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Posts tagged ‘Cuban sandwiches’

Mar 31

Catching Up in March

I am under the wire for my Catching up in March post.  Usually there’s a common theme that emerges in the stories that I come across but March was all over the place, a bumper-car month.  There was a Cuban sandwich ‘throwdown’with Bobby Flay won by Nick Vazquez of Jersey City’s Azucar.  There was also a good New York Times review for Pilar Cuban Eatery, a new  cafe in Clinton Hill named after Hemingway’s boat that’s about bringing Miami to Brooklyn and another one for El Parador Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in New York.  If you’re looking for seemingly random food rules, Leslie Freeman Riva collected a few for the Atlantic (though I still believe that hot Read more

Feb 23

The Latin American Cafeteria

If you ask Miamians for their favorite sandwich counter, they’ll often mention the Latin American Cafeteria on Coral Way.  The fact that it’s been closed for almost a decade doesn’t seem to have diminished its popularity.  While researching the Cuban sandwich, I had to deliver the sad news to friends that the original Latin American no longer existed.  People were so surprised that I had to wonder how many of us had driven down Coral Way and projected the giant arches and wrap-around counter onto the generic Sergio’s franchise that had taken its place.  Though there are still eponymous Latin American locations throughout the city, it’s just not the same.  There are many contenders for second, but it’s only what someone will settle for when they can’t get what they really want. Read more

Nov 28

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Elena Ruz


The Elena Ruz sandwich always seemed a little out of place on the menu.  A combination of roasted turkey, cream cheese and strawberry preserves, it floats alongside the heavier ham, lechon asado and cheese melds of Cuban lunch menus – lighter and prettier with a first and last name.  Named for Elena Ruz, a Havana socialite who had the unusual combination made to order for her at El Carmelo.  Then a fashionable cafe in the 1930s, it landed on the menu becoming a popular item.  According to later interviews, her parents were scandalized to see a sign for “Sandwich Elena Ruz 25 centavos” on display, though as she pointed out the other sandwiches only went for 10 cents at the time. Read more