Floridita
Dinner and dance is something my Dad embraced in the fifties. But, alas, without any young blood coming through the ranks, this form of entertainment has survived since then solely on a life support machine powered by the type of seaside resort which the Conservatives might choose for a conference.
But there's life in the old legs yet! Witness a Saturday night in Floridita, London's Cuban-themed joint venture between Conran Restaurants and Havana Holdings. Here, it's not unusual to get 400 covers eating any time between 8pm and 3am, with another 300 in the bar (many of whom will order bar food), and then see them all descend on the dance floor, arms in the air, as house band Musica Floridita and guest musicians belt out salsa and Cuban hip-hop. Is this a dinner and dance renaissance?
Executive chef Andy Rose thinks so: "There's a huge audience, especially with the Cuban style, and in the last month it's really taken off," he says. The fact that diners can eat so late in a fairly clubby atmosphere is, after all, still a novelty in the capital. Rose says weekends are seeing about 70 covers ordering after midnight.
A necessary process of rejuvenaton has taken place on the menu, too. Cuban food has a (largely deserved) bad reputation, so Rose designed dishes which he imagined the cuisine might now embrace had its evolution after the fifties not been suffocated by the revolution. "Cuba pre-1950s was cash-rich, a millionaires' playground, and cooking was on a level with French," he says. "But it's got stuck in that era - all very heavy sauces with lots of cream."
To that end there are lots of broadly Spanish and French influences, with South American creeping in. There are two ceviches on the starter menu, one with snapper, coconut and lime (£8.25), the other with octopus and squid (£8). Another traditional Latin dish Rose has updated is ropa vieja of confit duck (£7.25). "Ropa vieja means ‘old clothes' in Spanish, but it might as well be ‘old rope' judging by some of what I've tasted in Cuba," says Rose. Traditionally, the dish uses leftover meat which is cooked for a long time until it becomes very stringy, then refried with garlic, pepper and tomatoes. Rose uses confit duck, with is far less dry and gives it a more modern feel.
Of the size of the operation Rose, who was also executive chef at the restaurant's former incarnation Mezzo, says you have to think about what dishes you can get out in volume and the skill set of the brigade. These include a spit roast of suckling pig (£18.25). "The carcasses are boned, scored and salted overnight, then put on the spit roast in batches at 4.30pm, 6.30pm and then depending on demand again at 9pm," he says. "Each takes an hour to cook, then is flashed through a very hot oven to finish the crackling, then left to rest for 20 minutes." Each carcass is about 6-9kg and each portion is around 250-300g.
These rustic-style dishes are combined with more luxury produce like steak ch‰teaubriand and lobster thermidor - again a retro nod to the glamour of 1950s Havana. "These are both on offer at the original Floridita, so that is our link," says Rose, who plans a five- to seven-course tasting menu soon, which will be available at first in the restaurant's VIP area, Bar Constante (named after Constante Rivalaigua, the legendary barman at the original El Floridita who invented the daiquiri).
Rose gets through a 350kg shipment of lobster imported direct from Cuba every 10 days (unless it's during the close season when he opts for cold-water Atlantic fish).
He reckons about 30-40% of
people order lobster as the main, either as thermidor (£36.50), poached medallions (£28 per person) or charcoal-grilled (£35). Those sales have helped put the average spend with wine up to more than £50 a head with wine, but with four salads and three soups to choose from as well it's also easy for customers to spend closer to £30.
"We want a menu that suits everyone from those with simple tastes to the more discerning," says Rose. "I haven't tried to make something that's too Mickey Mouse. It's still based on London's general public taste - which doesn't always want something too spicy or different." But which is, it seems, interested in the twin pleasures of good food and good music.
F*
BOXHEAD: what's on the menu
BOXTEXT: Salt cod and parsley croquettes, £7
Pata negra ham, £15.50
Stuffed piquillo peppers, soft cheese and anchovies, £7.50
Meat balls stuffed with quails' eggs, £16
Beef and chorizo frita, £13.50
Spice-blackened fillet of red snapper, fresh tomato, caper and olive sofrito, £16.25
Chocolate cake tres leches, poached fig and mascarpone, £7.25
Mini orange flower doughnuts, Havana Club and raisin ice-cream, £6.50
Manchego (18 month), Taleggio and Roquefort cheese, quince jelly, £8.50
CAPTION: Dinner and dance is back with a bang at London's Cuban-themed Floridita
CAPTION: The original El Floridita in Havana was the birthplace of the daiquiri, a heritage that's kept alive at the London venue
