Cuban hats adorn the windows and traditional Cuban cuisine graces the plates at Fort Leeâ€s newest addition to Main Street: Babalu Cuban Café. Since opening the bistro in December, owners Raul Vicente, Jr, his partner Patricia Matos, and their team of crackerjack cooks conjure up tasty dishes for new customers who are soon becoming regulars.

The caféâ€s name pays homage to the most famous TV couple of the 1950s, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz) with posters from “I Love Lucy,” their famous TV Show adorning the walls.

“I had a steakhouse in Jersey City,” Vicente says during a quick break between customers. “My mother was my cook; she was a great cook.”

Vicenteâ€s mother no longer could be his chef, so Vicente closed down shop and worked for others restaurateurs, running Karaoke nights in Jersey City Clubs and then doing PR for a Cuban restaurant in Edgewater. Several years after moving from Hudson to Bergen County, Vicente, with his partner Matos seized the opportunity to open a Main Street bistro.

“Cuban food is universally accepted by people outside the Latin community,” Vicente says. “The reason people are coming back to Babalu is because the food is good. But Iâ€m not the cook. Iâ€m the chief bottle-washer.”

The menu is all Cuban with items like Seafood soup which is traditionally served on Fridays; Chicken, and a Black Bean soup, which, on a recent visit, one customer described as delicious with beans served in a light broth rather than a thick paste ($3-$9.99).

Another popular favorite at Babalu is the Cuban sandwich made with pork, ham and turkey. A new sandwich Vicente plans to add to the menu on Valentineâ€s Day comes from Fidel Castroâ€s daughter Elena: the Babalu Turkey Jam made with turkey, cream cheese and strawberry preserves on Cuban bread toasted on a Panini press.

Sandwiches also include Babaluâ€s Bistec, Sandwich de Polo, Sandwich de Polo Asado, Media Noche (marinated roast pork), Shredded Pork, and Fried Spanish Sausage with Lettuce and Tomato ($5.99-$6.99). Appetizers include Chicken, Beef, or Cheese Empanadas ($2.50).

Platters feature the Churrasco Babalu – Skirt Steak with house Chimichuri sauce; Bistec de Palomilla – Sirloin Steak seasoned with garlic and Mojo with carmelized onions; and Pechuga ala Pancha, grilled chicken breast marinated in garlic and lemon ($9.95-$19.95).

Desserts include Flan, Bread Pudding and Tres Leches ($4-$4.50). There are traditional Cuban Shakes, too, like the Mango, Papaya and Guava ($4.50).

Vicente relies on a team of cooks – Jose Ramos, Mileidy Plata and Wendy Alvarado. – to create the menuâ€s traditional Cuban dishes and daily specials.

“I wanted to open a Cuban eatery because I wanted to add a little bit of our culture to the community,” Vicente says. “Iâ€m going to get Ricky Ricardoâ€s conga drum, put the Cuban flag on it, and put it right there in the middle of the window.”

If you go
Babalu Cuban Café
302-304 Main St, FTLEE
(201) 482-4989
Hours: Mon-Sun, 10 am-8 pm

The post Cuban & Main – Fort Lee’s Main Street just got hotter with Babalu Cuban Café first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

 

Azúcar Cuban Cuisine & Cigars†owner and Executive Chef Nick Vazquez was just a kid when his family moved to the states in 1960 and settled in Hudson. Vasquez attended local schools, but learned he had a passion for cooking while watching his mom create traditional Cuban dishes in the family kitchen. Years later, Vazquez rekindled his passion and in 1995 opened Azúcar, his first restaurant in Edgewater. He closed the business ten years later and opened Azúcar Cuban Cuisine & Cigars in Jersey City, where his motherâ€s recipes highlight the menu.

Step inside Azúcar and itâ€s like a step back in time to a 1950s Cuban bistro where above the reception area a huge “Cuba” poster showing a Latina dressed in a 1950s cabaret costume catches your eye. Stroll to the right and youâ€re in the bar, an inviting, low-lit atmosphere with black tables and chairs upholstered in faux leopard. The room is cozy and cool especially with the large overhead fan that creates wafting breezes below. To the left, there are two dining rooms that seat 120 comfortably.

From the bar you can either step outside to the patio and drink under the stars or take the stairs to the second floorâ€s cigar room where cigar aficionados retreat to the only smoking lounge in Hudson County. This dark cozy hideaway with big comfy couches invites guests to stretch out and smoke one of the many cigar choices that range from $10-$30. (Sorry, no Cuban cigars; theyâ€re still embargoed.) Drinks and food are served in the cigar lounge and smokers can choose from a menu of rums from around the world. There are tables for dominos and chess, too.

Azúcarâ€s manager Lauren Vazquez is the daughter of owner Nick Vazquez and she oversees the familyâ€s Jersey City restaurant. (Thereâ€s also an Azúcar Cuban Cuisine & Cigars in Coral Gables, Florida.) Lauren upholds her fatherâ€s high standards of hospitality and ensures Azúcarâ€s guests are well fed and their experience is so memorable theyâ€ll come back again and again.

“We have a nice clientele,” Lauren says. “Weâ€ve had customers follow us for years. Theyâ€re loyal – at least 25 regulars come back once a week.”

Azúcar is the only multi-cultural restaurant in the area and that has a lot to do with its popularity. Lauren says: “People from all over the world, China, Germany, London, Brazil come here to eat. We just had the Mexican National Soccer team. All the coaches and reporters came here and had dinner. They won 4-to-1.”

Lauren attributes the success of the family restaurant to her fatherâ€s talents as a restaurateur.

“My father was the first chef, he did everything,” Lauren says. “He never went to culinary school; he just studied his mom in the kitchen and thatâ€s how he learned.  My grandmother is about sticking with Cuban traditional food and my father follows that tradition.”

On a recent afternoon, I visited Azúcar and Lauren shared some of the restaurantâ€s most popular dishes like the Tipicos Antojos Cubanos – three tiers of appetizers that are out of this world and include Ham Croquetas, Chiccarron de Pollo, deep-fried marinated chicken morsels on the bone; Yuka Frita, golden cassava fries served with cilantro dip; Beef Empanada; Masitas, morsels of deep-fried pork; and Tamal en Hoja, corn meal cooked with pork and onions.  We also shared Azúcarâ€s traditional El Cubano Grande – Cuban Sandwich. Lauren says lots of people come to Azúcar for the El Cubano Grande and itâ€s clear to see why – itâ€s one of the best in town.

Azúcarâ€s menu is quite extensive with Tapas de la Madre Patria (appetizers) that include Chorizo La Union, Spanish sausage pan-roasted with onions, peppers and finished off with a white wine; and Gambas Catalan al Ajillo, classic Spanish shrimp cooked in garlic infused extra virgin olive oil. Carne de la Finca (meat dishes) feature “La Soltera” Dona Rosita, a grilled double-cut marinated center-cut pork chop; and the Bistec Empanizado Campestre, breaded and deep-fried lime-marinated sirloin steak called “El Grande” and Chef Nickâ€s favorite. Pescador Del Mar dishes include the Camarones Enchilados (seafood), jumbo shrimp cooked in a spicy tomato creole sauce; and Pollo Classico (chicken) dishes feature the Pollo en salsa de Enchilados, boneless chopped chicken cooked in a spicy shrimp-based creole sauce.

A wine connoisseur, Nick Vazquez designed a wine list that won Wine Spectatorâ€s Best of Award of Excellence three years in a row.

Azúcar Cuban Cuisine & Cigars is a divine place to wine and dine and savor a fine cigar. That seems to be Nick Vazquezâ€s philosophy and he even put words to that effect above the chef stationâ€s window. It reads, “Come y bebe la vida es breve,” which in English means:

“Eat and drink because life is short.”

If you go:

Azúcar Cuban Cuisine & Cigars

495 Washington Blvd

Jersey City

(201) 222-0090

www.Azúcarcubancuisine.com

Hours: Tues-Thurs, 11:30 am to 11 pm

Fri, 11:30 am to 12 pm

Sat, 3 pm to 2 am

Closed Sun and Mon

The post Some Like it Hot! Azúcar Cuban Cuisine and Cigars: Tasty Cuban Dishes and a Smokin’ Cigar Room first appeared on River View Observer.