A graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Miami, Lacalle, 40, grew up in Tampa. Her mother, who was Mexican, was adopted by a Cuban woman, and Lacalle described her upbringing as a blend of Mexican, Irish and Cuban influences. She said she picked up the Cuban-inspired recipes from her mother at home, learning how to make dishes like picadillo and rice and beans when she was 11.

After years of working in other people's kitchens, Felicia LaCalle struck out on her own in early 2018, opening Hemingway's Cuban restaurant in the Heights Public Market at Armature Works with a menu inspired by Tampa Bay's history as well as her own. A few months later, LaCalle won the International Cuban Sandwich Festival,held each year in Ybor City, the cradle of Tampa Bay's 130 years of Cuban culture. She was also earned a spot in Tampa Bay Food Fight, a friendly cross-bay competition among some of the region's best chefs.

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