Crispy Bits

Second in a series of Cuban-related posts.

Sol Rio Luna y Mares pool

I love Cuba.  Rather, I love a particular resort in Cuba.  It’s called Sol Rio Luna y Mares and is located 50 minutes outside of Holguin in the middle of a nature reserve.  The beds are comfy, the swim-up bar is convenient, the beach is spectacular, the staff is friendly, and the dining options are plentiful and good.

Unfortunately, as is true with many all-inclusive resorts, the vacation experience can be somewhat insular in that it’s very easy to avoid exposure to any sort of local culture, history or genuine interaction with those that actually live there.  In fact, until as recently as 1997, Cuba’s communist regime forbade any contact between tourists and Cubans and essentially created enclave resorts, resulting in a situation often referred to as “tourism apartheid.”  This is no longer the case and other incremental changes are being made.  It is still required for a tourist to obtain a discretionary permit in order to stay outside of a resort.  But Cubans may stay at the resorts and enjoy the beaches along with the vacationers.  And now, majority foreign ownership of these resorts is virtually non-existent.  Still, it is possible for the typical Canadian to stay on Cuban soil for a week and never venture beyond the poolside buffet, which is very sad indeed.

And speaking of buffets, take note that many of the Cuban resorts cater predominantly to German, Italian, English, Canadian (and Quebecois), and Spanish tour operators.  This means having to please a diverse range of palates.  On any typical night, one may find antipasti and pasta, stroganoff, sausages and sauerkraut, fish and chips, and of course burgers in addition to the 50 or so other options available.  And if that’s not enough, we are encouraged to enjoy the special à la carte restaurants offering “Cuban”, “Romantic”, “Italian”, or “International” cuisine.  I place all names in quotes since the name rarely offers a hint at what might be served.  

I was delighted to learn that a new French restaurant had opened on the resort since my last visit and it was earning raves on the review sites.  My sweet baboo and I were eager to enjoy the experience and reserved a table for our final night there…sort of a last hurrah.  Well, in short, it was everything the reviewers had described.  We were greeted at the door with a blast of cool air and a glass of sparkling wine and were guided to our table.  Celine Dion’s “Deux” album was spinning on the platter and we got momentarily lost in the menus.  I selected an appetizer of fois gras. 

fois gras at le Bistro

I like paté but haven’t tried fois gras, ethical implications notwithstanding.  And at the resort, the food may be good but the menu translations tend to be a little more on the creative side.  “Cow Spine” in the Italian restaurant, for example, was really meant to be Bistecca alla Fiorentina, and ended up being flank steak.  Who would have thought?  Anyway, all this to say that I was certainly not guaranteed to receive authentic fois gras.  In the end, it didn’t really matter because it was scrumptuous.  It was a piped rosette of cognac-flavoured liver puree with a sliver of toasted bread and garnished with cornichons, onion, prune, and a port reduction.  Served with a bottomless glass of bubbly, it was heaven on a plate. 

steak au poivre

For my main, I dove into a top notch piece of steak “au poivre” and some artfully arranged vegetables.  I don’t know where they get their beef but it’s been among the best I’ve ever enjoyed. 

I concluded my bistro meal with a dessert of slightly rude-looking, piped chocolate mousse (I’ve declined to publish the photo), silky and smooth, creamy and rich.  We were sent off into the tropical sunset, riding our chocolate buzz and rubbing our linen-covered bellies, looking for the nearest lounge chair in which to enjoy our final digestif. 

My sweet baboo and I went on a little road trip to visit a friend who recently relocated to Rochester, NY.  He lives in a cottagy clapboard home in the community of Swillburg, a cozy neighbourhood of charming, narrow streets and a committed business association.  At one end is the adorable 1940’s Highland Park Diner.  Pre-built off-site and then moved to the site via rail and truck, this has been the original location of the diner for more than sixty years.

Diner counter taking a rare pause between breakfast and lunch

   After serving tasty fare under the name Dauphin’s Superior Diner, it operated as an off-track betting parlour in the 70’s, but was restored to its former glory in 1986 and has operated as a restaurant ever since.  Crowds have flocked to this spot for its authentic diner fare and quality breakfasts.  The hearty fare has garnered a solid reputation and secured the title Best Diner for three years running in Rochester’s City Newspaper.

Before we hit the road back to Hogtown (from Swillburg…I’m not making this up), we decided to enjoy our favourite meal of the day steeped in Americana.  Greeting us as if we were long-time customers, the waitress directed us to a booth and presented us with their extensive breakfast menu. 

so many choices

Flapjacks!  Grits!  Hash!  It was all too much.  Eyes, once again, were larger than the stomach (although it’s doing an excellent job keeping up).  Always a sucker for a good Bennie, I was tempted by the daily special of Eggs Nantucket whereupon the english muffin is replaced by crab cakes.  As delicious as that promised to be, I stuck with the classics and settled for the traditional Eggs Benedict.  The Sweet Baboo dug into an order of corned beef hash and we shared a short stack of blueberry almond pancakes, another daily special.  All this was washed down with swigs of drip coffee from a thick Luby’s coffee mug.

Now I’ve had a few Bennies in my time, with more than my share of hollandaise.  The Highland Park version really left all others in the henhouse.  Hollandaise is never easy at the best of times.   An emulsion of butter, lemon and yolks, it requires some skill and knowledge to prepare.  The sauce should be smooth and creamy with a rich and buttery flavour and a mild tang of lemon.  I prefer mine a little more lemony than is typical of the sauce and the one prepared at the diner appeared made to order.  Yum-O!

It also never fails to impress me how certain short-order cooks have mastered the art of the firm whites and runny yolks.  It was perfection.  And instead of the traditional english muffin, underneath it all was a slightly denser biscuit, flaky and tender.  It was all so good that I hardly had room for the home-fried potatoes.  Take  note, however, that I was also stuffing my face with forkfuls of  pancake, big as a dinner plate, blue from the berries and filled with crunchy shards of almonds.

Heaven on a plate.  Yes, it was.

Always trust Martha to bring the culinary world of New York to my living room.  Not that long ago, she presented a segment on 10th Avenue noshes and ChikaLicious Dessert Bar was included on her two-part tour.  Chef owners Don and Chika Tillman present a starkly intimate dessert eatery built around an open kitchen where the chefs and sommelier work and serve the customers directly.  Their reasonably priced three-course tasting menu has been described as being American desserts with French presentation and Japanese tasting portions and includes a palate-cleansing amuse, a choice from the varying dessert selection, and a plate of assorted petit fours.  Wine matchings are offered, along with organic coffees and teas.

For our visit, we started with a sweetly puckering duo of lemonade sorbet with lemon panna cotta.  For our “mains,” we each tried one of their classic desserts:  Fromage Blanc Island “Cheese Cake” (pictured above) artfully nestled into a mound of shaved ice; and a Warm Chocolate Tart with Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream and Red Wine Sauce.  Both were divinely delicious and proof of the chefs’ skills in presentation, taste and texture.  We couldn’t ask for anything more after an exhausting day supporting the local retail economy.  And indeed, the petit fours were the proverbial cherry on an otherwise perfect sensory experience:  a cube of quivering coconut marshmallow, a mini-wedge of carmelized lemon peel pound cake and a kiss of ganache atop a crisp chocolate wafer took us over the edge and we sailed home on a satisfactory sugar high.

They don’t take reservations, but any wait is worth the experience.  And while you’re there, check out the Dessert Club ChikaLicious, their companion bakery directly across the street, for arguably the best cupcake you will find in Manhattan.

ChikaLicious Dessert Bar

203 E. 10th St., between 2^nd Ave and 1^st Ave.

New York, NY

Open Daily

3pm to 10:45pm.

www.chikalicious.com