TIERRA CALIENTE was a four-course dinner hosted in collaboration with MAKERS MEALS, by food photographer Amber Breitenger, at her studio in Jersey City.

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The dinner explored the roadside flavors that mark the journey toward Colombia's warmer regions, where vacation begins the moment you leave the city. Each course reimagined the familiar stops along the way: freshly fried arepas de huevo on the road to Barranquilla, the sweet starch of a baked pandebono from Boyacá, or the steaming triphasic tamales sold in Melgar.

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For dessert, I revisited one of my childhood favorites, Islas Flotantes, a dish that recalls the afternoons when my parents would treat me after picking up my school report card. My school was located in the countryside outside Bogotá, about an hour’s drive from home, and that small ritual turned the trip into something to look forward to.

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The evening closed with Canelazo, a warm blend of agua’e panela, aguardiente, cloves, and cinnamon, a classic treat often enjoyed at scenic viewpoints to the road to La Calera in Bogotá.