Mike Gonzalez Reports

Cuban Foods Bakery and Restaurant 43rd and Peoria in9 Phoenix, AZ 602-296-575 Even though Cuba is 2,243 miles from Phoenix, Manuel Cias-Hernandez has kept the island close to his heart. "Cuba is a beautiful country. It's surrounded by water with great beaches. It has wonderul food. I wanted to bring a piece of the island with me here. That's why I opened the restaurant," said Cias-Hernandez. Manuel Cias-Hernandez shows of the flan to the camera HFNTV paid Cuban Foods Bakery and Restaurant a visit in the middle of August during an Arizona heat wave. But even temperatures around 110 degrees didn't stop dozens of customers from streaming in all day. "We love it here. This is comida typica (Authentic Cuisine). It's just like the Island," said Juan Ramirez. Cuban style steak Ramirez is a Cuban transplant from Orlando, Florida comes to the restaurant beause it's the only place he can get Cuban style steak, white rice and black bean

CHEF BEN DIAZ IS ONE OF THE AMAZING CHEFS PARTICIPATING IN THE LATIN FOOD FEST 2018 Feb 8, 2018, By Mike Gonzalez www.hispanicfoodnetwork.com For Ben Diaz chasing his culinary dreams may have never happened if he wasn't chasing someone else. "It's actually a funny story. I wanted to be a pharmacist but I was young and dumb and I had a crush on this girl and she was going to culinary school and I thought I'll go too. Long story short, fast forward 17 years and here I am," said Diaz. In case you're wondering, that relationship didn't workout but fortunately for all of us the cooking career did. "Everyone wants to know if I ended up dating her but I didn't. But I'm so glad she got me to go to culinary school," said Diaz with a laugh. Chef Ben graduated from the California School of Culinary Arts. He will be one of the amazing chefs participating in the Latin Food Fest  2018. Diaz says the best part is meeting so many grea