Don’s Rambles: Walking the Tour of Kitchens and Tracing Community Roots

AN ADVENTURE IN WHICH A FORMER MAYOR CONTINUES TO SEEK THE “SOUL” OF HIS HOMETOWN

I am again rambling around the Gables searching for the soul of The City Beautiful. This time I am participating in the Community Foundation’s Annual Tour of Kitchens, a very special opportunity to visit our neighbor’s private homes for a peek at their interior decoration and a glimpse into their beautifully designed kitchens. [Admittedly, I am cheating on this “walk” since my mode of movement is hitch-hiking aboard the Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell limousine.]

Elsewhere in this magazine’s edition you will get an inside look at the kitchens on tour. The purpose of this article is to capture some of the personalities involved in this charitable fundraising effort and the philosophy behind the featuring of kitchens to attract attendees.

I invite you to think back on the past years and the important role that a kitchen has played in your life. As I reminisce about my life here on North Greenway, the parties that started in the living room ended in the kitchen and the dinners that ended at the dining room table started in the kitchen. Our scrapbooks are full of photographs of gatherings with family and friends which feature the stove or the fridge in the back- ground. As Maya Angelou observed: “When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you’re inviting a person into your life.”

LEFT: TOUR OF KITCHENS CO-CHAIRS XAVIER DURANA AND LIZ PARNES
RIGHT: CULINARY ARTS STUDENTS WITH THEIR INSTRUCTOR, CHEF MERCY VERA

The tour is an important event to raise money for the Community Foundation’s projects and scholarships. As Foundation CEO Mary Snow explains: “Kitchens bring families together and the Tour brings this community together for a day to connect and enjoy some of the City’s most special homes – all for a good cause.” 

The Co-Chairs of the tour issued the following statement to open the welcoming ceremonies at the Village of Merrick Park: “The kitchen is the heart of a home, and for 34 years the Community Foundation has functioned as the philanthropic heart of this community. Thanks to the generous support of attendees for this special event, funds are successfully raised to enable continuation and expansion of our important grant making programs that benefit students, not-for-profit organizations, and special city projects.”

What a wonderful day full of sunshine, good humor, delicious snacks from local restaurants/caterers, mingling with fellow citizens, and gorgeously decorated homes. Yes, the kitchen is a gathering place for friends and family. A place where memories are home- made and seasoned with love. So, as we close this chapter of my rambles, it has become obvious that the soul of our city resides, in very important part, within our kitchens. (P.S.: This “ramble” has a sentimental aspect to it since it was the efforts of my late wife, Jeannett, which helped create this very special event. It was originally designed to raise funds in support of her pet project “Gables at Home,” a program intended to support seniors who needed assistance while continuing to live in their own residences.) ■

This column appears monthly by Don Slesnick, who served as mayor of Coral Gables from 2001 to 2011. If you wish to reach him with suggestions on where he should next meander in search of the city’s soul, email donslesnick@scllp.com.