3 new restaurants offer global and local fare
Mesa, market sandwiches in Chandler and an intrepid Indian joint that has landed in Surprise.
The Latin Kitchen: Hearty Cuban fare in Mesa
It isn’t often that old favorites return from the dead. But those who have missed the hearty Cuban fare of Havana Cafe have something to celebrate.
BJ Hernandez, who opened the original Havana Cafe with her late husband in 1989, hoped to return soon when she shuttered the last location in 2015. It took a little time and a name change, but she’s once again behind the counter, serving Cuban classics.
Hernandez has teamed up with Elisa Nolan to open The Latin Kitchen. A fledgling restaurant less than a month old, it features a chalkboard menu of roughly 20 Cuban and Puerto Rican items, offered for lunch six days a week from a tiny, brightly colored room.
But bigger things are in store. A much larger dining room with a bar next door is nearing completion, and Nolan says they will ease into a full dinner menu and schedule over the coming months.
In the meantime, The Latin Kitchen is a cozy place to sample some maduros ($2), sweet and tender fried plantains; or their savory cousins, tostones ($2), flattened and twice fried to a sturdy crisp alongside garlicky mojo for dipping.
Flaky empanadas ($4) are stuffed with a deftly seasoned picadillo — steaming beef hash brightened with onions and peppers. The traditional Cuban sandwich ($9), also available as a medianoche ($9), is a sturdy specimen, pressed to a toasty crisp.
Plates ($10) pair meaty mains with rice, beans, maduros and a helping of tangy Cuban slaw. The bistec is thinsliced, marinated in citrus and smothered with onions, while the ropa vieja puts tender beef in a tomato-based criolla with a bit of a vinegary kick.
Details: 540 W. Broadway Road, Mesa. 480-306-7266, latinkitchenaz.com.
Farmboy: Market produce, smoked meats in Chandler
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you take the time and care to make a good one.
Open since June, Farmboy takes fa-
miliar breakfast and lunch foods and makes them uncommonly well.
Owners Diana and Oren Molovinsky, restaurant industry veterans, launched Mo’lovin Farms in Chandler after moving to Arizona in 2011. At Farmboy, the couple combine their kitchen and farming know-how at a casual-counter service joint that’s already spinning like a top.
In front of the counter, Farmboy’s market table offers a small selection of produce from Mo’loving and other nearby farms for guests to purchase and take home. Meanwhile, behind the counter, a hulking Oyler Pit lends a layer of smoke to the meats used to compose sandwiches that comprise the bulk of the lunchtime menu.
Together, the farm-fresh produce and barbecue pair with crusty, housebaked sourdough rolls to make a formidable trio.
The Lake Powell roast beef and Cheddar sandwich ($9.29) is a nifty number, smothered in caramelized onions with just a light smear of barbecue sauce so as not to overpower the meat within. The Ocotillo barbecue pulled pork ($9.29) takes a light tack with the smoke, punched up with fresh slaw and pickle chips.
Farmboy’s spicy chicken salad sandwich ($8.99) has a bit of vinegary pop, courtesy of pickled chile peppers. A ketchup-glazed, smoked meatloaf anchors the satisfying Coconino meatloaf sandwich ($8.79).
Sandwiches include fresh, simple sides like tomato-cucumber salad, a light and tender potato salad or excellent sauteed oyster mushrooms. Soups are an early standout. The green chile stew ($3.59 small, $6.79 large) is enormously satisfying, built on a rich beef stock. The meatless Farmboy chili ($3.79 small, $6.99 large) is flavorful enough that it doesn’t need meat, but a little steak, some burnt ends or one of the other meaty add-ons don’t hurt, either.
Details: 1075 W. Queen Creek Road,
Chandler. 480-361-2153, farmboyaz.com.
Haldi Indian Cuisine: Sultry Indian fare in Surprise
The surprise is that there’s an Indian restaurant here.
As far as I can tell, Haldi’s second location (the first opened in northeast Phoenix last year) is the only Indian res-
taurant within a 10-mile radius. Literally. But a short drive for the denizens of the northwest Valley isn’t the only reason to stop by.
Haldi also happens to be pretty darn tasty.
The Surprise restaurant is a much smaller footprint than the original — just a handful of tables and a short, well-maintained buffet line in a bright and spartan room. But the kitchen is off to a fine start. The menu will be a little smaller in scope (though it may add dosa later), it will continue to grow and is already a formidably large mix of dishes that will be familiar to Haldi’s fans.
Vegetarian dishes play a central role, including a smooth-textured palak paneer ($10.99), generously spiced with a little heat; and aloo gobi ($9.99), turmeric-stained cauliflower and potatoes, scented with cumin and bay.
Chicken shahi korma ($12.99) is a rich and creamy take on the dish, while lamb vindaloo ($13.99) is no less complex but favors the tart pop of a tomato-based curry spiked with vinegar.
Goat biryani ($13.99) is fragrant and intense, a mound of steaming rice studded with tender meat and a hefty whiff of cinnamon. Half a dozen tandoori meats comprise a sampler ($17.99) that arrives on a ripping hot cast iron platter, filling the air with smoke and spice.
Details: 13761 W. Bell Road, Surprise. 623-547-5373. Also, 2945 E. Bell Road, Phoenix. 602-603-9457, haldiaz.com.