Travel agencies are already putting together glossy brochures luring tourists to the sandy white beaches of Cuba. One small problem with that -- a little man with a mustache named Fidel Castro.
Screw the trade embargo, who cares if Americans can't legally go to Cuba. All that aside, the US still manages to obtain the exports we want the most, baseball players and fine cuisine.
Both Cuba Libre's towering facade and colorful interior leads diners through a sort of space-time contunium, depositing them in a happy-place somewhere in the decadent 1940's Havana.
The upstairs gallery features the work of Cuban artists and photographers, depicting scenes of the nation past and present, while the downstairs portico is opened onto the sidewalk.
Before perusing the menu, be sure to take in the extensive menu from the rum bar downstairs. Their mojito is supposedly the best in town.
The appetizers are many and varied. The empanada ($11), though certainly not native to Cuba (a Maine lobster may be hard to come by) is spiced with tropical peppers and wrapped in a buttery pastry that melts on the tongue revealing the rich lobster taste.
The classically Cuban Bomba Salad ($10) is filled with fresh greens and sweet papaya, sweet crabmeat, cachucha chile, basil and mint, tossed with a papaya-mustard vinaigrette.
Entrees range from local delicacies, Lechon Asado($19), a pulled suckling pig with a boniato puree in a black bean broth -- much better than it sounds and prepared with a wide array of Cuban spices that make the mouth tingle with every bite -- to the hyper-Americanized Pechuga de Pollo($16), a pan-seared chicken breast served with fufu, black beans, and a roasted pepper aioli.
Dessert at Cuba Libre is an experience worth indulging in with the Tres Leche, an almond sponge cake soaked with coconut syrup and three milks, white chocolate ganache, and mora sauce.
