Food and Design Highlights: Florence to Manhattan

Florence’s food scene remains rooted in cucina povera despite tourist-driven luxury, with neighborhoods like San Frediano and local markets offering traditional staples such as lampredotto, ribollita, cecina and cinghiale that differ from Americanized Tuscan fare. In Arizona, baker Andrés Cano built Candough DoughVine Bread around Colombian flavors from his childhood, serving a growing Colombian community in the Phoenix area after a post‑COVID migration surge. Chef Javier Nuñez of Aurora Cafe & Bakery was highlighted by Johnson County Community College (JCCC) as part of Hispanic Heritage Month programming celebrating local culinary talent. In Nichols Hills, the Bollenbach family’s Alliance Kitchen Tour home showcases Mediterranean and “Modern Classic Spanish” design realized by Candelaria Design Build and interior designer Amber Matlack. In Manhattan’s Hamilton Heights, Karina Garcia and Lalo Rodriguez turned a pandemic-era apartment supper club into Cocina Consuelo, a brick-and-mortar restaurant earning national and international acclaim while preserving the couple’s family-inspired cooking and service roles.