Cacao Restaurant, Coral Gables, Florida
Our reservation at Cacao was at 8pm. We were greeted at the door and offered a choice of tables. My wife preferred a small room furnished with banquets, separated from the wine cellar by a large glass wall. The restaurant, designed by Venezuelan Interior Designer Andres Alibrandi is decorated in copper and earth tones that hint to the restaurant’s name, Cacao, and lend a romantic ambiance to the dining area. At that time the restaurant was not overly busy, and we were allowed to sit side by side on the banquette. This made our evening special. Cacao offers a very nice selection of specialty drinks with Latin accents from $10-$12. We tried their Caiparina, and a refreshing Guava drink. The wine menu is a selection of excellent Argentinean, Chilean, and Spanish wines, the majority under $50. In addition to their menu, Cacao offers a tasting menu as well. The regular menu is extensive with Soups, Antojitos (cravings), Signature Appetizers, Ceviches, Tiraditos (thinly sliced fish), Salads, and Main Courses. The tasting menu is a seven course dinner for $75, and is offered with a $45 wine-pairing menu.
Chef Edgar Leal owner and Executive Chef of Cacao, and his wife and partner Mariana Montero De Castro took great care in creating a truly authentic Latin-American menu of classic recipes from Latin countries between Mexico and Patagonia. We decided to put ourselves in the hands of Chef Edgar Leal. He is a warm and friendly person with a genuine desire to please his customers. He offered to pair the wines for our dinner with some of his select wines sold by the glass.
Our dinner started with three of their Signature Appetizers, the Rocoto Shrimp lightly fried, tossed in lime with a creamy Rocoto pepper sauce made with fresh salsa (Rocoto is a red/yellow pepper that has been cultivated in Peru and Bolivia for over 5000 years).The shrimp was set on a homemade tortilla basket coated with Rocoto sauce, annatto and cilantro-parsley oils decorating the plate. This dish was spectacular, beautiful and creative. Our second appetizer was a crisp, refreshing, and slightly sweet Passion Fruit Ceviche, perfect cubes of salmon flavored with passion fruit, diced salsa, and fresh cilantro. Our third appetizer was typical from Argentina, a Corn Soufflé filled with melted Guayanes cheese served on a melted cheese sauce and red pepper coulis. The sweet corn flavor balanced with the mildly salted cheese was delicious. Our appetizers were paired with a glass of Spanish Albarino from Galicia that was crisp, pleasantly rich, and slightly smoky with hints of pear, peach and pineapple that went well with our starters.
Our appetizers were followed by the superb slightly-sweet red-wine sorbet of the day, a creation of Chef Mariana Montero De Castro who is Chef de Cuisine and Patisserie at Cacao.
For our entrees, Chef Edgar read my mind when he chose the Braised Beef Cheeks as my entrée. It is one of my favorite dishes. The meat dissolved in my mouth. The red wine sauce was reduced to perfection, and the creamy polenta with jalapeno peppers was stupendous leaving a smooth pleasant after taste that lingered on my palate. My wife, who loves quinoa, was also pleasantly surprised with the Shrimp Quinoto chef Edgar chose for her, seared shrimp flambéed with orange liquor, accompanied by a perfect quinoa risotto and asparagus with Beurre Blanc-scallion sauce. The risotto was made with red and white quinoa for color accents, and cream and Parmigiano for the rich risotto taste and texture.
Chef Edgar Leal has perfected these dishes, using superior ingredients rarely found in Latin cuisine in the US. My entrée was more reminiscent of a perfectly executed French recipe. My wife and I are making plans to return to Cacao to try several other items on the menu. Chef Leal chose two different wines, a wonderful Pinot Noir and an excellent Shiraz.
Dessert was “Le Pièce de Résistance.” Mariana has created delicate, fine desserts with high-end Latin-American ingredients, port-wine glazes, almond cookie cake, El Rey chocolate made with 100% Venezuelan cacao, meringue, Dulce de Leche , and many more unusual sweets. We sampled the Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake with a Molten White Chocolate Center and Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream, The Suspiro Limeno Hazelnut Tart with Dulce De Leche Parfait and Meringue with Fresh Fruit, and finally the Venezuelan Chocolate” Marquesa” with Maria Cookies Ice Cream. A glass of Uruguayan Alcyone accompanied our desserts. Alcyone is made from Tannat grape and Grappa in the port method. The result is a sweet, dessert-wine with hints of chocolate and vanilla that complemented our desserts well.
Cacao is an excellent place to be adventurous, and to be properly introduced to Latin American cuisine. I cannot think of any other restaurant that has captured so well the soul of the Latin kitchen, and that has managed to turn old-classic Latin recipes into perfectly executed dishes worthy of culinary praise.
