Like the man he plays in “Hamilton,” Javier Muñoz has a mother who came from an island — in his case, Puerto Rico. “My grandmother divorced my grandfather and, on her own, took her six daughters to New York,” he tells BARBARA HOFFMAN. “My mother was the oldest, and together, [she and my grandmother] raised my aunts. My cousins and [three] brothers and I try to do honor to what they achieved.” Starting July 11, the 40-year-old Brooklyn native succeeds Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, the ultimate immigrant-made-good. Here’s how he and his family go Fourth.
Any Fourth of July weekend involves family. We usually gather at my brother David’s apartment in Brooklyn. He’s an incredible cook. It’s such a hodgepodge! My parents love hot dogs and hamburgers, traditional Fourth of July stuff like that, but we’ll toss it up with empanadas stuffed with ground beef and olives, or chicken — every Latin culture has its version of an empanada! As far as beverages are concerned, Goya makes a drink called Malta. It’s like a root beer, but richer. It’s crafted like a beer, but there’s no alcohol. That’s always on hand, and sangria, of course. Always, Mom wants to have a cake. My father likes to bake, but it’s very simple: a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. But if Dad can’t bake and we want something sweet, there are Italian icies everywhere in Brooklyn. We’ll walk very slowly, get our icies, and that’s dessert.
My parents love hot dogs and hamburgers, traditional Fourth of July stuff like that, but we’ll toss it up with empanadas stuffed with ground beef and olives, or chicken.
If no one wants to cook, we’ll probably go out and have very traditional Spanish food. There’s a place called Sevilla, near NYU, that has everything. The first thing you always order is platanos, and it comes with the most dense garlicky sauce. You’ll offend plenty of people after just one bite! And if we’re really feeling lazy, and we don’t want to cook or go out, we’ll order in Chinese food.
In Astoria, where I live now, right off the Steinway [subway] stop, there popped up what started as a bodega. They bought the space next to them, which sells organic fruits and vegetables, and they make smoothies with guava and papaya, the delicious fruit I grew up with.
There’s a restaurant out here called DiWine, and the friendliest people run it. The food is delicious and all over the map: They’ve got Italian, sometimes Hungarian, Spanish. I’m not sure what you’d call [that cuisine] — maybe nouvelle American?
