Meet Samantha Quintana | Food Blogger and Recipe Creator

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

Hi Samantha, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised in Miami by two immigrant parents from very different backgrounds. My mother is Chinese and was born in Jamaica while my father is from Cuba. As you can imagine, being raised under these different cultural influences was interesting to say the least. Both sides of my family were very involved in my upbringing and wanted to me to grow up knowing their cultures and traditions. We mainly bonded through food.

My grandmother from my mother’s side is, and has always been, an excellent cook. She knows traditional recipes from both China and Jamaica and made me try different dishes from each country while growing up. It was because of her that I developed such an expansive palate as a kid. I was very picky growing, a flaw I have since grown out of, but she always found a way to make me try new foods and expand my tastes while connecting me to my background.

On the other hand, my grandmother from my father’s side baked. I definitely had a sweet tooth as a kid, and still do, so I was always eager to try whatever she made. She was always working in traditional Cuban bakeries and would often take her work home with her. She lived with us for a number of years and would constantly mess up the kitchen with flour, sugar, the works. She’d sell her famous rum cakes on the side, meaning every weekend she was busy baking and I was constantly watching. My father failed to teach me Spanish and that is the only language she speaks. I’d listen to her as she told me ingredients and directions in Spanish. Often times I had no idea what she was saying and would either ask my dad to translate or just I’d just watch the process and tried to figure out what she just said meant.

Even my parents have always had a thing for food and would often take my brother and I out to try different spots. They tried to show us all kinds of food and places. Which spots had the best bang for your buck, holes in the wall that made better food than most places, the occasional “fancy” restaurant so we would know what high end food tasted like, etc.

Now I cook, bake, and explore restaurants. My background has always been surrounded by food, so it’s no surprise I decided to start a food blog featuring restaurants within my hometown and city.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work full time as an accountant. After years of professional schooling I managed to obtain my Bachelor’s in Finance and my MBA by the age of 23. It definitely wasn’t an easy road. I went through a couple degree changes before I finally settled to major in finance. I actually hated accounting while I was in college and told myself I’d never get a job in that field, but now here I am doing accounting. That was definitely part of the lessons I learned, not to denounce or completely turn my back away from a field just because of one bad experience. It’s also a challenge balancing a full time career with food blogging but I’ve managed by staying organized.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s too many to name but the places that pop into my head include:

Tap 42
Fancy Buns
Barsecco
Prime Italian
Big Pink
Knaus Berry Farm
The Berry Farms
Schnebly Winery
Robert is Here
Bourbon Steak
Komodo
Top Golf
Le Zoo
Carpaccio
Bal Harbour Shops
Merrick Park
The Salty Donut
Bachour
Sushi Kong

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom, dad, and grandparents.

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Image Credits
@biteofmia