WORK • Thursday Routine
ISABEL GARCIA NEVETT • founder/chocolatier • Garcia Nevett Chocolatier de Miami
Neighborhood you work in: South Miami
Neighborhood you live in: Coral Gables
It’s Thursday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Thursday mornings start at the chocolate factory, where the kitchen staff is making and packaging products for retail at the store and for corporate and wholesale customers. I supervise and take care of quality control (that means I snack on chocolates!), while keeping up with back office work. At around 11a, I leave for the store, taking with me freshly baked cakes and cookies, and any other products that the store needs.
What’s on the agenda for today?
It’s fall, so we’re hard at work on holiday products. We have a range of chocolate figurines for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. This year we’re also working on new packaging, including a beautiful Chocolate Christmas Tree and Stars box.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
This Friday, I’ll be going to Recoveco in South Miami. My sisters have both been there already and loved it. Lately, I’ve been eating out at Hereford Grill, a newly reopened Venezuelan-style steakhouse that’s very nostalgic for me and my family, reminding me of long lunches in Caracas. And for weekend nights, nothing like picking up a to-go pie at Miami Slice’s Key Biscayne location. Their bacon and leek pizza is to die for.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I love visiting Fairchild Tropical Gardens, a botanical masterpiece in South Miami. They throw a few big events throughout the year, including a big chocolate festival that we have been part of for the past dozen years. I love going to their Mango Festival in the summer and their Christmas lightshow.
Any weekend getaways?
Miami is perfect for weekend getaways with so many beach options. I have an 11-year-old girl, so we go to The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, which has a pretty great pool area with a lazy river and fun slides, plus free shuttle access to the beach. There are some cool restaurants in Old Naples, including a Mediterranean one called Del Mar. We usually get ice cream from Gelato & Co afterwards.
What was your last great vacation?
We love traveling. Our last great vacation was to Normandy in the north of France. We stayed in a historic home on the beach for a week and rented a car to visit the different villages in the area, including places like the port town of Honfleur and the great cheese town of Pont-l’Évêque. There is a lot of interesting history there, from the Medieval tapestry in Bayeux to many World War II sights. It’s not as tourist-packed as other areas, so now’s the time to go.
Where are you donating your time or money?
We donate monthly to a low income school in Venezuela that we have personal ties to, as I used to volunteer there during my school years. The nun who started the school, Madre Maria Luisa Casar, was a wonderful human, full of vigor and enthusiasm. She built the school and adjacent medical center practically on her own.