A Bite in Old Havana: Cuban Cuisine in the Area

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IT'S GETTING EASIER every day to board a plane to Cuba. But you don't have to finagle a ticket to the communist island to enjoy some of its tastiest dishes.

At restaurants such as Banana Cafe (500 Eighth St. SE; 202-543-5906), Habana Village (1834 Columbia Road NW; 202-462-6310) and Cuba de Ayer (15446 Old Columbia Pike; Burtonsville, Md.; 301-476-9622), you can order up ropa vieja — literally, "old clothes," a reference to the flank steak dish's shredded-to-a-rag texture — or picadillo, a chili-like meat specialty often ladled over rice.

Or cook these platos cubanos autenticos at home, as insurance exec Giancarlo Ladaga does. The 36-year-old lives in Fairfax County and credits his mom with teaching him the way around a Cuban kitchen. Born on the island, Ladaga imigrated in 1980 at age 7 with his family in the Mariel Boatlift, a six-month exodus of thousands of Cubans out of that country to the U.S.

For ropa vieja, "my mom puts the meat in a pressure cooker for 15 or 20 minutes to break it up, then adds Creole seasoning, onions, minced garlic" and other flavorings, he says.

Ladaga's mother frowns on his making the dish in his slow cooker; she thinks "I'm wasting time." His way might be more convenient, Ladaga says, but even he acknowledges something is lacking: "My ropa is good, but not as good as hers."

In the kitchen at Cuba de Ayer (translation: "Cuba of Yesterday"), Mayra Lopez, another Cuban emigre, puts her heritage to work preparing picadillo and other traditional dishes.

"We first do a sofrito"—a savory base of flavors that permeate the dish—"of onion, garlic, green and red pepper," says Jessica Rodriguez, 32, Lopez's daughter-in-law and Cuba de Ayer's manager. "We also add red wine, raisins and cubed potatoes." A quarter of the orders going back to the kitchen are for Lopez's picadillo, Rodriguez says.

Over at Banana Cafe, picadillo is spread onto pizza crust and topped with mozzarella, or stuffed into timbales made of plantains, says general manager Grant Leygraaf.

David Guas, 34, might rotate a Cuban pressed sandwich into the offerings at his forthcoming Bayou Bakery, set to open next month in the former Murky Coffee (at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and Wilson Boulevard in Arlington). The first-generation Cuban American loves the contrasts embedded in his family's picadillo. "The sweetness of the raisins plus the saltiness of the olives are delicious," Guas says. "And we'd put a fried egg on top."

Today provides a great excuse to chow down on Cuban food. It's Cuban Independence Day, heralding the country's freedom in 1902 from Spain after nearly 400 years. Diving headlong into a plate of ropa seems like a tasty way to mark the occasion — or prep for a trip to Havana.

» Eat it up: Try this recipe for a tasty Cuban sandwich.

Written by Express contributor Amy Rogers Nazarov
Photo by Marge Ely/Express