Former Copper Door Owners Opening Negra Y Fuerte

Miami FL

02 November, 2021

12:00 PM

Description

By Bianca Marcof, the Miami Times Oct 26, 2021 Cuban cafés can be found all over Miami, but how many celebrate the island's Afro-Cuban culture? Negra Y Fuerte, a concept for a new café and bar coming to Overtown, will pay homage to the African ancestors that have played a large role in cultivating Cuban culture through its design, music and cuisine. Brought to you by the current owners of Rosie's and former owners of the Copper Door B&B, Jamila Ross and Akino West, the name for the coffee shop translates to "Black and Strong" in English. The Miami Times spoke to Ross about the space and highlighting the cultural identity of people that are often not represented. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity. What can you tell me about Negra Y Fuerte? We'll be starting the service off with Cuban classics like coffees and empanadas and pastelitos. The space is going to be set up where either residents of the building or locals can come and set up shop and sip on coffee and have some bites. In the morning, we're going to have beautiful Cuban light jazz (playing) that will roll into lunch, where things will be a little bit more upbeat. At that point, we'll probably do some more plated items and then that will go into happy hour which will be even more lively. That's when the drums and the trumpets come out, so a really beautiful Afro-Cuban funk and a little bit more high energy. The bar will be pumping and there's a beautiful rum selection, which makes for some really great cocktails. How did this come to fruition? We were looking for permanent spaces for Rosie's. The CRA introduced us to this space and we decided that it wouldn't be the best space for Rosie's, but something special definitely needed to be there. We kind of curated this concept around the space itself. Why Afro-Cuban? Are either of you Cuban? We're not. I have some Latin in me. My grandfather's originally from Puerto Rico, so my mother happens to be Afro Latina, but no. It's one of those things that we respect the culture so much, it has created such a base when it comes to what Miami represents. We want to be a part of that in a way that celebrates and creates some inclusivity to a beautiful culture that everyone knows and loves. When will you open? We are going to enter the construction phase hopefully by the end of this year or early next year, which will be exciting. After the loss of the Copper Door, do you have high hopes for Negra Y Fuerte? We're risk-takers at the end of the day, and I certainly don't look at the Copper Door as a fail by any means. We like to do things and we'll only do things that we feel 110% passionate about and feel supported by. This concept is one where we're pushing the envelope and we're excited to do so. Negra Y Fuerte will be built on the ground floor of the Soleste Grand Central, located at 218 NW 8th St. This monthly business spotlight is brought to you by the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Redevelopment Agency. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.