A little reintroduction felt overdue. Some of you have been here since I started The Whet Palette in 2013. Some found me somewhere along the way, and some of you are brand new here. You may know the restaurants, the podcast, the wine, the travel, and my slightly obsessive relationship with MICHELIN, but you probably don’t know the entire story of how I got here.

Because The Whet Palette didn’t begin with food. It began with a Cuban girl who arrived in Miami during the Mariel Boatlift, grew up dancing, spent 16 years as an interior designer, became a mom, found her voice through writing, and eventually had one dinner that completely changed the direction of her life. There were quite a few detours along the way. And, apparently, some foreshadowing. So, this is the longer version: the life, the detours, and the dinners that somehow became The Whet Palette.

CUBAN-BORN. MIAMI-MADE.

I arrived in the U.S. during the Mariel Boatlift, grew up in South Florida (mostly West Miami and Hialeah), and attended schools in Miami-Dade County. I am a proud Interior Design graduate of International Fine Arts College and Florida International University. This city has shaped pretty much every chapter of my life. Please direct all questions about the hair to the late 1980s.

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MY QUINCES HAD FORESHADOWING

Like any good Hialeah girl, I celebrated my quinces at My Destiny Banquet Hall. I might have been the first, since the venue had just opened. For my grand debut, I was quite literally seated on the moon and surrounded by stars. Can we say, MICHELIN foreshadowing much? The party was traditional in every sense: A white poofy dress and a jeweled crown. A choreographer and 14 couples who rehearsed at my house for months for the big performance. More importantly, the rehearsals became weekly parties. Oh, the teen drama. The party turned out amazing. I can reveal that Stevie B’s “Spring Love” and Nice & Wild’s “Diamond Girl” turned the dance floor into a club. Truly.

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I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A CREATIVE

Dance.
Piano.
Pageants.

Creativity always found its way into whatever I was doing. Piano is a skill I miss and wish I still practiced. It taught me to dissect and respect rhythm and, ultimately, made me a better dancer.

I started in gymnastics, which I despised, but happily found my way to ballet years later, followed by high school and college dance teams. As a teenager, I even performed in a Super Bowl halftime show. I later spent three years dancing with the FIU Golden Dazzlers before coaching the team for 11 years. Somewhere in there, I also became a Miami Dolphins Cheerleader for three seasons. The pregame activities where fans waved the giant American flag on the field and the military jets flew overhead always made me tear up. How did I get this lucky? Is this real life?

I competed in pageants on and off throughout my teens and early 20s. Miss Cuban American, Miss Hispanidad, and Miss Carnaval Miami all taught me the value of a strong handshake, public speaking, and how to carry myself elegantly in everything I did.

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MY FIRST “CONTENT CREATOR” ERA

As a teen, I ran a Menudo fan club with 102 members. My dad, ever the artist and creative powerhouse, encouraged my interest. Together, we designed membership cards for the members. We advertised the club on local radio shows that were fully on board with the Menuditis sweeping Miami’s teenage girls. They often gave away concert tickets and encouraged the hysteria. Hispanic magazines, like Coqueta, would also publish fan club names and addresses. Yes, my home address and name were made public in a magazine more than once. The 1980s were wild. Once the membership grew, I created handwritten newsletters using research on Menudo intel I’d gathered via all the magazines I’d made my dad buy me. I photocopied and mailed them to the members monthly. It was pretty intense. I can say I was a content creator before the term even existed.

Of course, Ricky Martin was always an obsession. That might be a post for another time. Once he was announced as the newest 12-year-old joining the band, 12-year-old me was hooked. I have been blessed to have met him many times in my life. The first time? When I got the local Miami Menudo merch store (Menuditis) to become the club sponsor. They called to invite a few members and me to the store, where the band would be showing up to film a commercial. Score!

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LIFE BEFORE THE WHET PALETTE

Before food became my career, I spent 16 years as an interior designer. Specializing in residential interiors, I worked with several local firms that trained me to think creatively. Attention to detail was never more important. I didn’t know this skill would eventually carry over when visiting and evaluating restaurants.

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THEN I BECAME MOM: MY MOST IMPORTANT ROLE

Becoming a mom to two wholesome boys with special needs changed my life completely. I learned the true meaning of being selfless. Navigating the boys’ diagnoses is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I am their fearless advocate and will always continue to speak up for those who can’t.

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WRITING ACTUALLY CAME FIRST

In 2007, pre-social media, I started a parenting blog to share my journey with others. That eventually led to co-hosting my first podcast, Disorderly Blondes, where parenting, disability, and real life meet humor all while balancing stilettos. True life. My friend Kristi and I still keep the podcast active, although our lives have changed significantly since its launch in 2019.

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THEN CAME LE CIRQUE

My research skills came in handy when I found MICHELIN-starred Le Cirque in Las Vegas during a 2008 trip. That experience showed me a side of fine dining I didn’t know existed. A level of service that made my jaw drop. Plating and dishes that were almost too pretty to eat.

How can this much work go into a tasting menu? What even is a tasting menu? How can this dish be so bold and dainty at the same time? Why is everyone at the table being served at the same time? Are you really whispering the details of my dish into my ear? A purse hook? In 2008?

I was ruined forever, in the best of ways. I craved more. I needed to learn more. That dinner set me on a path to finding other incredible dining experiences through the MICHELIN Guide. Worth a detour? You bet!

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A BLOG IS BORN

And then, in 2013, I launched The Whet Palette. I wanted a name that tied back to my interior design background: the artist’s palette paired with the palate, and “whet” in the sense of stimulating an appetite or interest. The wine glass and fork are self-explanatory. The paintbrush is meant to leave room for anything I wish to add later.

What started as a small food blog eventually became something much bigger. Originally meant to be a placeholder for short, snappy restaurant reviews and lists, the content grew tremendously over the years. Today, it all lives under The Whet Palette Productions, an umbrella for the many projects that have grown into a food media and hospitality brand.

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THEN CAME THE MIC

The Whet Palette Podcast launched in 2022. Adding a second podcast? Why not? Originally, I intended to record readings of the posts on my blog for readers on the go (when the automated platforms failed to translate my spanglish properly). I thought it would just become a natural companion to my existing articles. I was wrong. Why not interview chefs, sommeliers, and other industry folk making a difference in our community? Why not expand on my knowledge of fine dining and culinary award systems? And so on.

Now in its fifth season, I’ve only just begun.

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SERIOUS ABOUT WINE

I earned the WSET Level 1 Award in Wines, followed by the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines with Merit. Currently, I’m studying for WSET Level 3. If I am going to talk the talk, I might as well walk the walk. Educating myself in wine beyond just loving wine seemed like a natural first step. “It took this to get you to study?” my high school best friend said. Hey! Perhaps students need to be offered preferred topics while in school instead of the trigonometry I have yet to use in my life. Food for thought? For the record, I was an excellent student and graduated with honors. So there’s that!

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THE WHET PALETTE TODAY

What started as a blog has grown into a full-fledged food media and hospitality brand.

Food & travel journalism.
Podcasting.
Wine.
Hospitality consulting.
Curated dinners.
Culinary travel.

That escalated quickly.

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AND WHEN I SAY “THE WHET PALETTE”…

I mostly mean me. Just me.

Writing articles.
Shooting and editing photos and video.
Recording and editing the podcast.
Creating social content.
Managing the website.
Producing events.

No editor. No photographer. No social team. No production team.

If you see it, I made it.

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THE WORK YOU DON’T SEE

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to contribute evaluations and perspectives to respected restaurants, culinary awards, dining guides, and television productions. Much of that work happens quietly and confidentially. But it has given me an entirely different perspective on restaurants, hospitality, how they’re evaluated, and how their stories are told.

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THE STARS ADDED UP

What started with that first unforgettable fine-dining experience at Le Cirque turned into… 400+ MICHELIN stars experienced and counting.

And after all those stars, these are three experiences I still can’t stop thinking about. Choosing just three was excruciating. But these are solid any way you look at them: The full package.

PER SE

Perched on the fourth floor of The Shops at Columbus Circle, Per Se isn’t exactly a hidden gem. This is the rare diamond you put under museum lighting. My first visit was in 2012. Six visits later, remarkably, Per Se continues to deliver in much the same way it did that very first time.

The dining room is elegant and restrained, with those spectacular views over Central Park providing much of the drama. I’ve always particularly loved Per Se during the day, when the park and Manhattan skyline become part of the experience. Even without a window table, the view commands the room.

Per Se is unmistakably Thomas Keller. Having also dined at The French Laundry, the relationship between the two restaurants is obvious. Familiar signatures, crossover courses, and a shared culinary language built around extraordinary ingredients, precision, technique, and meticulous attention to detail.

You have the salmon tartare cornet, those Gruyère gougères, beautiful breads, pristine seafood, precisely cooked meats, and the succession of little touches that make a Keller meal feel like far more than the courses printed on the menu.

And yet, for all their similarities, Per Se has always felt different to me. There is something electric about it. Maybe it’s New York. Maybe it’s being suspended above Columbus Circle with Central Park filling the windows and Manhattan moving below. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of Keller’s famously controlled, precise cooking against the relentless energy of the city outside. Whatever it is, Per Se has a pulse that feels distinctly its own.

Across six visits, service has consistently been one of its greatest strengths: polished, intuitive, gracious, and seemingly effortless. The choreography is there, but you rarely see the machinery behind it. Courses arrive with precision, glasses are tended to almost invisibly, and the experience unfolds without ever feeling rushed. And then there are the extras.

Just when you think the meal is winding down, Per Se has a habit of reminding you that it is not quite finished with you yet. Truffles, chocolates, macarons, doughnuts, and other sweets can seemingly arrive from every direction. As someone with an unapologetic sweet tooth, this part of the experience has never been lost on me.

I have changed tremendously as a diner since walking into Per Se for the first time in 2012. But six visits spanning more than a decade have given me something that a single spectacular dinner never could: consistency. Per Se still feels like an occasion.

ENRICO BARTOLINI

If the MICHELIN Guide ever decided to color outside the lines and introduce a bonus star beyond its coveted three, this restaurant would be first to earn it.

Housed inside a Milan museum, this 3-star stunner stands as one of the most impressive dining experiences I’ve encountered. Think of this as a gallery where the canvases are plates, painted with endless brushstrokes of flavor. Over the course of the three-hour performance, we were served a masterclass in creativity and plated perfection, with mind-blowing attention to detail. An opening procession of snacks dazzled in concept and execution, and it was impossible to choose a favorite. I didn’t want it to end. This was food that challenged, expanded, and pleased my palate.

Dish after dish, there was no shortage of the WOW factor, often enhanced by tableside presentations. This green spaghetti shown here, for example, with an orsino garlic sauce, mustard, anchovies, and caviar. Visually striking? Yes. But I also haven’t stopped thinking about it. You know it’s good when it haunts you.

The hospitality was warm, genuine, and refreshingly unpretentious. Our son got the VIP treatment with a kitchen visit and a signed chef’s hat, making the day a true family portrait of pure joy and connection.

Ristorante Enrico Bartolini al Mudec doesn’t simply serve dinner. They curate a spectacular, immersive experience that deserves to be framed. And yes, starred again. Did I visit again months later? I sure did!

ARZAK

Located in San Sebastian since 1897, Chef Juan Mari Arzak’s grandparents built the house now home to his restaurant. He took over the operation in 1966, and his daughter Elena joined in the 1990s. This duo is an absolute powerhouse, sharing a vision to keep raising the bar of new Basque cuisine.

This much-respected global wonder exceeded every expectation I had.  Holding three Michelin stars since 1989, Arzak left a flavor footprint in my heart. I can still taste and relive most of their courses. One after the other, a beautiful parade of food appeared during our tasting menu. Every course was presented masterfully, showcasing hyperlocal ingredients in creative ways with vibrant colors and an endless architecture of layers and textures. 

Arzak, for all of its fame and awards, offered expert yet humble service. In fact, the best I found during my time in Spain. I remain impressed and grateful for the hospitality received, especially from Elena, who made the experience even more personalized and showed so much grace towards our son. Genuinely kind-hearted: A class act. 

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THE WHET PALETTE, STILL BECOMING

More than thirteen years after launching The Whet Palette, I’m still not entirely sure where all of this is going, and I think that may be one of my favorite things about it. I’m still writing, traveling, interviewing, studying wine, producing dinners, and chasing extraordinary meals. What began as a little food blog has taken me places I never could have predicted, both literally and figuratively. I still have so much I want to do.

So whether you read an article, listen to the podcast, follow along on social media, share a post, come to one of my dinners, or tell another food lover about The Whet Palette, thank you for being part of what comes next.

And to think it all started with a girl sitting on a moon surrounded by stars. Apparently, she knew something I didn’t.

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