This past Friday, Nicky Jam dropped his latest opus, “Insomnio,” a collection of songs oozing with vivid late-night vibes. Imagine the sort of sensual stories you’d find on a Drake album soundtracked by Reggaeton royalty. Every Nicky Jam album is a time capsule moment, capturing the most cutting edge sounds of the zeitgeist and further cementing his star status and 20 year legacy in music.
It’s not just about the music anymore with Nicky Jam though — his restaurant Industria Bakery in Miami is a thriving brunch hotspot that could become its own empire, his touring vehicle is a plane, and he has starred in movies with Will Smith. Despite the trappings of fame and celebrity, Nicky remains humble when it comes to his culinary preferences. Not only does he pack a personal stash of ham, cheese, and bread on his plane, but he holds his Mom’s cooking over any Latin restaurant.
We caught up with Nicky on the precipice of his next release and talked about the differences between Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Colombian foodways, as well as the must-taste spots in each of the three countries. We learned about his future plans for Industria Bakery in Miami and beyond, what the food was like in Lawrence, Mass where he was raised. We also touch on his obsession with burgers, lemon pepper wings, pasta and the Colombian delicacy known as “the paisa” or bandeja paisa.
What’s on your rider?
It’s always white steamed rice and salmon. Sometimes I ask for breaded chicken cutlets when I don’t want to eat so healthy. I have water. I have Coke. I love Coca-Cola.
When you’re in the studio, is it a similar type of setup when it comes to food or are there certain snacks that you need to have in the studio?
I have the studio in one of my houses, so I have a lot of stuff there. There’s a whole fridge there. I mean, I’ll have my bread, ham, and cheese to make sandwiches and we’ll order food, order wings and stuff. When it comes to shows, I try to eat light because I got to go on stage.
When you go on stage, you want to jump and everything. Normally when I go on stage, I eat a little bit cleaner, but other than that, I’ll eat anything. I’m a big burger fan. I love burgers. I go crazy about burgers. I love rice. I’ll eat rice anytime.
What’s your go to wing or a burger spot?
In Miami where I live, yes. I like lemon pepper wings. I’m crazy about that. So, anywhere they have lemon pepper wings, I’m down.When you’re snacking, are you more like a sweet, savory, or salty snack kind of guy?I could say I used to be sweet, but now I’m more salty right now. I like chips. It could be Dorito Ranch. I like Pringles, the onion and cream Pringles. Stuff like that I go for. And I love cheese. I can eat cheese anytime. So, I like cheese with salami.
When you’re on the road and you don’t have that pantry around to pull stuff from, are there certain things that you like to have in your hotel room? Do you go out to the CVS and grab some stuff or are you showing up with your own?
I make sure I have my bread and ham and cheese. I’ll eat a sandwich anytime. I’m a sandwich guy. I eat bread like crazy. So, as long as I have bread, ham, and cheese in the room, I’m good. I don’t need anything else, you know what I’m saying? Even when I fly on my plane, they be like, “Yo, Nicky, the catering is kind of hard to find for you.” Get me bread, ham, and cheese, and I’m good.
So if there’s a mini bar in the hotel, you’re not even taking anything out of that?
If they have Pringles, I eat Pringles. If they have Snickers, I go with the Snickers. And obviously the Coca-Cola, because I’m a Coca-Cola fan.
When it comes to ham and cheese, is it like sliced ham, or prosciutto? What type of cheese you going for?
I like the sliced ham, the typical sliced ham. I like the yellow cheese, like that Kraft cheese that you use for sandwiches.
After your show, are you going out to get food at a diner, or getting room service?
Yeah, I get room service. I always try to order room service because that’s the moment where we’re all happy because we did a good show. We sit down in my room and we all start eating and just talking.
So is there anything that’s typical for you to get or does it depend where you are?
Club sandwich, you can’t go wrong with a club sandwich.
Are there any cities that you’re excited to travel to because of the food?
When I go to New York, I like to go to Cipriani. They have good pasta there. I get the pasta, I get the breaded steak and they have the breaded shrimp as well. Their food is amazing. They have this other restaurant called Mamo too, that I like a lot. When I go to Philly, I like the Philly cheesesteaks. To be honest with you, I don’t go to these big spots, the famous ones. The best Philly cheesesteaks in Philly are from those small spots in the corners.
Are there any healthy snacks that you really gravitate towards or you have gotten into as you’ve gotten more mature?
Kettle corn chips. I like those. And I don’t feel with that I’m eating really bad. It’s just corn and it tastes really good, so I go for that and that’ll be it. Because I don’t really like snacks, to be honest with you, healthy snacks, there’s not too many healthy snacks unless you’re going to eat fruit and stuff like that.
Are there any snacks that you’ve heard about where you think “That’s nasty. I would never try that?”
I know girls that love eating fries with ice cream and shit like that. I don’t mess around with that.
Is there anything that you eat where people give you the side eye?
I’m not that guy. I don’t eat weird stuff. But to be honest with you, I’ve been to Subway and I see American people before me in line and they put so much stuff on those sandwiches. I’m a Spanish guy with just ham and cheese and mayo, that’s it. They put so many things I’m like, “Wow.”
When it comes to growing up in your household, was the food more Dominican, more Puerto Rican or a little bit of a mix?
You could say a little bit of a mix, but it goes more towards Puerto Rican.
I’ve read that your favorite dish growing up was rice, beans and pork chops. Is that still your favorite?
That’s one of them. And I like rice and fried eggs. That’s the easiest one.
If you had to put people on to maybe some places in the US or Puerto Rico or DR, are there any restaurants that you’re like, “Yo, you got to go here?” I know you have your own spot in Miami.
There’s a lot of places here in Miami that I love to go eat. And I could say I’m a big fan of Novikov in Miami. I go there a lot. I love Surf Club. I’m a big fan, and Fiola as well. Those are my spots.
Do you have a favorite pasta dish?
Chicken Alfredo. Any pasta, to be honest with you. I just don’t mess around with the pasta with the red sauce because it messes me up, but I like it as well.
When it comes to Dominican cooking, what’s your favorite Dominican dish?
The thing is, Puerto Rican and Dominican are the same food. What changes the way they cook it. So, it’s more about condiments. You could say Puerto Ricans eat mofongo, right? Ricans eat it in a way and Dominicans eat it in a different way. They’re both good. It’s just different, the spices are just different. Mofongo is one of my best foods. Dominicans have the mangú, the mangú with salami, that’s like a plantain and they mash it up like mashed potatoes and they eat with the salami and that’s awesome.
So, are there any restaurants you could recommend in either country for when people go there?
Puerto Rico, there’s a lot, but I could say one of the places is Raíces. Their food is amazing. This place in Caguas called El Batey, it’s amazing. And Dominican Republic, to be honest with you, if I say I know a restaurant in Dominican Republic, I’m lying because when I go to Dominican Republic it’s to see my mom and I will never go to a restaurant and not eat my mom’s food.
What’s your favorite thing your Mom makes?
She makes this soup called sancocho, it’s amazing. And if you’re dying, it will wake you up and you will not die. She does the mangú, obviously when I told you about the mashed plantains. And everything else, her food is just amazing. Rice, beans, chuleta, pork chops, stuff like that.
Was that an inspiration when you decided to have your own restaurant?
No, my inspiration was I’m a brunch guy, I’m really crazy about breakfast. And I would go to these brunch places here in Miami and I’m like, “Yo, they need a brunch spot for Latino people, like us.” So, that’s why during the pandemic, I came with the idea of making the Industria Bakery.
How has that been going for you so far? It looks like there’s a lot of incredible feedback.
Phenomenal, man. A lot of lines and everything. Right now, we’re remodeling half of the restaurant, but people are still going and enjoying the food. The food is crazy.
Are there any chances of expansion into maybe doing more restaurants and more in the culinary world?
Yeah, a hundred percent. Well, when you do a franchise, you need to do a book. And we’re still working on that book for the franchise, but we’re definitely going to make it happen.
You also lived in Colombia for some time, is that right? How would you say the food is different there from say, Puerto Rico or DR?
Yeah, I lived 10 years in Colombia. It’s different. It has similarities, it’s different. It’s just the way they cook it. And the food in Colombia is so good, it’s so healthy. Their food is amazing, it’s very clean, their spice is really good. Just a different experience. I mean, when you’re Spanish and you go to different Spanish places, they have typical food. It’s just the way they cook it. So, they will have the rice and beans and meat or whatever, but they just have it in a different way.
Let’s say Medellín, Columbia has the one, the bandeja paisa and they would put fried pork on with white rice and ground beef and eggs and it would be a huge plate with so many things on it. And that’s one of my favorites, actually, and I think that’s one of the favorites of the whole world. Everybody that goes there asks for that one, the bandeja paisa. They love it because it has so many things tha Spanish people will eat. Eggs, ground beef, rice, the pork and all that stuff. But like I’m saying, it’s hard for me to go to a country and a Spanish country and say, “Well, they have this,” because it’s almost the same thing. We all eat the same thing.
So are there any restaurants in Colombia that you could recommend?
Wow, they have so much. Well, look, if you want to talk about burgers, they have the best burger called El Corral. Their burgers are amazing. And I think if they’re one of the best burgers in the whole world. Apart from, if you want to go to chicken, the best fried chicken, breaded chicken is called Frisby. Frisby is amazing. I mean, forget Popeye, forget about Church’s Chicken, forget about all that. I think it has drug in it. I ain’t lying.
So, these are two spots you want to go. You want to go Frisby, eat that chicken. You want to go to Corral to eat some burgers. And they got the best hot dogs as well.
What are you getting on your burger at Corral?
Man, anything they put on it, to be honest with you. Yeah, it’s just typical burger. It’s just the way it tastes, it’s just the meat. It doesn’t change. I mean, it’s just the way they cook it, the bread, it’s different.
I know you have your own restaurant, but if you could be the ambassador or the spokesperson for any food or snack or whatever that exists, like a big brand. I know you said you love Coca-Cola. What would be your pick to be the representative?
You said it right there. Coca-Cola. I’m a big fan. I’m not even a fan of the way it tastes. I’m a fan of the can. I’m a fan of the color of the can. I’m a fan of the brand. I enjoy it. I’ve always wanted to work with them. I really like Coca-Cola a lot.
Problem is that when you drink so much Coca-Cola and you come out everywhere drinking it, you become an organic ambassador. And when you become an organic ambassador, they don’t need you anymore because you already doing everything for free.
They got you already.
They got me already, yeah.
If you could own a franchise that already exists that’s not competing with your restaurant or whatever, what would that be?
I ain’t going to lie, man. I’m down with McDonald’s. McDonald’s, just the brand, the way it looks. I mean everywhere you see that M, you know it’s okay. I’m a big fan of McDonald’s. I know a lot of people are like, “I will not eat McDonald’s.” I’ll eat McDonald’s, I’ll have breakfast at McDonald’s. I’m not saying it’s healthy, it’s not the most healthy thing in the world, but I like the food. So yeah, I just think it’s not only about the food, it’s about the brand. Something about the brand that calls me.
