So, we went to Mojito last night, and first of all I must offer congratulations to Fernando. It's actually quite a feat he's pulled off, and I drove home shaking my head that something as silly as food could have been so incredible, or created such an exuberant experience. Havana Rumba was without doubt in my top 3, but I think I really went in with no expectations. We arrived around 8pm Saturday night, I thought it might be a little crowded, since it was the weekend and due to Marty's review, but the place was packed, seriously packed, somewhere around a two and a half hour wait. We sidled up to the bar for a nicely assembled mojito and gin and tonic, a bit clueless as to where to stand for a while. It wasn't too long before we snagged two bar chairs. Looking through the menu, it all looked so good, I decided to try a couple of tapas at the bar. First was the guacamole and chicharritas, which were really good. Light, crispy plantain chips to dip in avocado, lime, cilantro and red onions. Next up was Boniato Frito, sweet potato fries with a sidecar of smoked honey. Smoked honey, you say? Yes,yes,yes and how. This is serious goodness right here. I almost wept. Needless to say: incredible. Trio de hummus next, and they even found a way to infuse an ordinary dish like hummus (garbazo, black bean, and roasted pepper) with some fantastic ingredients and additions.
Let me say a word at this point about the beautiful presentations: from the dish, to the plate on which it's served, to the drink glasses, all very contemporary and just flat out cool. It was somewhere around this point that I realized that my entire dinner was going to happen at the bar, so barkeep! More, more more!
Calamares Fritos were next, and nice calamari though they are, what really set them off was the avocado lime aioli. This was the second time tonight that I actually considered the consequences of lifting the sidecar/dipping cup to my lips. In the interest of decorum I declined, with regret.
Empty plate removed, new beautiful dish arrives, it's like magic. Now landing: croquetas de yuca, a beautiful crab cake in all it's glory, with yet more of the aforementioned avocado lime aioli. You may be no Amazing Kreskin yourself, but I'm sure you won't be suprised that I found the crab cake yet another mouth watering, flavor bursting dish.
At this point, we were squarely tucked in at an hour and a half, completely happy with our good fortune to sit at the bar, and ready for espresso and a dessert, which ended up being the churros con chocolate. I regret to inform you that I only had a very little bit of this excellent dish, as we were sharing and I thought I may lose a digit if I attempted another bite.
So, we laughed, we cried, we talked to Fernando for a minute, as he was just a tiny bit busy, and ate our way through the joys of an otherwise stormy night. Congratulations guys, thanks for a fantastic restaurant.
Now, slightly on subject, I'd like to know about downtown Louisville. Are we at a point yet where it *almost* makes financial sense to open a restaurant downtown? Is it still a huge risk? I guess not as much as it used to be. There are a lot of great places there already, and that's normally where I go when going out. Is the mentality changing yet? I love downtown, I'm down there a lot, and want people to understand so much. Anyway, I apologize for the length of this, end now.
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