Herald Food podcast: Meet the chef who opened Miami’s first pop-up and started a trend

Carlos Frías

Pop-up is a word that has entered the zeitgeist, but it was unheard when Ani Meinhold opened Miami’s first one 10 years ago.

That pop-up was Phuc Yea!, a Vietnamese concept that came alive every night, when she and co-founder Cesar Zapata took over the Crown Bistro downtown, hung drapes, changed centerpieces and rewrote the menu at someone else’s restaurant. Now it’s a Michelin-recognized restaurant.

One the Sept. 15 episode of La Ventanita, the weekly Miami Herald food podcast, we’ll talk to Ani about a wild ride that has seen her and her co-founder change concepts (Remember The Federal?), change their relationship, and watch Miami change through a pandemic and Michelin recognition.

Also, we’ll discuss the week’s news, including:

  • Bon Appetit names three of their 50 best new restaurants in Miami, though one is closed indefinitely and the other is a wine bar

  • Our pizza poll, looking for the internet’s favorite pizza in Miami, winds down

  • My two experiments with naturally leavened sourdough pizza (round and square)

Tune in Thursdays at 11 a.m. to watch La Ventanita live on YouTube and the Miami Herald website. Find every episode of La Ventanita podcast at the show page and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Megaphone, Stitcher and MiamiHerald.com.

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