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Tired of pretentious Pan-Everywhere eateries where fusion equals confusion and deconstruction means some sadistic chef screwing with your mind? Try this nonconfusing fusion place, where deconstruction is done for fun — as in congenial, creative chef Edgar Leal's marinated shrimp/mussels/calamari Argentine-style empanada ($14) — and all lunch specials are $11.99. Leal's childhood years — spent swinging back and forth between rural Venezuela and New York City — seem an ideal background for sensibly dealing with the foods of many countries (though mainly Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela) and also imbued him with an instinctive flair for transforming traditional rustic dishes into cosmopolitan contemporary creations — such as his warm "cachapa" soufflé with creamy guayanes cheese ($12), an elegantly lightened take on a common corn cake street snack. New-style ceviches and tiraditos, subtly flash-marinated and garnished to evoke the varying typical flavors of numerous nations, are definitive must-not-misses — an exciting comparative taste test, and a gut-level lesson in the benefits of international coexistence.
After almost six years, thousands of meals, and enough accolades to cause any normal person's head to swell larger than Ohio, there's only one problem with Edgar Leal's Cacao. You want to eat everything on the menu. Let's see, classic Peruvian... More »
Editor's note: Periodically we will publish capsule reviews like those below in addition to our weekly full reviews. Contributors to this installment include Lee Klein, Pamela Robin Brandt, Bill Citara, Greg Baker, and Karen Figueiredo. More than... More »
If you have read anything about the Coral Gables restaurant Cacao 1737 (though there hasn't been much to read -- the lack of buzz especially odd since Edgar Leal was perhaps the most buzz-producing young chef in Venezuela before he relocated to... More »
Tired of pretentious Pan-Everywhere eateries where fusion equals confusion and deconstruction means some sadistic chef screwing with your mind? Try this nonconfusing fusion place, where deconstruction is done for fun -- as in congenial, creative chef Edgar Leal's marinated shrimp/mussels/calamari Argentine-style empanada ($14) -- and all lunch specials are $11.99. Leal's childhood years -- spent swinging back and forth between rural Venezuela and New York City -- seem an... More »
BEST CEVICHE Cacao 141 Giralda Avenue Coral Gables 305-445-1001 In a town where good ceviche is seldom far enough away to require hopping in the car, and great ceviche is served in dozens of places (from humble neighborhood Latin joints to nationally known gourmet palaces like Ola), Cacao's creations nevertheless shine. Though young chef Edgar Leal is Venezuelan, his specialties in the restaurant's main dining area are inventive Nueva interpretations of dishes from all over Latin... More »
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