Miami-born to Colombian parents, Juan Camilo Liscano opened ten-seat Palma in Little Havana in 2024. His ever-shifting, ingredient-driven tasting menu and signature sweet-plantain brioche earned him the Michelin Florida Young Chef Award and StarChefs Rising Star honors in 2025.
Growing up amid frequent flights arranged by his father, an airline employee, Liscano developed an early fascination with produce that still guides his cooking. A detour to Los Angeles introduced him to professional kitchens: stints at Vagabond in Miami, Animal and Freehand LA honed his product-first approach.
Time at Jaguar Sun, Momofuku Ko in New York, and Sunny’s Steakhouse broadened his technique, while European stages solidified plans for a micro-restaurant. In January 2024 he opened Palma, a candle-lit concrete sliver where fewer than five cooks deliver eight tightly edited courses. One dish never leaves the lineup: sweet-plantain brioche with caramelized coconut butter (2024). Other milestones include PEI oyster with makrut-lime leaf oil (2024) and grilled monkfish with smoked-potato soubise (2025).
His credo—“let the ingredient speak”—relies on daily runs to French Farms and local docks, keeping techniques spare to foreground natural flavor. The approach netted the Michelin Florida Young Chef Award 2025 and, weeks later, a StarChefs Rising Star citation applauding “creative plates anchored by disciplined minimalism.”
Dawn surf sessions on South Beach remain his mental reset.
