Dining
Little Havana Café, 316 White Bridge Road, 356-6430.
Heads Up Sergio Ramirez. photo: ericengland.net
In Miami, Little Havana is a 25-block neighborhood of shops, restaurants, cigar factories and apartments where Cuban émigrés settled after fleeing in the wake of Fidel Castro’s takeover in 1959. The children and grandchildren of the original residents have assimilated to surrounding suburbs and other cities, though recently arrived immigrants from the island often begin their tenures there, and second- and third-generation Cuban Americans return to eat, drink, shop and reconnect with their ethnic heritage.
In Nashville, Little Havana, a restaurant opened six weeks ago by five Cubans who have planted roots here, is a proud celebration of that same heritage. Geovani Brito has been here the longest. He arrived 11 years ago to join his family, who at the time owned Mama Mia restaurant. (The Cuban couple who opened Back to Cuba in the same strip center in 2005 now own Mama Mia.) His friends Ricardo Rodriguez, Sergio Ramirez, Camilo Barbosa and chef Carmen Garcia have since joined him. A native of Havana, Garcia spent four years in cooking school in Cuba before living in Tampa for seven years. She and Barbosa moved to Nashville three years ago, settling here with their two daughters.
According to the quintet of owners, there is a large population of expatriate Cubans living in the Madison area. Nonetheless, they opened their restaurant just a few hundred yards from Hot Kabobs on White Bridge Road, not far from the Charlotte Pike intersection, and their clientele so far has comprised primarily Americans, many of whom have some prior and fond relationship with Miami. The group took the small cinderblock building that was home to a succession of seedy bars and cleaned it from top to bottom. They painted the exterior a pale green and the interior sparkling white, and installed a black-and-white floor upon which they placed tables for two and four with green-backed restaurant supply chairs. A mural of Cuba adorns one wall, while scenic prints from the island and other reminders of home decorate the other three. In other words, Little Havana the restaurant looks and feels a lot like Little Havana in Miami, with lively Cuban music providing the soundtrack.
Though the cuisine is unmistakably Cuban—no French fries, chicken fingers or hamburgers here—Little Havana has adopted a Nashville dining tradition and is actually doing it one better. While many so-called meat-and-threes have downscaled the trio of sides into a miserly duo (with a third side available for an extra charge), the plates here are loaded—and I mean loaded—with meat plus a triplet, with an additional something frequently thrown on for good measure.
The steam table (which needs to have the heat turned up a few degrees) displays three meats that change daily. On Monday it’s the traditional ropa vieja (shredded beef); chicken breast stuffed with ham, cheese and bacon; and Spanish roast pork. Wednesday is Italian with a Cuban spin: stuffed pork steak, beefsteak with onions and chicken with garlic. Friday is seafood day. Try the fried whole snapper, known as pargo frito, if it is available, and douse it with fresh-squeezed lime. Lamb in red wine sauce makes a robust Saturday night dinner plate. On Friday and Saturday, Garcia cooks seafood paella replete with peas, carrots, sautéed onions, peppers, mussels, clams and fish. Anytime a fricassee is an option, go for it—Garcia’s versions are rustic stews of tomato and vegetables smothering slow-cooked meats that fall off the bone.
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Sides (with the plate or à la carte at $2 each) also change out, but at least two of four rices will be represented—white, yellow, black or red—as will fried lengths of ripe plantain or tostones (green plantain). A special side treat is the shrimp tostone, which tops a disc of fried plantain with baby shrimp and rich cheese sauce. Count yourself lucky if yucca, the starchy root vegetable, is on the menu, either fried or sautéed with garlic and onions. Hearty soups are a staple. The specifics vary, but there is usually a bean of some type and a meat- or seafood-based option.
Cuban food is not spicy or fired up with hot peppers like Mexican fare, but it is highly seasoned one of two ways. Sofrito is a high-heat olive-oil sauté of onion, green pepper, garlic, oregano and black pepper. Often employed in the preparation of black beans, stews, vegetable and many rice dishes, it also flavors Thursday’s Rice Supreme, which is similar to a paella without the peas and with shredded beef, pork and chicken in lieu of seafood. Garcia’s black beans also add sliced, tart green onions and are not sweet, as some versions are. Mojo is a marinade of olive oil, citrus, onion, garlic and cumin used to season meats, particularly pork, before grilling.
A small warmer on the counter holds several traditional Cuban items that might be considered appetizers in America: four types of empanada; papa rellena, a ball of mashed potato stuffed with ground beef, breaded and deep-fried; and four kinds of Cuban croquettes.
Anticipation Customers line up to see the evening selection.
Lunch is from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. A plate goes for $7.99. Hours are extended until 10 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when the tables get decked with white cloths protected by clear plastic, food arrives on real plates with real cutlery, and diners can bring their own wine or beer. Dinners, $11.99 a plate, come with soup or salad.
Sandwiches are made to order at lunch, and though the buffet is hard to resist, a good argument for doing so is the Cuban, a delicious and gut-busting two-hander of two types of ham, pork, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles on crusty bread, heated in a press until the cheese oozes out the sides. The Special Little Havana is untried but comes highly recommended by the staff, who must have an interest in a cardiac care center, given the ingredients: salami, bacon, chorizo and Spanish sauce on a crusty roll.
If you have a sliver of space left in your belly, fill it with one of Garcia’s desserts—flan, bread pudding or empanadas (Cuban versions of good old Southern fried pies) filled with guava or coconut and cream cheese. A cup of strong, sweet Cuban coffee will get you up out of your seat. Hot chocolate is available, and Cuban sodas are in the cooler.
Whatever time of day you arrive at Little Havana, Carmen, Camilo, Geovani, Ricardo and Sergio will welcome you as warmly as if you were family. Give yourself a gift during this busy holiday season with a visit that will result in many happy returns.
Little Havana Café is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.