The other day I was driving along NW 7th Street in Little Havana when I came across a restaurant I hadn't noticed before. Folks were sitting on stools at an outdoor cafeteria that adjoined the restaurant, chatting and eating. I approached and asked for a menu, wanting to know what kind of cuisine they served.
"Let me take you to the manager," I was told (in Spanish). I obliged, entering the restaurant, which had a modern but relaxed decor, small tables and an ample bar. Vertical blinds let the sun slant in from large, west-facing windows.
The manager and I talked for quite some time. She said that the restaurant was in the process of transitioning into a Peruvian restaurant versus a Cuban restaurant, and had recently hired a talented Peruvian Executive Chef. I agreed not to name her restaurant because they want to keep it on the down-low before launch.
It excited me, though, to hear her ideas for the restaurant, and to learn that Little Havana will have another Peruvian restaurant. We already have some popular Peruvian restaurants but we need more. Not long ago, a new Argentinian restaurant arrived on the scene (Catharsis) and is regularly receiving 5 stars on Yelp.
On my own wishlist? Cuisine not already represented in Little Havana: Brazilian. Costa Rican. Panamanian. Puerto Rican. Cuisine reflective of the diversity in our neighborhood. We offer an outstanding variety of restaurants already, but why not more? What restaurants do wish you could find in Little Havana, perhaps representing your own cultural roots?
If you could open any restaurant you wanted in Little Havana, what kind of restaurant would you open?
