For Leo, Cuban culture was simply everyday life. He grew up in a deeply Cuban household in the San Fernando Valley—José Martí and Antonio Maceo on the bookshelf  and café con leche somehow making its way into his baby bottle. (Yeah, that actually happened.) In 1998, Leo moved to Miami where he got “out-Cubaned.” Ha. 

It wasn’t until he moved back to Los Angeles that he realized how much he missed the mundane Miami moments. Like the sights. Gators in the swimming pool, a Miami traffic jam caused by a snapping turtle and of course the ventanita experience. 

That feeling inspired Leo and his wife, Mayra, to start Miami Cafe® in 2020 with a simple mission: preserve culture through flavor.

What began in their kitchen, grew from a 20-person catering event to hundreds at farmers markets selling Cubano sandwiches, fritas, pastelitos and more, an espresso collaboration with the Miami Dolphins and eventually launching Mucho Mojo™, their Cuban garlic citrus marinade & sauce made to bring a little taste of home to kitchens everywhere.