Hey, On The Towners, I'm Frank Licari, and today we're getting a lesson in Latin style right here in the Palm Beaches.

Join me as we savor an upbeat mix of music, art, fashion, and of course food, one bite at a time.

Hungry for some authentic pasta lito's?

Our South Florida foodie has you covered.

We're going places with some of the remarkable members of the Latino community.

Meet the mastermind behind these iconic gardens in Palm Beach.

Then we'll celebrate Carnaval right here in Boca and talk about eye candy.

We hit a dessert lover's dream as we go On The Town in the Palm Beaches with me, Frank Licari.

[narrator] This program is brought to you by Discover the Palm Beaches.

Visit ThePalmBeaches.TV for more information.

Today we're celebrating the growing influence of the Latin community right here in the Palm Beaches through its people, its food, and this fiesta.

We're excited to enjoy this fiesta, play some dominoes, grab a cafecito and learn about the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans in the Palm Beaches.

I'm gonna dance the entire time I do this interview.

So, before we get into the everything, talk to me about this festival, this fiesta, this parade, the Latin Quarter.

How long has this been going on?

The Latin Quarter started four years ago and we wanted to see how we can bring attention to it.

so that's how it was born.

This is Dina's baby.

To make the city more aware of where the concentration of Hispanics are within this city.

So, you know, from Belvedere South, from the I95 to Dixie, this whole area is a concentration of heavy Hispanics.

And not only that, but you have churches that have Spanish services, you have a grocery store, you have the little bodegas, you have multiple restaurants and then the people attract to that area.

And that's why we wanna... That's the whole purpose of creating the Latin Quarter in West Palm Beach.

This is a way for us to get together, bring them over, and feel like, okay, let's celebrate our families living in West Palm, let's celebrate our background, let's celebrate our culture and bring it into a one part of the park or the city actually with a celebration.

This year we had various events.

Like we had Paso Finos horses on the parade, and we had bounce houses, we had kids face paintings.

We had multiple vendors offering foods and we had also multiple vendors representing different entities such as healthcare, legal, and many others.

The City of West Palm Beach is one of the most diverse cities in South Florida.

We have numerous, numerous cultures that are within the Latin Quarter, and that's what we want to focus on.

It's really incredible to see how much it's growing 'cause I'm sure you guys, obviously being here a while, the growth has been immense.

But you know, we are so proud of the community and how this has grown and is still gonna be growing.

And what we want to do is get involved more with the community.

We're working with the local schools and we've given three scholarships to the students at Fords Hill High School, which is predominantly Hispanic, what's the percentage?

About 69% Hispanic.

69% Hispanic.

That's amazing.

So you're not just doing a celebration here, you're doing a give back to the community.

Give back to the community.

We also wanna make sure that our citizens know that there are tools available for them, either by the government or private entities that wanna provide some tools for this community to grow and succeed.

Talk about celebrations.

Suzanne Thorson has brought the Brazilian beat from Rio de Janeiro to Boca Raton, where you can celebrate the most popular festival called Carnaval any day of the year.

Of course, the party would not be complete without these elaborate costumes and today I get to find out what it's like to be part of the show.

One, two, three, one, two, three, you start to.

Oh, okay, oh, I see it, I got it already.

I like this, oh, I can do this all day, I can do this all day.

The costumes, they're all handmade.

Is that right?

Yes.

They take a year to complete, they weigh between 60 and 110 pounds each.

And that's with nobody in them?

No.

Oh my goodness, oh goodness.

All right, all right.

I read you were a ballerina.

Yes, classic ballet.

Classic ballet.

You were an actress, a singer.

I started to do soap operas and theater and everything.

Very cool and you spent some time in Portugal as well, right?

Yes and that's when going out at night, I saw some Brazilian shows that were not exactly the vision that I would have to portray my country and that's when we launched Brazilian Beat first in Brazil.

We have been working for over 30 years.

We travel worldwide.

When I moved to US and I decided to do more locally.

More local shows.

There's a huge Brazilian population here, I had no idea.

Oh, yes.

So that's incredible.

At the beginning, I didn't know anyone.

I started missing, you know, your own culture.

I start to meet a lot of Latins, not only Brazilians, but Hispanics a lot, it's a big community.

So, can I-- It feels so heavy.

You have an idea of the weight.

Am I doing anything in this?

Oh, look at this, oh, yes, oh man, I get it, this is great.

The colors are all the colors, all materials and that's the beauty of it, is really that it's so diverse.

So it's a form of expression, basically.

We have all that, you know, we have the colors, we have the stone, so many details and the feathers as well.

Those are the costumes that you see on the top of the floats during Carnaval so it's really the highlight.

So, and the heartbeat-- So you become a human float pretty much, right?

It's kind of, but yeah.

After this-- Oh my gosh, there's a harness.

We come with this on the top.

Of course, does this come with a chiropractor as well?

Do you get one after your turn?

We have a whole performance where you really, it's very interactive so the audience participates a lot.

Everyone wants to participate 'cause it's a big party.

At the end usually is when I bring an extravagant cost.

Gotcha.

So this goes on your back and then you have also a head piece.

Of course.

So everything comes together.

Yeah, I mean, has anybody ever looked as good as I look in this clothes?

Never, of course, I'm a natural.

After all that partying, it's time to refuel.

We're here in Palm Springs at the appley named Latino Village where there's no shortage of must try spots for authentic cuisine.

We've asked a popular food blogger who grew up here to be our guy.

I've been a foodie forever.

I'm Latin and I feel like it just comes with the territory.

Like every major life event comes with a meal and a gathering and food is always the center of that.

Food allows you to stay connected to your roots.

Anytime I talk to somebody, I'm like, "You have to try this new place," or like, "Have you been to this place?"

So, why not share it with the world?

How do you make a decision like, "Where am I gonna eat?"

Like, there's so much good stuff.

For me, it's like the authenticity.

I want to go somewhere that stays true to the culture.

Where are the top five?

Yeah okay, I hope you're hungry.

I am very, I'm always hungry.

Good, we're at Tropical Bakery, which is essential, as you can tell, it's super busy because in my opinion, it's the best Cuban bakery in town.

Wow, that's a bold statement.

No, I mean, I say it with confidence.

As you can tell, there's always a line at the door.

The bread is baked fresh, it's three generations.

This is like home.

Gimme another restaurant.

La Casa Mofongo is traditional Dominican.

What's a typical dish there that you would go in and go, that's the one I'm getting?

So definitely this dish called la chapia gorra and it is insane.

It's mofongo wrapped in steak and topped with shrimp and all these different variations of meat, it's incredible.

Not only is the presentation fun, but the flavor is on.

Oh yeah, that crunch, I heard that crunch.

Okay, what else you got?

Another good one is La Perrada Del Gordo which is a Columbian burger place.

It's actually kind of like a spin on Columbian food, but it's got tons of sauces and like, you can't even fit the burger in your mouth, it's so big.

I can say burger doesn't sound Colombian, but it's like a-- It's a Columbian street food.

Gotcha.

Copacabana in Jupiter is such a fun spot.

They've got live music, it's also a Cuban establishment, but it's more of a vibe.

It's more of somewhere you would go to dance and have dinner, it's a fun spot.

So that's a nice spot, that's fun.

And what else?

Gimme one more.

Picanha Brazil which is where you can go for traditional Brazilian food and you can get Picanha which is a famous Brazilian steak.

It's so good, yeah, a must have.

It's incredible the diversity that sort of come to the area in the last little while.

Absolutely, I feel like Palm Beach County is evolving so much every year and it's been really nice as a local to see the food scene evolve with it too.

Growing up in Cuba, Jorge Sanchez fell in love with gardening.

When his family moved to South Florida, that hobby turned into a full-time career with a talent that's landed him several prize jobs.

Let's get to meet him.

I'm a firm believer on that we're all born with a gift and it took me quite a while to find it, but one day I realized that I love history, I love architecture and I love plants.

You put it together and that's landscape architecture.

I was gonna say, that's a pretty unique combination of things.

Where did the inspiration come for where you are today?

As a child, at the beginning of exile, I was forced to do gardening work which I hated.

Slowly I started playing around with seeds and planting things and seeing the beauty of developing that.

Tell me a little bit about where we stand right now.

This is Pan's Garden that was done for the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach about 25 years ago or so.

Basically was one of my earlier projects.

They bought this property, which were basically two lots.

One of them, the north end was a nasty parking lot and where we're standing now was a very dilapidated house.

First tree that came in is that oak that came in from Central Florida.

It's very fitting that the oak is the centerpiece.

The centerpiece, exactly.

We were first looking for an oasis in the middle of town.

So, we're in the center of town and you feel as if you are out in the country.

This was the first plan, manmade native garden in the southeast, there weren't any of them.

You didn't even know that while you were making it?

No, we had no idea.

Wow, so you were creating history while you were doing this.

We created a little bit of history.

Good for you.

But this isn't the only place you've created.

We redid Worth Avenue from head to toe, from building to building.

That's a big responsibility, right?

It was a big one, let me tell you.

We unified it by taking the sidewalks and designing them as Tavi sidewalks with a design that goes throughout.

We did sitting areas every so many feet.

We added trees to give a little shade.

And we did pocket parks, putting coconut farms up and down the avenue.

And Palm Beach is Palm Beach because of the coconut.

Right, it makes sense.

We are going places On The Town and at the Johnson History Museum with an exhibit celebrating Hispanic community leaders whose journey will be an inspiration for generations to come.

When you decide you're gonna do an exhibition on Hispanic heritage in the Palm Beaches, it's a big responsibility 'cause you have a lot of diversity.

It was a thought that came from the Historical Society was born here, and then we created it from that point.

And then we started talking about some of the Hispanic leaders in the community, these are the ones that were selected and from that, then Rose took over and did what she does best.

The research, you're the researcher, right?

So, you get all these names in a pot and then you start to sort of do the little, the work.

The digging.

The digging.

The legwork to reach out to them, have those conversations with them about what brought them to our community, what led them to Palm Beach County, and the stories that they had to share.

Lots of stories, lots of similar stories.

Stories that are heartbreaking, heartwarming, and really show how much this area, this community has grown.

We wanna show the diversity within the whole grouping of the Hispanic and Latin community.

And you have, I noticed as I was walking around, you've got people in the arts, you've got restaurateurs.

We wanna show the different things that people do in our community to bring up what Palm Beach County truly is.

The uniqueness of our community, the uniqueness of different businesses, different avenues of people.

There's always over 10,000 small Hispanic businesses in Palm Beach County.

That's incredible.

So we have different diversity of everything from A to Z, it's really very warming, very bonding for all Hispanics when we do speak with each other because along the line, you know, the road for each of us has been different, but somewhat the same.

Sure and who do you have coming through?

So many different people, different walk-ins from throughout the entire area.

It's a great place that people are able to see themselves and an exhibit.

This is just the beginning for us.

These are just a few small stories here in Palm Beach County.

There's so much more and we're so much looking forward to people hearing about what we're doing here and sharing their stories with the Historical Society.

I think it's great.

And speaking of sharing heritage, more than 20 artists across the Palm Beaches with a wide range of Latin American origins are sharing their work in an exhibit by the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.

Let's meet two of the artists and the curator.

The title is Contemporary Art of the Latin American Diaspora.

We're looking at the stories of when artists come to this country.

It's regaining your voice again and obviously they're doing it through their art.

By nature, you know that it's gonna be diverse, that there's gonna be multiple voices.

The exhibition, it features only artists that are resident from West Palm Beach or that they work here.

It's a complex filled with work, this is unbelievable what's in here.

When did you start with this work?

Working?

Yeah.

Probably when I was six year old.

Six?

Yeah, my grandfather was a sculptor and I went the same school that he went and since then I've been working over here.

And this was in Spain?

In Spain, I came over here in 1972.

She applied to run it and I had it looking for a helper so I give her the job that was there.

Wow, so this is a longstanding partnership here.

Since 1985.

It's incredible.

We learned to model pretty much the same.

So, when you see some of the fruits, if you had two or three fruits, she model one and I model another one, you would never know the difference because we model pretty much the same.

So that's the secret in our relationship.

When I started working with Louis here, it was just fascinating because every corner that you see, it's a new opportunity.

And so I came here just to select three, four pieces for the show and then the more that we kept looking, I was, there's no way that I can select, how do I select?

What was the first collaboration that you guys worked on?

We decided that we were gonna start this kind large scale fruit.

Sort of taking them out of context of what everybody, yeah, you pick up an apple, you don't think about it.

We enlarged the apple and it seem like something that made people look, pay attention.

Like your tomatoes out there like I was walking around, I'm like, that is the biggest tomato I've ever seen, it's really good.

Actually, that's true.

In a good way, in the best possible way, it's overwhelming to just see the amount, like the sheer volume of not only the work itself, but the scale of things that you're created.

Scale is important.

Like I picked up on that.

So, maybe I got a future here.

Do you guys need a helper?

One thing leads to the next thing, leads to the next thing.

We work maybe 10 years into something and then something happen and click something else and we start something else.

It's really incredible.

That's where it is, we learn all this.

That's true.

You cannot stop.

You're right, you're absolutely right.

It's become an institution on Clematis Street.

A place where you can people watch and get fresh guacamole made right at your table.

You guessed it, we're talking about Rocco's Tacos.

Let's get a taste of what it's all about.

Oh, oh, wow.

Yeah.

Okay, okay, okay, let's see what you're doing here.

Let's see what we're doing.

Yeah, this is setting the mood.

This concept started about 15 years ago, it's coming up on 15 years.

This is the original Rocco's Tacos and tequila bar.

What's the secret here that you think makes it a magic sauce?

We're a big happy family man, we're food driven, we're cocktail driven.

We use the best products available, everything is fresh.

We build it one taco at a time, one margarita at a time.

You know, if you're into tequilas, we have over 400 tequilas on our tequila list.

If you're into mescal, wanna learn about mescals, we have over 50 mescals available.

So, you obviously have a variation on what we would normally say is a Mexican style type restaurant?

Sure, absolutely.

We came across something like this in Guadalajara, Mexico.

I mean, this is a molcajete, this is our molcajete de carne.

This is 100% pure lava rock, molcajete that we purchased from Mexico.

And then this one is made with marinated skirt steak, marinated chicken, chorizo, grilled peppers and onion rajas and our salsa roja sauce.

We serve it with a side of fresh corn tortillas or flour, whichever you choose.

We actually cook the corn, grind it in house and make, can't have a good taco without good tortilla, my man.

Our signature is our world famous tableside guacamole.

Heard a lot about it.

You can't get any pressure than that.

These are Hass avocados that we get directly from Mexico.

The perfect guacamole starts with two Hass avocados, and then we add half of a lime and then we mash.

So, what are we making here?

What do we got?

So, our second best selling cocktail off the menu is a Cadillac margarita.

Cadillac, what is this?

House sour mix.

How much am I putting in?

You're gonna put in three ounces.

Three ounces.

Now we're gonna use the orange cognac liqueur.

How much do I use it?

One ounce.

One ounce.

You're gonna go one ounce straight to the top.

Now we're gonna use a beautiful Anejo tequila that we use for our Cadillac, that's the fun part, right?

A cocktail's not a cocktails till it's been shaken.

Got it.

Come on, baby, that's it.

That's it.

Brother.

I did all right, I did all right.

It feels like family.

Something beautiful, healthy, like a treat that you feel good when you eat it.

My family in Colombia, my grandma used to bake.

We have all these recipes and then we kind of transform into popsicles and we wanted to do something fun and beautiful and artistic.

What does cielito mean?

So it has a lot of different meanings.

It can be like sweetheart, sky, like little sky, my love.

My love, my sweetheart, the sky, these are beautiful things.

Okay, I like that.

How is it that the entire family, like your husband's a part of it, I see your daughters are in here.

So my husband and I started together with my mom.

My mom, she works in the kitchen, she's actually the kitchen manager, she makes every single pop.

Before anything goes out the door, mama has to say that one's good.

So we have 46 plus flavors.

So sometimes I'm like, you know, I travel somewhere and I get with an idea, my crazy idea, she make them happen.

Half of the menu is vegan so we have some of them that are with oat milk and cashew milk.

Some of them are ice cream and some of them are just sorvete, so they don't have any dairy.

What would you say would be the first one I should try?

What's your favorite?

So my favorite sub pavlovas, a strawberry base with dulce se leche.

Wow, that already sounds good.

Okay, so can we design one?

Oh, I see, you're already going for the sprinkles, nice work, good job.

Add little rose petals cause why not.

White chocolate, let's do it.

Well, well, okay, Picasso, look at this.

Whoa, all right.

Shake it, shake it, shake it.

Me or the, oh, you, okay.

I can also bring my pet here?

Yes, we're pet friendly.

We have different flavors for dogs, they love it.

Oh, oh, so smart, you want one of these?

You want a little watermelon, Fleetwood?

Yeah, you good with this?

Oh yeah, it's chilly, it's chilly, oh, it's a very discerning taste.

My dog would devour this in three seconds.

He has a refined pallet.

Very refined, wow.

This is amazing.

This is one of the greatest things I've ever tasted.

Nobody's gonna understand the word I'm saying right now.

You've really kind of expanded into this whole sort of colorful world and created your own little environment here.

It was about like giving a different experience.

I love it.

Today we made a lot of new friends, as we experienced firsthand the rich Latin and Hispanic American influences and style in the Palm Beaches through the high energy dance, music, art, food, and culture.

We hope you'll get out and enjoy everything the Palm Beaches has to offer.

Join me next time as we go On The Town in the Palm Beaches with me Frank Licari.

Oh man, that is yummy.

You wanna try it?

I'm kidding, I'm kidding, kidding.

Now Rich, are you training everybody in this?

Is everybody doing it like you?

We have a Guac University.

How do I get a degree from Guac University?

[narrator] This program was brought to you by Discover the Palm Beaches.

Visit ThePalmBeaches.TV for more information.