Synopsis: Bourdain explores Miami’s party zone, takes a deep dive into the culture and music of the city, and contemplates life after stardom with Iggy Pop. He takes a tour of the Latin food scene with chef Michelle Bernstein and sits down with musicians Questlove, Uncle Luke, and Willie Clarke to discuss what makes the Miami sound.
On Miami’s diversity:
“If you’re looking for old Miami, original Miami, you’re looking to a great extent for black Miami.”
“Another day, another country. Miami is like that. You can eat your way across the Caribbean and through all of Latin America and then over to Africa if you’d like. It’s all there.”
On the cocaine economy:
“Say what you will, cocaine altered the skyline of Miami forever. It made, for better or worse, Miami sexy again.”
Guests weigh in:
Mac Klein (owner of Mac’s Club Deuce): “You know what the amazing thing about being 100 is? A year ago I was 99. Nobody paid attention to me. Didn’t care. I became 100. My God—”
Michelle Bernstein: “I always go for the salty, never the sweet.”
Bourdain: “I don’t care about sweet things. If I had to give up one course of the meal, it would be dessert.”
Bernstein: “Oh, of course.”
Bourdain: “Cheese over dessert any day.”
Bernstein: “Oh, yeah. Actually, I’d rather have steak over dessert, but maybe that’s because my mother is from Argentina.”
Bourdain: “I like waffles and I like chicken, but I don’t understand waffles and chicken together.”
Questlove: “You still don’t understand?”
Bourdain: “No. Look, I understand people deeply love them. I do like waffles, and I do like fried chicken. Just put them on separate plates and I’m OK.”
Questlove: “You don’t want your food integrated?”
Iggy Pop: “I had a shady friend who owned a condo here. I thought, This is a nice little trashy hangout. You could just pull up to the beach any time you wanted and look out and see the end of complications. And anybody could do that and it was safe and free. And I thought, This is beautiful.”