’s Steakhouse
-Klaw
-Phuc Yea
-Levant
-Smoke n Dough
-Vinya
-Tam Tam
-Iki Omakase
-Rakki Sushi

Hang Outs
-Coconut Grove
-Crandon Park
-Merrick Park
-Design District
-Wynwood

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Both of my grandmothers definitely deserve a ton of credit for where I am today. My maternal grandmother is culturally Chinese but was raised in Jamaica. Thanks to that, she’s a damn good cook. Her cultural background and environmental upbringing influenced her recipes and cooking style. I learned to love food because of her and she definitely helped developed my palate at a young age.

On the other side, my paternal grandmother is an excellent baker. She’s Cuban and worked in a bunch of different Cuban bakeries for most of her career. I developed a sweet tooth thanks to her, but I also developed a love for baking. I’d watch both of them either cook or bake and learned a lot of skills that I still use in my recipes. They’re both incredible at what they do and I owe most of my knowledge of good food to them.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biteofmia/?hl=en

Image Credits
Samantha Quintana