meet margo.

Lisbon, Portugal

Margo | Lisbon, Portugal.

If you don’t know Margo then I’m not quite sure where you’ve been over the last 4 to 6 years. She is another Caribbean sistah that took her dreams and ran with it — and not just ran with it professionally but took a chance on herself and moved to Portugal! She is (without a doubt) a bi-coastal treasure that takes her writing, love for culinary excellence, and Haitian culture to heart. I spent some time with Margo back in 2022 when I went to Lisbon for my birthday and recently got to connect with her during her recent trip to Boston. I was so excited that she agreed to chat with me for the second installment of the TFLUXÈ tasting room series—and it was a real treat!

What’s your official grown-up job title?

I am a food and wine writer as well as a culinary creative.

Ohh that sounds so cool and you do it all so well! How did you get started in the food and/or beverage industry?

When I was in my mid-20s I worked in the restaurant industry and later started my blog Margo’s Creative Life where I interviewed culinary professionals in the hospitality industry in Boston. I later started writing for Cuisine Noir magazine in 2018, which was when my food writing career took off. Sheree Williams, Publisher and Editor of Cuisine Noir magazine has really been one of my biggest mentors shaping my career as a writer.

Not gonna lie: your blog was part of my inspiration to expand TFLUXÈ! Thank YOU for inspiring others even on your journey.

As a consumer, I really appreciate the hard work and dedication that comes plated or poured for me to enjoy and I see how challenging it can be to navigate audiences outside the kitchen or in front of the bar. If you had the opportunity to educate consumers, what would you want them to know?

It takes a lot of work and dedication to be in the industry day in and day out. At the end of the day, this is a service and guests should be kind and respectful to professionals in the food and beverage industry. Another key point I will share is the value of being curious about where our food is from and being conscious of eating in season whenever possible.

You raised a very good point about eating in season. Sometimes what we seek as consumers may not be readily available and we have to be OK with that.

With that in mind, how does local food and/or beverage culture and regional diasporic influences compliment your latest menu?

As a culinary creative, my inspiration comes from a variety of sources: living life; being in community; traveling; researching recipes; and exploring diverse cuisines different from what I grew up around; and of course going to different restaurants in Lisbon.

You just mentioned Lisbon and my heart paused. Lisbon is hands down one of favorites places that I’ve traveled to in my adult life and I can’t wait to get back there.

How do you (or restaurants in general that you’ve worked with) find the right balance between offering value for money while maintaining quality?

My focus is always to bring diverse groups together and create moments of connection at the pop-ups I host. Another way I can strike a balance between value and quality to customers’ dining experience is by cooking in season. I am often inspired by other chefs, content creators and any research I do on Pinterest helps me to curate experiences I know my guests enjoy.

It sounds like you’re crafting some beautiful and intentional experiences. Can you tell us about a time where you learned something new about your field outside of formal training that changed the way you think about the food and/or beverage world?

Whenever I work in the kitchen with other chefs, I learn something new. For me, this one is simple, placing a dish towel or damp paper towel between the cutting board and the surface it is on will prevent the cutting board from moving while in use.

That’s a neat trick! So let’s say we’re at the cutting board with our now damp paper towel or dish towel and your about to prep for a dish, what would be your favorite spice/seasoning to use and why?

I really love spice so I would say scotch bonnet peppers. I love heat and spice in most of my dishes. I especially enjoy incorporating scotch bonnet peppers in seafood and other dishes.

You are BRAVE! Scotch bonnet is serious lol.

Now to my favorite topic: wine! If you had the ability to taste a bottle of wine from any region, what would it be and why?

This is such a tough question to answer. I really enjoy sparkling wines and I have to say, Portuguese sparkling wine, espumante, has become a favorite in recent years. I had a really delicious espumante by Vadio, a family-run brand started by Luis Patrão in 2005, where they produce their wines in Bairrada, Portugal. I enjoy the crisp taste of their espumante and I find sparkling wine pairs well with oysters. Sparkling wine always puts me in a celebratory mood so I reach for it to share with friends, or to enjoy on a sunny day alfresco at a wine bar in Lisbon.

Great! Now I want something spicy and I want sparking wine lol.

Before we go let me paint a picture for you — the TFLUXÈ dinner table is set: who would be invited (4 people only), what would be on the menu, where would this experience take place, and when would this experience occur?

If I were to host an intimate dinner my guest list would include the following people: culinary historian, Dr. Jessica B. Harris; the first African woman chef from Benin to earn a Michelin star, Georgiana Viou; finalist on Season 16 of Top Chef, restaurant owner and cookbook author, Eric Adjepong; and New York PR maven of Sandrine Charles Consulting and co-founder of The Black in Fashion Council, Sandrine Charles. Each guest is someone whose work I admire. My menu would include elements of Haitian, Angolan, Mozambican and Senegalese cuisines. My menu would consist of some seafood and other meats and vegetables used in African diasporic foodways. I would start with spicy codfish croquettes topped with pikliz, pan seared scallops with fresh herbs, some citrus and scallions, Mozambican shrimp in a garlic sauce and a grilled red snapper with rice and beans. I would pair my dishes with a mix of wines from white, red, and sparkling wines from Portugal, South Africa, the U.S. and France. My wine list would include the following wine brands: 3B by Filipa Pato, Abbey Creek, Aslina Wines, Duckman, Gilda by Tiago Teles, Longevity Wines, Luis Pato, Maison Noir Wines, Marie Césaire Champagne, and Vadio Wines. The location would be at an old palace or rooftop near the ocean, in Lisbon overlooking the Tejo River.

WOW! I am speechless…mainly because I would not be at this table with all this fabulous energy lol. What a beautiful experience sis. Where can people find you online?

I’m on Instagram at margoscreativelife.

xoxo,

Ty-Juana