PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Latin food from Caribbean countries, like so many other cuisine categories in our quickly diversifying food scene, is rapidly expanding. You can eat it alongside a full cocktail menu and Cuban beats at Amador in Newport. You can eat it at Chacabanas, a combination Cuban/Dominican spot in Over-the-Rhine. And you can try it at a Dominican restaurant in Fairfield called MofonGo City. Each of these places opened within the last year and a half, adding depth to the local Latin food scene.
Even if you still haven’t been to Amador, you probably know its owner’s work: Nick Pesola also owns Revolution Rotisserie in Pleasant Ridge and retro burger joint Milkman in Over-the-Rhine. So how did he go from chicken and burgers to Cuban food? The restaurant’s space inspired the decision. Initially, North American Properties (Newport on the Levee’s owners) approached him about opening a new location of Revolution, but when he saw the space in the heart of the Levee, he knew he had to open a restaurant that was “fun and lively.” The space screamed for a Cuban spot.
According to Pesola, Amador’s breezy, vibrant aesthetic was informed by one question: “What if Cuba were still the holiday isle of the tropics?” It was also inspired by trips to some of America’s great Cuban restaurants in cities like Miami, Tampa, and (believe it or not) Louisville, where La Bodeguita de Mima continues to draw crowds. True to his vision, a visit to the riverside restaurant feels like a vacation.
The space’s every design touch transports diners to the tropics, from the floral-patterned wallpaper to the tropical plants to the infectious Latin beats (and occasional live music) playing on the loudspeaker. The food menu skirts the line between Cuban tradition and American modernity.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
“It’s kind of a dance because we want the flavors to be authentic, but we want to do a modern interpretation of the cuisine,” he explains. “We want to do a playful concept.”
Such playful touches include guacamole with grilled pineapples and plantain chips, Cuban mustard (with hints of garlic and citrus) and mojo mayo (a zesty orange juice and garlic blend) on a smashburger, and a refreshing tropical salsa on the blackened mahi mahi. These dishes fit Amador’s laid-back vibes perfectly.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Meanwhile, on Elm Street, Chacabanas serves up an authentic-yet-novel combination of Cuban and Dominican classics. The restaurant’s dual lineage is a reflection of its owner. Helen Ortega moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in 1994, but her stepmother is Cuban. “I base my food on traditional Dominican seasonings and Cuban condiments,” she says.
This fusion is subtly evident in Chacabanas’s tasty and popular Cuban sandwiches. Whereas the traditional Cuban’s tender pork is often marinated in mojo, Ortega uses Dominican sofrito, a more vinegary tomato, cilantro, and pepper blend. She also uses “picnic pork” (from the shoulder) as opposed to the more traditional pork butt. The mojo can be found in creamy aioli form as the perfect dipping sauce for the crisp, cheese-flecked tostones. It, like all of the restaurant’s condiments, is scratch-made.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Ortega, who attended the International Culinary Center in New York City (formerly the French Culinary Institute) and has cooked with acclaimed Latin American chefs like Bill Telepan and Top Chef’s Angelo Sosa, says that she’s had a strong response from the local Cuban and Dominican communities and plans to expand to a full-service restaurant and bar. Never one for the spotlight, Ortega intentionally opened Chacabanas without fanfare, hoping that the food would speak for her. It does.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
At MofonGo City in Fairfield, the menu is pure Dominican. Mofongo, mashed starches (usually plantains) seasoned with garlic, salt, and broth and mixed with proteins, is a dish that we have covered in this magazine before. Based on a West African dish called fufu, mofongo is beloved in both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (MashRoots, a Puerto Rican food stall in Madisonville’s Element Eatery, also does a delicious version of the dish).
The massive mound of mofongo that you’ll find at MofonGo City comes with a side of sancocho, a garlicky Dominican pork and beef broth mixed with cassava and plantain. Owner Esdras Lopez tells me that many of his Dominican customers compare it to their grandmas’ sancocho, the ultimate compliment for any stew. I couldn’t get enough of the longaniza, a fatty, smoky sausage, which was served on the side.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
MofonGo City’s menu is full of other classic Dominican dishes (I’m already eyeing the Salpicon Abdiel, a cocktail of queen conch, crab, octopus, shrimp, and oysters, for my next visit). And though the restaurant is relatively new, its chef—Esdras’s brother Arismendy Lopez—cooked professionally in the Dominican Republic for more than 30 years. He was even part of a culinary team that holds the record for world’s largest mangù (a sort of boiled mofongo that is purely Dominican), weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds.
Esdras runs the front of the house and occasionally serenades customers (like Amador, MofonGo City often features live music). If you go, he may ask you what your favorite song is and then proceed to play it. And, trust me, he’ll want you to try to stump him. Win or lose, you’ll be rewarded with some exceptional Latin food in a city suddenly brimming with it.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE VIOX
Amador, 1 Levee Way Suite 2122A, Newport, amadorcuban.com, (859) 392-2060, @amadorcuban on Instagram
Chacabanas, 1809 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, chacabanascincy.com, (513) 717-2172, @chacabanascincy on Instagram
MofonGo City, 7373 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield, mofongo-city.com, (859) 628-8424, @mofongocity on Instagram
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