Pancakes and Travel

Breakfast with Travel Agent Extraordinaire Olga Ramudo 

Welcome to the new monthly Deep Dish. Part foodie column, part business update, the “Dish” will feature my version of the quintessential Gables power lunch (or breakfast/coffee/dinner) with a local CEO doing big things in our community. Hopefully it will also give you greater insight into places to convene and collaborate over a good meal. 

THE GUEST: Olga Ramudo, CEO of Express Travel and Chair of the city’s Economic Development Board
THE VENUE: Breakfast at Bachour
THE FARE: Guava and Cheese Croissant (heated), Greek yogurt with raspberries & strawberries and Antonio Bachour’s beloved guava pancakes topped with cream cheese mousse
THE SCENE: A lively Wednesday morning filled with indoor and outdoor diners

“I love this place – great choice,” Olga declared upon my arrival at Bachour. We had agreed to an 8:45 am start so I could get a decent morning workout at the new LifeTime Health Club and earn my carbs. She was being good and ordered only a croissant of which she pledged to eat merely a bite or two. 

The first thing you noticeat Bachour are the jewel cases filled with gorgeous baked goods – from elegant desserts to more standard breakfast fare. I remarked that Bachour had found a way to thrive during COVID, increasing outdoor seating in their courtyard and perfecting the take-out menu. While we chatted, Olga nibbled ever so slightly her guava and cheese croissant, sipping her cortadito with skim milk (and one Splenda). I had an iced tea and scarfed down my yogurt and berries. We also ordered the guava pancakes, as well, to share. 

Olga and I had gotten together to catch up on a number of items – most significantly, how our Chamber can best partner with the City’s Economic Development Board in the upcoming year. I also wanted an update on her industry, so important for the Gables. Olga owns the leading travel agency in South Florida, and what has happened over the past 19 months would give anyone pause. But she was cautiously optimistic. While her business remains down 50 percent, that is a vast improvement over 2020, when business travel had ceased, the cruise industry was in dry-dock, and people feared getting on an airplane. 

“What gives us the most revenue is not necessarily corporate travel, but international travel. It’s not business versus leisure travel, but international versus domestic,” Olga told me. “We need to be careful with vaccinations and masks, but the world needs to open up and continue moving.” And when will things change? “That’s very difficult to predict. But I can tell you that everyone is working on the reopening… What we are hearing from our customers is that they are eager to travel and get back to normal.” That was music to my ears, with a new 242-room Loews Hotel opening here next year, adding to the inventory at The Biltmore Hotel, The Colonnade Hotel, Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, and THesis Hotel, among others. 

The take-away from our meet and greet is that we plan to host a joint meeting between our Chamber and the Economic Development Board in Q1, collaborating around travel and tourism recovery, and finding ways to better position the Gables to the global market. The other takeaway was the uneaten stack of pancakes. They ended up in a to-go box, something to savor later (or in the car on the way back to the office).