RESTAURANT NEWS | MIAMI
Mika Leon Packs a Cuban Family History Into Her Cookbook
The Caja Caliente chef fills Cuban Soul with ropa vieja, flan, and the stories that carried her family to Miami.
By Eric Barton
6:44 a.m. ET, Sept. 3, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Long before Mika Leon had a restaurant, a food truck, or a string of appearances on national television, her family ran a cantina in their Miami backyard. It was the sort of home operation that could teach a child two things at once: how to cook Cuban food and how quickly a crowd can eat it.
Leon returns to those days in Cuban Soul: 100 Vibrant Recipes from Mi Cocina, her first cookbook, which arrives Oct. 6 from Union Square & Co.
The story begins before Miami. After fleeing political instability in the 1970s, Leon’s grandfather settled in Valencia, Spain, where he opened one of the city’s first family-run Cuban restaurants. He eventually moved the family to South Florida, carrying along the recipes and food traditions that would shape his granddaughter’s career.
Leon began that career with Mikabites, a wholesale dessert company. Then came a food truck where she served Cuban tacos, followed by Caja Caliente, her Coral Gables restaurant. Somewhere along the way, television producers began calling. She has competed on Tournament of Champions, 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing, Guy’s Grocery Games, Beat Bobby Flay, and Chopped. She has also appeared with Gordon Ramsay, Padma Lakshmi, and Andrew Zimmern.
The book brings her back to the food that arrived before all that. Its 100 recipes include empanadas de carne, lechon asado, ropa vieja, pan con bistec, and flan de leche, along with cocktails and other dishes drawn from her family’s kitchen. They have been written for home cooks, which means dinner can taste like it took several generations to produce, even if it came together on a Tuesday.
Leon will mark the release with a series of pop-ups at Miami restaurants, serving dishes inspired by the book. The partners and dates will be announced later.
On Oct. 12, she’ll appear at Books & Books in Coconut Grove for a signing and a conversation with journalist Carlos Frías about her family, her Miami upbringing, and the memories behind the recipes.
The hardcover costs $35 and is available for preorder here. Plenty of cookbooks promise recipes. This one starts with a grandfather leaving home, passes through a backyard cantina, and lands on the shelf with flan.
Chef Nicco V. Salanitro leads the kitchen at the waterfront restaurant in Huizenga Park.
By ERIC BARTON
