What do the pope and this Miami chef have in common? Love for Peru.
Catch up quick: The Chinese-Peruvian chef — a member of the award-winning Chang family that ran Itamae together — grew up in Chiclayo, Peru, before moving to Miami at age 10.
Pope Leo, a naturalized Peruvian citizen, served as bishop of Chiclayo until 2023. His ascendance to the papacy has brought newfound attention to the Peruvian community there.
One restaurant, Las Americas, has a sign outside its door that reads: "The pope ate here."
"In Chiclayo, we're very proud of our food," Chang Cumpa tells Axios.
What they're saying: Chang Cumpa says she had her first communion in Chiclayo's main cathedral, where Pope Leo has held Mass. Some of her family members have met him before.
Chang Cumpa was on her way to work last week as she listened to the newly elected pope's first public address.
When the pope switched from Italian to Spanish to send a message to his Peruvian diocese, she was beside herself.
"I honestly thought he was going to speak in English. When he said that about Chiclayo, I couldn't believe it. How beautiful. My home town."
The big picture: Chang Cumpa, a James Beard Award-winning chef, celebrates her family's roots at Maty's, her Peruvian restaurant in Midtown named after her late grandmother.
One of the many family photos that hang on the wall — of her great-grandparents' wedding — is from 1928.
"It's beyond the food. It's a love letter to thank my grandma for everything she did," Chang Cumpa said in a recent episode of Toast web series " Signature Dish."
State of play: Chang Cumpa tells Axios that Miami's diversity has propelled the 305 into the culinary capital it is today.
In her own family, Chang Cumpa says she doesn't take the awards or recognition for granted.
Her brother is Michelin-star chef Nando Chang of Itamae Ao, and their father, Fernando "Papa" Chang, heads up B-Side at 1-800-Lucky.
"We're still immigrants. We still have that immigrant fight and that desire to do right by our parents, who did a lot of fighting."
Zoom in: On the Toast show, Chang Cumpa says the most popular dish at Maty's is the scallop cebiche — a savory seafood dome covered with sliced grapes and topped with cilantro leche de tigre.
"Basically every table that comes in to eat orders one of these," Chang Cumpa tells host Sophia Roe.
Chef's recs: Here are chef Valerie's favorite Peruvian restaurants in Miami (that are not owned by her family).
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Chicago Tribune
4 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Daily Horoscope for July 06, 2025
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If you're attempting to present a version of yourself that you think others will like, you're likely to feel much worse when you receive rejection. Contrastingly, when you embody your genuine self, you're able to stand up and say, oh well, that's me! Don't drive yourself mad trying to make others happy.
Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Inside the Roosevelt, a migrant shelter no more, echoes of a crisis
Workers — with no one left to attend — dozed off inside the empty lobby, its chandeliers still pocked with deflated balloons that had welcomed migrants to New York City. The luggage room, once just for tourists, held a few suitcases left behind by migrant families that had cycled through the hotel. The gift shop shelves were bare, except for the diapers that city workers had handed out to new mothers. Advertisement Upstairs, the grand ballroom was desolate. Gone were the migrants who had slept on cots as they waited for rooms, on the same carpet where New York politicians once campaigned. A map of the United States was all that remained, with small arrows pointing to New York, and a handwritten note in Spanish: 'You are here.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Those were the last traces of New York's migrant crisis inside the Roosevelt before the hotel stopped operating last week as the city's best-known migrant shelter — 767 days after it opened as a city-run shelter in May 2023. Chaos, criticism, and conviction had greeted the shelter's arrival. It closed quietly, fading away with little fanfare, much like the migrant crisis, as the city relocated the remaining families to other shelters and housekeepers turned over its thousands of rooms. Advertisement On the day before the hotel closed, Maria Lumbi, 35, a mother from Ecuador, was among the last migrants to show up, along with her three children, ages 8, 12, and 16. She was not seeking shelter but rather plane tickets to Ecuador to self-deport— as President Trump has encouraged migrants to do— two years after the family arrived in the country. 'I haven't been able to work,' she said. 'I prefer to go back.' The Roosevelt's volatile chapter as a shelter turned the century-old hotel into an unlikely lightning rod in the nation's divisive immigration debate. Its role welcoming migrants drew comparisons to Ellis Island but also accusations from Trump that it was a waste of taxpayer money, a hotbed of criminal activity, and a beacon for illegal immigration. The administration of Mayor Eric Adams announced the closure of the Roosevelt shelter in February as border crossings plummeted, slowing the flow of migrants to a trickle. The hotel's future remains unclear, amid speculation that the 18-floor building in midtown Manhattan may be redeveloped into a skyscraper. But over two years, the Roosevelt cemented its place in the annals of New York's winding immigration story. It functioned as a base for city officials to process new migrants, transforming its marble lobby into a gateway for people arriving in New York, and the United States, sometimes just a day after they had crossed the border. 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City-contracted workers screened for diseases and offered vaccines — efforts meant to protect migrants but also guard the city against a public health crisis as it absorbed a mass of people from faraway countries. Nurses worked 12-hour shifts in the lobby, treating migrants who often arrived exhausted and disoriented. Pregnant women who had not received prenatal care sought help. Some migrants arrived without medication and in dire need of treatment for cancer, diabetes, hypertension, or AIDS. 'For me, it was about taking care of my patients. Everything else was noise,' said Dr. Karen Sutherland, 54, who over two years helped vaccinate hundreds of migrant families, some of whom still text her. 'I met doctors, dentists, police officers, detectives — people who really want to make a difference,' she added. What comes next for the Roosevelt is murky. Pakistan International Airlines, which is owned by the Pakistani government, has owned the hotel since 2000. Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment about the hotel's future. Advertisement Its past, a remnant of old New York, still lingers. The hotel, which occupies an entire block on East 45th Street, opened in 1924 and was named after former president Theodore Roosevelt, who had died five years before. The suite where Thomas Dewey once lived and worked while he was governor of New York, the same suite where he learned that he had lost the 1948 presidential election in an upset to Harry Truman, is still there. So is the hotel grill where Guy Lombardo led the house band, right above the secret underground tunnel that guests once used to walk to Grand Central Terminal. When the hotel opened, the city's mayor at the time, John Francis Hylan, proclaimed that it had 'fittingly chosen a name that stands as a tower of strength.' A century later, in a country seemingly divided over everything, the Roosevelt's second life as a migrant shelter took on different meanings. For Adams and his top officials, the hotel became an underappreciated emblem of the extraordinary steps the city had taken, with little help from the federal government, to house thousands of migrants as border crossings reached record highs under former president Joe Biden. Employees at the hotel, many of them the children of immigrants, saw themselves as front-line workers in a humanitarian crisis. At the Roosevelt, migrants received a lifeline — free food and housing, sometimes for months — as they found their footing in a new country. Advertisement But to some New Yorkers, the immigrants who crowded the sidewalks outside the hotel, sometimes smoking marijuana and blasting music, fed a perception of disorder that underscored quality-of-life concerns. 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Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
China's first Legoland opens to tourists in Shanghai
Thousands of local tourists poured into China's first-ever Legoland as it opened its gates in Shanghai on Saturday, the latest theme park hoping to capitalise on a domestic tourism boom. The Chinese branch of the British-owned theme park franchise is the biggest Legoland in the world. It drew in early customers who flocked to attractions including a miniature train ride and a dragon-themed rollercoaster. "I personally love to play with Lego blocks and we have many sets at home... so I wanted to come to Legoland at the earliest opportunity," said Shi, a 35-year-old resident of nearby city Hangzhou, who was visiting the park with his wife and child. Despite the Chinese economy's sluggish growth in recent years, domestic tourist spending grew 18.6 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year, according to statistics. "Ever since the pandemic, I've made very few trips abroad," said Shi, adding his family now travels to theme parks around China "many times a year". Eager Lego fans rushed into the park as soon as it opened, wearing themed shirts and waving branded flags as they enjoyed the 318,000-square-metre (78.5-acre) compound in scorching temperatures. Beijing has announced subsidies intended to make travelling within the country more affordable for Chinese citizens, and is pushing local governments to heavily market their attractions on social media. Companies have taken note of the wider local tourism boom and stepped up their plans in China. A new "Spider-Man" attraction at Shanghai Disneyland broke ground in May, while Warner Brothers is set to open a Harry Potter experience in Shanghai by 2027. Toy giant Hasbro said this week its giant Peppa Pig park in the city was now "in the phase of creative design". Chinese collectable toy maker Pop Mart has also opened an attraction in Beijing featuring life-sized versions of its popular Labubu toys. "The various provinces are putting a lot of effort into expanding their tourism industries, and all of them have special attractions," said Xu, a 34-year-old parent visiting Legoland on Saturday with his children. But profitability remains a problem, especially for local companies with less brand recognition. As of late 2024, around 40 percent of parks were still failing to turn a profit, according to state media reports. Yet analysts point to a growing population of retirees and job market changes as key factors pushing more locals to visit domestic attractions. "The labour market is turning more flexible," said Ernan Cui, China consumer analyst at Gavekal Research. "More people have leisure time to travel around." tjx/jfx
