Meet Me in Cuba

Everyone has their favorite celebrity restaurant and mine is Stephen Starr's Alma de Cuba in Center City, Philadelphia.  My obsession with Alma extends from its white awning on Walnut Street to the after-dinner mints that sit by the maitre de's podium.  So, when my parents invited me to join them for a concert at the Kimmel Center, I couldn't resist suggesting that we indulge at the close-by Alma beforehand.

For anyone who hasn't been to Alma before, it can be identified by the white awning in front of the restaurant (not to be confused with the similar Le Bec Fin awning that is a block away).  I like Alma because it's a nice restaurant that doesn't take itself too seriously.  The waiters wear black pants and white jackets, which gives off the impression of serious, but modern dining.  For this meal, we were seated on the second floor at a table in the main dining room.  I personally prefer to sit on the first floor because the booths are more comfortable and I like the atmosphere of sitting near the bar.  However, it's always nice to be in a quieter area and the second floor is certainly more conducive to having conversation.

Our meal started with the famous Alma de Cuba bread, which is made with yucca flour. The waiters serve two rolls -- which are more like little dough balls of deliciousness -- at a time.  The bread's soft composition makes devouring it heavenly and the sweetness of this fare, coupled with the tanginess of the chimichurri dipping sauce that it's served with, marks the beginning of a tasty adventure.

Yucca Flour Bread and Chimichurri Dipping Sauce

After we finished our (first serving of) bread, the first course arrived at the table.  This course consisted of three appetizers: ceviche, an arugula salad, and vegetable empanadas.  Ceviche, a popular dish in Central and South America, is raw fish marinated in citrus juices and spiced with chili peppers.  We ordered the Rainbow ceviche, which is a combination of tuna, salmon, and black bass, marinated in a soy and lime sauce and served with jalapenos and sweet potatoes.  I always order the Rainbow ceviche at Alma de Cuba because of its bright flavors and bright colored fish (hence the "Rainbow" title) that jump out with every bite.  The soy and lime marinade, coupled with the jalapeno, sweet potato, and fresh fish mesh into a sweet-tart flavor leaves me yearning for more.  

Rainbow Ceviche

While we were enjoying our ceviche, we also had a salad and empanadas to consume.  The salad, also known as Ensalada de Tierra Verde, consists of baby arugula, roasted mushroom escabeche, and goat cheese croquettas.  I'm not usually a fan of mushrooms, but the vibrant flavors of the arugula and the goat cheese are so prominent that I couldn't taste any bit of mushroom in the salad.  A lover of all things dairy, the goat cheese was my favorite part of the salad.  The croquettas, which are small balls of goat cheese, create an explosion of smooth creaminess that engorges the plentiful leafiness of the arugula.  

Ensalada de Tierra Verde

The final part of our appetizer course was the serving of vegetable empanadas.  Despite being my least favorite appetizer of the night, the empanadas were still quite tasty.  The spinach was definitely the most prominent flavor and it overshadowed the artichoke esabeche and the manchego, but the empanadas were still enjoyed by everyone (by brother, who was not at this dinner, is totally obsessed with them and out of respect for him, it was necessary that we order them).  The trickiest part to eating the empanadas was figuring out how to share two with three people! 

Empanada de Verde

Finally, our entrees arrived.  My family is big on sharing food, so whenever we go to fun restaurants with exotic fare, we order a few dishes per course and share everything.  This can be a win-win situation (when everything is delicious) or a win-lose situation (when there is one dish that you like more than everything else); there really is no lose-lose situation, but the food is generally at least good.  Tonight, our family-style ways were definitely a win-win and I enjoyed all of the entrees that we ordered.  

First up was the Grilled Bronzino.  Bronzino is a European seabass, which I find more flavorful and unusual than Chilean seabass (a Starr favorite).  The Bronzino came to us as a filet and without a head (my preference), but with a tail.  The dish is served with grilled garbanzo bean stew and tempura lemons.  I know what you're thinking: What the hell is a tempura lemon?! It's a circular slice of lemon that has been deep fried in deliciousness.  I was a little skeptical of eating the lemon because I a) had never eaten a cooked lemon before and b) was not sure how I would react to the burst of sourness.  Despite my ambivalence though, I forked my lemon sliver and stuck it in my mouth.  It basically tasted like a chip -- minus the crunch, plus the sourness -- and the tempura's blandness made the acrid lemon more mild.  

Grilled Bronzino

Our second entree was the Creamy Coconut Quinoa (I'm a sucker for alliterated names), which was very creamy, very coconut-y, and definitely not your typical quinoa.  Unlike the quinoa that you might expect, Alma's CCQ arrives in a round patty with layers.  The first layer is the aged balsamic vinaigrette, which lines the bottom of the plate; the second layer is the quinoa itself, which is quinoa cooked in coconut milk and mixed with sweet corn powder and edamame.  The top layer is a chayote squash salad, which adds some lightness to the otherwise dense dish.  If you're not a coconut lover, this quinoa definitely isn't for you, as the coconut is probably the most potent flavor in the dish.  Being a coconut lover, myself, I quite enjoyed the heartiness of the CCQ.  

Creamy Coconut Quinoa

In addition to our entrees, we ordered two sides: one sweet and one salty.  The sweet was a plate of plantains.  I like bananas and I'd never had plantains before, but the combination of fried plantain, creme, and gremolata, was the perfect comfort food.  I would even go out on a limb and say that the sweet plantains were my second -- don't worry, I'm not cheating on my ceviche -- favorite part of the meal.  

Sweet Plantains

The salty side was an order of spinach, which was flavorful and filled with garlic.  A nice, yet simple addition to any meal. 

Ajillo Spinach

Finally, it was time for dessert, hands down my favorite part of every meal.  I usually spend more time looking at the dessert menu than I do looking at any other piece of restaurant literature.  Given the extensive options available at Alma and their recent dessert-menu change, it took me an extra long time to decide how I wanted to end my night (of eating).  After much deliberation, discussion, and a few orders that I took back, I confidently ordered the Chocolate Tower, one of Alma's signature desserts.  As its name suggests, the Chocolate Tower is literally, a chocolate tower.  You get the plate, on top of which is a lake of chocolate crumbles and chocolate syrup.  Then there are alternating layers of passion fruit (surprise of the night, I know), milk chocolate, and dark chocolate mousse.  The Tower is topped with a layer of bitter ganache and an arch of solid white chocolate.  A scoop of caramelized white chocolate ice cream sits next to the tower and caramel rum sauce drips over the entire structure.  The nice thing about the Chocolate Tower is that it isn't overwhelming; sure, you taste a lot of chocolate, but the passion fruit mousse adds a nice element of fruitiness to the palate, diversifying the Chocolate Tower from any other stack of mousse.

Chocolate Tower

As with any healthy relationship, each time Alma and I reunite we grow more fond of one another.  If only we could see each other bi-weekly instead of bi-annualy.  Oh well, a girl can dream...

Visit Alma de Cuba: 

(215) 988-1799 

http://www.almadecubarestaurant.com/