Hey On the Towners, I'm Frank Licari and today we're dancing to the tune of Hispanic heritage here in Palm Beach County.

We'll shop for oneofakind, handcrafted furniture in West Palm Beach and discover the flavors of Latin America with some musttry restaurants.

We'll even learn how important music is to the Hispanic culture.

You are definitely gonna get a kick out of this week's episode.

It's game time!

Let's on the town in the Palm Beaches.

[announcer] This program is brought to you by Discover The Palm Beaches.

Visit ThePalmBeaches.tv for more information.

[frank] From food, to music, to art, Hispanic and Latin American culture has tremendous influence on our Palm Beach community.

And what better way to celebrate the culture than to start the week with some dance.

There are so many different styles of Latin American dance, but today, I decided to try my hand at some classics.

Salsa and Bachata I'm ready to get my groove on.

There is something about the Latin culture [tasha] The flavor.

[frank] That just always feels like they need to be dancing.

What is that?

Where does it come from?

Our flavor.

Is that what it is?

We have flavor, it's in our body.

Yeah!

Oh see, there you go.

We love to move Yeah, yeah.

Music tells you how to dance.

Yeah, yeah.

[frank] So this is a very exciting day for you.

[tasha] This is, it is my very first permanent location.

[frank] Exciting!

[tasha] So, it's super exciting.

[frank] What do you mean permanent?

You were doing it like on the run?

Right!

[frank] Like, let me teach you quick, then I'm out?

[tasha] I was like on the corners, and I would stop on the corners and get out the car.

[frank] If you're a beginner, what is the first thing you teach a beginner?

[tasha] The first thing you wanna really do, is listen to the music.

Understand what you're dancing to, the Tumbao beat, the coocoompa, coocoompa and try to stay on that rhythm.

Right.

Always the music, the movement, the steps, those are always the fundamentals.

[frank] Can you teach anybody to dance?

[tasha] I can teach almost anybody to dance, [frank] Yeah?

Almost.

[tasha] I'm pretty confident, I consider myself the ninja of dancing.

I'm a black belt in dancing.

Wow!

So let's try.

We're gonna do some Salsa.

So, first thing you wanna know, is you wanna go with your left foot forward Should I stand beside you here?

Let's do side by side first, then we'll do partner work.

So you're going, left foot forward, and then your right foot goes back.

Right foot back.

Okay.

How long you been dancing?

[tasha] I've been dancing now for over 13 years.

I've danced my whole life, [frank] Right.

[tasha] And of course, but like Latin, Ballroom, I started training in Ballroom back 13 years ago.

We go 1, 2.

Turn 3.

Right foot back.

5, 6, 7, basic 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, right turn.

1, 2, 3, Oh you have to do the I see!

5, 6, 7, that becomes part of the step [tasha] So, salsa is what we eat, really.

So when we say salsa, it is a variety of different dances.

From Son, Guanguanco, New York style Mambo, but, for me, what I learned is that all our origination of dance, started with AfroCuban, Afro dancing, and then the Cubans started with their Mambo and their Son music.

And it started to speed up.

Salsa we've made it like a melting pot of all these variety of dances.

Kind of like the Hispanic culture.

Right?

Yes.

[frank] We've taken a lot of different things [tasha] Different cultures and we put it all together.

[frank] Right!

And what about Bachata, where Bachata is a Dominican dance Okay.

That's a slowpaced dance.

A little bit slower, and it's got a more rhythmic beat.

Moving side to side.

Uhhuh.

Three basic steps to the left.

And three basic steps to the right.

[host] What kind of people are coming in, looking for the Salsa, is it mostly Hispanic or are you getting [tasha] No!

It's the other way around isn't it?

It's the other way around.

Because they already know how to do it.

They think they know.

Right, right, right, right, right.

5, ready?

Back walk swing, Whoa!

Back, 2, 3.

5, right turn, around the waist.

1, 2, 3, 5, 6, basic.

Eso!

Okay!

Eso!

Oh man!

Oh man, yeah!

The Hispanic community in Palm Beach County is composed of so many different types of people, backgrounds, and cultures.

And it certainly continues to evolve.

The Hispanic Entrepreneur Initiative is all about helping the community grow and thrive, through the development of Hispanic businesses.

[mary sol] The Hispanic Entrepreneur Initiative is an organization.

It was founded here in Boca Raton, and is housed at Lynn University Social Impact Lab.

And we want to be an agent of change in the community.

So, we have created an ecosystem, where all organizations work together and join this effort to help Hispanic entrepreneurs to create diverse, sustainable businesses here in the U.S. through training, through mentoring programs.

How have you seen, sort of, the Hispanic culture change over the past so many years, and how's that changed in this particular area, in South Florida, and Palm Beach County?

Hispanic and Latino people that are coming here, are understanding and combining the two worlds.

And just bringing that creativity, that emotion, that touch.

And the demographics are always changing, but I feel that we are being embraced in a certain way, because the fact it's happening and is growing, and you can find the mix and the fusion of all those elements.

And everybody brings something of value.

[frank] Right.

So what Well, not everybody.

Everybody, everybody.

Everybody does.

So what you bring, and how it's done here.

So what is that gap?

So we are identifying that gap and helping them fill it.

I'm really proud of every Hispanic person that comes and works very hard and makes it happen.

[frank] If you're in the mood for a pickmeup, there's nothing better than a strong cup of Joe.

Salento coffee shop in West Palm Beach is serving up traditional Columbian coffee, and I don't wanna spill the beans, but this is one delicious cup of coffee.

[joana] We're Colombians.

Colombians love coffee.

[jaime] Salento is a little town, among the mountains in Colombia.

We went to Salento for a fun trip.

Like 12 years ago.

It was a beautiful over there.

Everything is around the coffee.

[frank] What makes Colombian coffee, different than every other region of coffee, that everybody knows?

A lot of things.

This is one of the most questions that I want to answer.

Good!

That's why I ask them.

This is good!

Tell me.

[jaime] Colombian coffee is super special coffee.

We in Colombia, we just have arabica coffee.

100% arabica coffee.

We plant the coffee in tropical rainforest.

The soil over there is a volcanic soil.

It makes the coffee much more tasty.

Tinto is the way that the Colombian coffee farmers drink coffee up in the mountains.

Oh!

We're gonna use this.

Yes.

Now this looks like a little nightcap hat.

It's just cloth.

It's just cloth.

Simple cloth, simple fabric, okay.

[jaime] Next, panela.

This is the sugar, correct?

Yes, unrefined sugar cane.

We take one of the blocks, and we make a syrup.

[frank] Oh!

So you make a liquid sugar.

Yes.

This is the sweetener for the coffee, right?

We're gonna use just little.

Then 100% premium arabica Colombian coffee.

Gotcha, okay.

You'll see.

I will see.

You ready?

Of course I'm ready.

So you're ready to grind your own coffee?

Let's do it.

Okay, all right, so That's the oldfashioned grinder.

This is an oldfashioned grinder.

We're gonna put the coffee in here.

Okay.

I have to twirl it manually?

Gotta do all the work.

Like this.

It's a workout.

Right.

[joana] Yeah you can do it.

I can go faster?

[joana] Of course.

We are gonna put the coffee here.

You wanna mix with the syrup first.

Oh!

I don't wanna put the syrup in here.

You're gonna put it in there?

Yeah.

Yep.

This is a grandma secret.

Oh wow!

Who's grandma?

Yours, or everybody's?

Oh, all grandmas Every grandma knows this in Colombia, okay, gotcha.

Oh wow.

So I'm gonna slow pour.

We're gonna use super hot water.

We want to extract the coffee.

[frank] Right.

We stir it and make a little press.

Yeah, yeah yeah.

Do the water a little bit at a time?

Yes.

Yep.

That smells incredible.

[jaime] Yeah.

And you know what?

It's more than coffee, it's a coffee experience.

Yes!

And we don't have to do anything to this.

We've already got the sweetener, we're not putting any cream, or anything.

We don't need it.

No, it won't be Tinto anymore.

All right cheers!

Okay.

Oh wow!

Is it good?

Let me tell you something.

I drink coffee all the time.

Since I'm eight years old.

Okay.

You're absolutely right, this is a very smooth cup of coffee.

It's delicious.

That's the first thing that I because I'll drink, strong, light, but this is It does taste like wine.

It's more than a lot of caffeine.

Yeah.

There's a lot of caffeine in this, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

[frank] And there's nothing like pairing a cup of coffee with a fantastic meal.

From tacos, to empanadas to tostones, Palm Beach County has a lot to offer when it comes to Latin American cuisine.

Food writer, Arlene Borenstein met me at Salento Coffee to introduce me to some of her favorite local restaurants.

The amount of variety I know.

[frank] Of food that has kind of come up here in the last 10 years is just, it's kind of astounding, right?

Lucky for us, we've been able to get those great traditions on a plate.

You have the Caribbean and south America and central America.

So, there are countless places to eat.

As I'm going through Palm Beach County, what are the, in your expert opinion, what are the musttry restaurants?

Give me one.

The first thing that comes to my mind is Tacos Al Carbon, which is a Mexican place.

I tried their birria taco lately, it was outstanding.

What it is, it's like a stewed meat.

It can be different types of meat.

They shred it.

They stick it in a taco with all the great fix ins, like onions and cilantro.

And then you get this like styrofoam cup of like this red juice and you stick your taco in that.

Dipping tacos?

You're dipping a taco.

Stop it, dip tacos?

As if a taco wasn't already good already, right?

Whoa, I never even heard of that.

And the sauce is outstanding.

[frank] What's a Cuban musttry restaurant in the area?

[arlene] Don Ramon is your traditional, authentic Cuban food.

You want that black beans and rice, that yummy skirt steak, Bistec Empanizado, you can get it there.

And you're gonna leave there happy and like, you satisfied this Cuban craving.

Give me one more.

What else you got?

La Rural Argentine Steakhouse.

It's actually upscale, but it's very good.

And if you like their steaks, they have a little market in the back where you can buy cuts of meat, items you wouldn't find in a normal supermarket and Argentinian empanadas, which I personally love.

You got one more for me?

I got one more.

Okay.

So it's called, "La Cosinita Latina".

They have all your beautiful, wonderful, traditional Puerto Rican meals, Arroz Con Gandules, Mofongo.

Everyone talks about the great chef there.

They're also reasonably priced and very yummy.

It's okay to have these different options because like me, I had a heavy Venezuelan influence growing up, but I am American.

We're all kind of these mixes and I feel like embracing that is so important for an establishment to do and not be afraid of that, but obviously to embrace like, who they are.

For sure.

There's a restaurant you go in and you're getting the way you would get it in the home country.

Which is beautiful because a big part of leaving your own country and starting a new life somewhere else is sharing that culture and having that little piece of that culture for you, for others.

And that's really special.

And that's what food does, brings us together.

I'm heading over to Rosemary square in west Palm Beach for my next stop.

Rosemary Square attracts locals and tourists alike for its abundance of shops, restaurants, arts, and culture.

I'm here at the center of the square, which is home to the popular Palm Beach landmark, The Harriet Himmel Theater.

Now, although the city has changed around it and the theater is no longer opened to the public, it's always served as a community and cultural center since its creation in 1926.

You started an architectural firm.

Tell me how that started, with your father, right?

Yes, in the late fifties, he joined me, in my late twenties, and we started REG Architects.

I'm Cuban by birth, right?

And my father, you know, was trained in Cuba as an architect.

And there's a great school of architects from the forties and fifties who came to the United States, most of them to South Florida.

So, having that source of inspiration has been great.

But I also studied in Guatemala in 1980, as a 19 year old, you know.

So, that was great too.

Early in my career to see the beautiful architecture, the Indian culture, the Latino culture in Guatemala and helping that to form me as an architect.

So 1996, we had a strong mayor, the first in West Palm, Nancy Graham, she was a dynamo.

She wanted to change the urban setting of West Palm.

There was 55 acres of land that had been purchased by another developer.

They had demolished everything except for this beautiful historic church over here.

And she put out an international invitation and she had one request.

She basically said, "Propose whatever you wanna do with these 55 acres, you have one requirement, you gotta reuse this building."

And that we did, you know.

So we, with a related company, the owners, it started out as City Place, Today, it's called Rosemary Square.

We were able to restore the old church.

It was a Methodist church, into a multipurpose performance hall.

And then on the ground floor, we opened it up to create shop.

So it's been a fantastic building.

It's one of the prime historic projects that I've done in my career.

It really is one of the most unique buildings around.

These kind of buildings are very important in South Florida because we're growing so fast, we're changing so fast.

So they become like the heart and soul of a place.

So when you anchor a new development around a significant historic building, you have the best of both worlds and you have that legacy of a place, right?

It's kinda tough when you come to South Florida and everything is shiny new.

Yeah.

It's very nice when we have areas of our community that are anchored in history and that that history gives us a sense of place.

We belong here, we have a sense of ownership in this area.

We're moving on to experience another unique form of art, furniture making.

I'm heading to Mario Lopez Torres Furniture, a shop that sells one of a kind handcrafted pieces that are made by Mario himself.

We have a lot of animals, yes?

Big theme.

We got elephants, jaguars, like lion country safari, but it's a furniture store.

It's pretty cool.

Mario Lopez Torres is a Mexican artist.

He was influenced by a lot of different arts since he was really young.

And when he was 20 years old, he got really interested on the metal handling art.

And so that's how his art, a little bit comes through.

[frank] Gotcha.

[sofia] All of these designs are originally by him.

All of our pieces have a metal structure and then it's all woven on a weed that comes from a bottom of a lake where he is now actually.

Wait, all of this comes from the bottom of a lake?

Yes.

In Mexico?

Yes.

Whoa!

You threw me on that one.

That's really cool!

So does he get does he source the materials?

Yes.

So, they actually just take it out of the lake.

He's working with like, more than 20 families that live with him in his town.

because it's like a little town of like 4,000 people.

And so they all work together.

Their natural color is green and that's when it's malleable to put it all together.

So, as soon as they take it out, they need to start like weaving everything to the metal structure of the piece.

And with time, it will dry out.

And this is the color actually, that the piece will turn to Naturally?

Yeah.

So all of this is natural.

It's not manufactured this way.

It's all, that's the color you get You have, what I would consider an art piece.

[sofia] He considers himself a furniture maker, but we're like, it's an art.

[frank] He's an artist!

Is the inspiration, I guess just his surroundings, right?

Just where he's from.

Exactly, this is where he's from.

Lady Catrina is like a Mexican icon, So I think it's a really unique piece because it represents like, Dia de los Muertos, that is a very important thing in Mexico.

You get a lot of jaguars?

Jaguar in general, is one of Mario's favorite animal.

And the jaguar's saying, "Hey, you know, put something on me, right?"

It must take an immense amount of time to make this.

'Cause it's all handmade!

[sofia] It depends of course, on the piece, but it will take around a month to almost a year.

[frank] But how special once you get it, to know that.

Exactly, yes.

Wow.

There's no better way to commemorate Hispanic heritage than with a festival.

The Hispanic Heritage Festival at Palm Beach Atlantic University originated 12 years ago to celebrate the culture through a display of art, music, and poetry from various countries.

And did you know that the founders of the festival are not only husband and wife, but musicians themselves?

That's music to my ears.

[dr. estibaliz] After so many years, we really know what's going to happen right away.

Right, you know each others yes.

So it's very comfortable to play with each other.

Right.

How long has it been that you've been playing piano together as a duo?

Since 1993?

'93, that's a long that's a lot of music.

Yes.

Does it get you?

When you sit down together, do you ever look at each other like Yeah, we do.

You do?

You're like, "I can't believe, I just love you so much."

Yeah, right?

What made you start the Hispanic Heritage Festival?

Well, we started this in 2009.

That was our 10th anniversary in Palm Beach County.

And we just wanted to, to do like our present, our gifts to Palm beach county.

The focus of the festival is classical music from Spain, Portugal, South and Central America, but including Brazil also.

So it's not only Spanish speaking, but even Philippines and things like that.

That's amazing, where else would I go to find that?

Even in the festival, we perform contemporary music from living composers.

[frank] Gotcha.

I mean, here and there, we throw a piece in the middle of the others.

Because it's important for to keep the culture going every year is different.

Oh yeah we have Singers.

Singers.

String quartet, flutists, violin concerts.

But this year, we started also Conference.

Conference.

So people from all the country and other countries, South America, submitted papers and it will be amazing.

It's a full Saturday of Lectures.

Lectures.

Oh, okay so it's educational?

Yes.

Yes, yes.

Very nice.

So I guess what I'm coming to this festival, I'm getting a little bit of everything.

I'm not, just getting music education.

I'm getting also a cultural education.

Right?

Right.

[dr. estibaliz] The audience, when it's in the house, is the only concert that actually people shout to us in the middle of the piece.

It really gets [frank] That's fun.

You know, you don't go to a classical usually, to a classical concert of people shouting out [dr. estibaliz] Sometimes they sing along if they know the melody.

[frank] Fantastic.

So it's very warm.

Very nice!

Oh, I could listen to that all day!

It's time to think outside the box.

My next stop in this week's adventure is The Box Gallery in West Palm Beach.

Curator and artist, Rolando Chang Barrero, uses his gallery to push the boundaries of art and spotlight a diverse set of artists, all while staying rooted in community.

I'm seeing abstract art.

I see modern art.

I'm seeing philosophers up on the wall.

I'm seeing glass sculptures.

Talk to me a little bit about The Box Gallery.

The Box Gallery is a think tank, basically.

More than anything else, it's like an old world art salon, where we deal with a lot of current issues, a lot of topical issues.

We're not your typical aesthetics based gallery.

So now it seems to me that you should call this, "The Out of the Box Gallery".

Well, that's the irony of it.

Amazing, amazing artists because of who they are, where they're from.

Maybe it has to do with their ethnicity.

Maybe it has to do with their lack of privilege and access, but they deserve to be seen and heard.

That's amazing, you're the ambassador for the artists.

They do the work.

Right.

All I do is make sure that it gets seen.

I am not telling you to think one way or the other.

I'm telling you to sit with this notion and contemplate it.

[frank] You're an artist.

[rolando] Yes, I am.

Are you still painting?

I'm still painting and I still have four upcoming exhibitions that I So, you're a busy guy.

Yeah.

I am giving you the highest respect when I produce work and consciously, 'cause I am allowing you to come up with your own interpretation and filter it through your reality, where you came from, through the filters that have affected you.

And hopefully from that point, then we could learn empathy and understanding that we are not all cookie cutter.

You've got your gallery.

You're doing outreach into the community.

You're doing art walks.

You're doing all these things, putting it all together.

You're getting people involved.

You're finding artists, you're connecting artists and it's fantastic.

It wouldn't be a week of celebrating Hispanic heritage without mentioning the most popular sport in Hispanic culture.

That's right, we're talking soccer or football.

I'm at Sand Pines Park in Boca Raton to see if I can kick it with the Sabr Soccer league.

Before hitting the field, it's always good to do a little warm up.

If I'm coming in, so as not to embarrass myself, what's the position that I should start with?

A lot of people want to be, they want to be the Striker, you know, the one that goes up top, the scorer.

Everybody wants to be the goal scorer.

Exactly.

They wanna be the hero.

In my opinion, the hero's every single position.

The soccer association in Boca Raton started in 1977.

We have players from every part of the country, every part of the world, different backgrounds And different levels of skill.

Right.

Everybody's welcome.

It is an international game.

What does the game of football mean to your culture?

Well remember in south America, 95.55% play soccer.

So, we all try to do that.

And then when I came here, Sabr Recreational, for the kids who started, and I became one of the soccer coaches.

And one of the lack of the things that happened is that the parents didn't know the game.

Sabr adult was created, inviting coaches, parents, sponsors, no matter the skills, but we wanted them to understand the game.

So that's how it started.

If I show up with my lack of skill, can I play?

As far as skill level, age, gender, no requirements at all.

We've got people who come out, who've never played soccer before.

We're opening a competition program this year for our more skilled players.

And then everything else in our program is recreational.

So, the biggest thing we ask is for people to come out, have fun, have a good time, not take it too seriously, right?

The soccer game unifies us.

Right?

We have things in common, but how competitive does it get out here?

Is there a little rivalry?

[juan] Well, that's one of the best things about this group is that when it becomes you know, very competitive, but at the same time we control it "Hey guys, not like that.

This is recreational.

We all have to work tomorrow."

So it's all fun.

[heather] It's like friends teasing each other.

That's right.

That's fun though, isn't it?

[heather] Oh, yeah.

[juan] Yeah.

Today, we learned what it takes to make the perfect cup of Colombian coffee.

We danced our way to becoming masters of Salsa, and we experienced beautiful art through paintings, furniture, and architecture.

We hope you'll get out and celebrate the Hispanic heritage and culture that's in your own backyard.

I'm Frank Licari.

Join us next time when we go on the town in the Palm Beaches.

5, 6, 7, and 1, 2, 3, back to basic I may just have a natural flavor.

You got the flavor, yes you do.

1, 2, 3, ready?

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

visit ThePalmBeaches.TV for more information.