As anyone who’s left Miami only to come crawling back knows, sometimes you have to leave to realize what you’ve got. Such is the case with Ivan Barros, who after growing up in West Kendall headed out to LA to chase his culinary dreams.
After running his own restaurant at Santa Monica’s Vamos Vamos, then crushing the competition on Ciao House Season 2, Barros came back to Miami in 2023, helming the kitchen at Michael Schwartz’s Amara at Paraiso. Last year he co-founded
in Little River, which has since spread to a second location in Coconut Grove. We sat down with West Kendall’s prodigal food son, and he dished on his Dominican roots, and why you should never send back his pasta.Name: Ivan Barros
Place of work: Chef and Co-Owner, Magie Wine Bar
Nickname: Capo
Childhood leftover memory: My dad would always make mangu, which is a typical Dominican dish, it’s basically like mashed plantains. We’d have that with fried cheese, salami, and runny eggs. Then actually every holiday he’d make something called pastel en oja, which is like Dominican Republic’s version of a tamale. So he would grind all the ingredients, make the filling, and now my mom gets involved so it’s a whole thing.
What is your favorite restaurant to take leftovers home from? I might have to go with Macchialina. Definitely one of my favorite places. You know, go there, over order, and take home a bunch of pasta for the next day or that same night later on. I never in my life have heated up leftover pasta. I don’t even put it in the refrigerator just in case, because I feel like a few hours later I’m gonna want it.
My last meal would be: It’s something called los tres golpes, which is basically the mangu, the fried salami and the fried cheese. In English, it would be “the three hits.” That was very, very traditional from the Dominican Republic. It’s something that honestly you can consume for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And I definitely did.
What kind of music is on in your kitchen? We listen to Kompa, which is like a very traditional Haitian style of music, which I didn’t know about too much before now. I absolutely love it. But it could be a mix of everything. There’s days that there’s Bob Marley, there’s days that there’s a lot of Spanish music, salsa, bachata. And since we’re there a long period of hours, the playlist goes up and down.
What do you wear at home in the kitchen? I’m just in basketball shorts, t-shirt and apron and either some Birkenstocks or barefoot.
What’s your favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene? The inclusivity. I grew up here, in West Kendall, and then I left for 10 years and came back. And it’s great to see chefs that I admire doing new things, the same thing, and out of town chefs somewhat being embraced and not being neglected. I think that there’s a huge network of people that show a lot of love to each other here. We have a group chat on WhatsApp and you just throw out, hey, I need a plumber. Hey, I need this. Hey, I need that. Who can point me in the right direction? So it’s pretty awesome.
What is your least favorite thing? I’m not a huge fan of the whole club restaurant vibe. Not necessarily to knock it, I just think those things should kind of be separated.
After work, what do you have to drink? I don’t drink too much, honestly, but if I do, it’s probably gonna be….We’re gonna take a trip to Portugal soon, and I’ve really been on vinho verde kick. So maybe some vinho verde after work.
What would people be most surprised to know about you? That I love to bake at home. I picked it up maybe two and a half months ago. It started when I got a new cookbook, and I wanted to learn, and now I’m obsessed.
What are your go-to spots in Miami? I really love Zitz Sum and Dojo. I’m a huge fan of Chef Pablo. I think what he does is really cool, really special. If I do have a cocktail, it might be Bar Kaiju. My wife and I live in Little River, so I’m oftentimes hanging out at the Citadel or at Bar Kaiju. Bar Bucce is another one. I’m a huge fan of Tinta y Café, get a good breakfast, good coffee.
What is your go-to kitchen tool? A chef’s knife or a cake tester.
What is the most overrated culinary trend right now? I’ve never been a huge fan of immersion circulation. I’ve used it in applications, I get it in terms of consistency maybe. But I think people just need to get back to like, you know, cooking and feeling and really doing the thing.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home? A lot of pasta. I was making it weekly at home and it was a lot of fun. We were doing a pasta popup at Magie for a while, so I was making them at home ‘cause I feel a little bit more relaxed.
If you weren’t a chef, you’d be: I took my prerequisites and I wanted to become a nurse originally, before I went to culinary school.
What advice would you give aspiring chefs? Be a sponge. Soak it all in, the good, the bad, so you know what not to do. Just learn, learn, learn, learn. Because once it’s on your own dime, it’s a completely different ball game. You’re not gonna have time to learn, you’re not gonna have time to make those mistakes. Now, when you’re young, you make the mistakes and at least you’re gonna get paid for it, right?
What is your biggest guest order pet peeve? When a pasta comes back and they want it cooked more, it’s super annoying. You know, it’s either al dente or it’s overcooked. Some people have been like, oh, it’s too al dente, when it goes out perfectly. It really gets me.
@magiewinebar // 8218 NE 2nd Ave., Little River