Wynwood Walls

This is a ‘must do’ tour in Miami and combines two of my favourite pastimes, art and food! The Wynwood Walls Culinary Tour took us on a whirlwind walk around the greatest outdoor street museum in the world as we experienced Tony Goldman’s vision for Miami’s Wynwood district, as well as hearing all about Miamian cuisine and the culture behind the food.

The project has been going since 2009 and the idea was to revitalise this run down area by inviting graffiti and iconic street artists to leave their mark. Wynwood Walls is now one of the hippest areas in Miami.

Our tour began with a cocktail and empanadas at Wynwood Kitchen & Bar. This restaurant offers Latin influenced food and is set to be one of the coolest places to eat in the area. The walls are adorned with colourful graffiti and murals by leading artists such as the famed Shepard Fairey, Brazilian twins Os Gemeos, Kenny Scharf and Faile & Bast.

Wynwood is divided between two areas, the walls and doors, and as you wander around the sheer scale of some of the pieces is breath taking – particularly as they contrast with the plain concrete edifices of the surrounding industrial warehouses and buildings.

Up-and-coming artists, as well as more well known ones, have left their mark here and with regular events and new pieces being added all the time, it is well worth re-visiting to see what’s new. The piece below ‘Asiafricalism’ was created by artist Okuda for Miami’s 2016 Art Week a multi-coloured skin portrait that represents how we are all of different origins yet still the same skin, a statement of optimism in our multi cultural world.

Culinary influences in Miami are predominantly Latin and Caribbean, but Mexican food is becoming very popular. Our next stop was The Taco Stand, an understated restaurant in the Wynwood district, to sample Mexican tacos. We tried spicy chicken in the homemade corn tacos, you can see them being made, and they were delicious.

As you wander around the district you will notice graffiti everywhere, from the walls of buildings to the sidewalk and there are many interesting shops too. We came across Walt Grace Vintage  a unique gallery showcasing vintage cars & guitars and spent some time in here, the air con helped us cool down, but then it was time to move on. Our next stop was Zak The Baker  an artisan bakery selling sour dough bread as well as pastries and pies. You can also see the bread being made in the large open plan kitchen, where you can pull up a stool to the metal counter with your coffee and watch the bakers doing their thing.

We tried these small cheese pastries before we moved on to our final stop for ice cream at Flavian Gelateria Artigianale – the gelato is made freshly on site every day, the pear and ginger was particularly nice and what better way to end the tour in the covered mall cooling down with a delicious ice cream!

Top Tips:

• Wear plenty of sunscreen and a hat – it is very hot!
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Take water to keep hydrated

For more information on what to do in Miami contact us 01932 866565