Button up your guayabera and think tropical thoughts. An authentic Cuban dining experience is about to warm up Harrisburg.
Poised to open for dinner in the charming Shipoke neighborhood this month, Los Tres Cubanos will feature a farm-to-table menu with nightly specials that celebrate traditional Cuban cuisine.
“The food that you see—you’re going to smell and taste it before you can eat it,” said the chef Daniel Avila, a recent Cuban immigrant, who spoke in his native Spanish.
Avila explained that what tends to set Cuban food apart is its flavor, rich without necessarily being spicy. There is also an emphasis on intensive preparation, like marinating or roasting, that requires planning ahead.
Los Tres Cubanos, or The Three Cubans, is named for its owners, who, in their day jobs, are physicians. Jose Manjon and Jose Misas are doctors at PinnacleHealth, and Alfred Leal is an oncologist at Hematology & Oncology Consultants of Pennsylvania.
The trio wish to share their native culture and cuisine with the people of the Harrisburg area, so are opening in the building last occupied by Char’s Bella Mundo at the corner of Race and Conoy streets in Shipoke.
“We want to offer what we tasted as a child and what we love now,” said Manjon.
The corner restaurant will have seating for 46 and a 10-chair bar, with additional seats for al fresco dining. The three partners envision an atmosphere that will sweep diners away to the Cuba of the 1940s and ‘50s. Tables on the sidewalk will allow people to play a traditional game of dominoes, sip Cuban coffee and enjoy a cigar.
“One of the things that attracted us as three physicians,” said Leal, “is we want to be the kind of place where, when someone we know walks in, we’ll know them by their first name, give them a hug, ask how their kids are doing. I want people to know I’m taking care of them.”
Manjon added, “The three of us feel that we will be part of this. We will be there. We will eat there. We will greet our guests and people that we know.”
Close to His Heart
It was while dining at a friend’s restaurant that Manjon was introduced to his future chef.
“He was working for a friend of mine,” said Manjon of Avila, who was cooking Italian cuisine at Gabriella Ristorante in Colonial Park. “But when he heard that I was looking for someone to open up a Cuban restaurant, he went nuts.”
Avila, 28, comes from Holguín, Cuba, and is a graduate of the School of Hospitality and Tourism in Varadero, where he specialized in Cuban and Italian cuisine. After working at resorts and building up banquet experience, he decided to pursue his culinary career in the United States. It’s been less than a year since the move, and Avila is excited to create a menu close to his heart.
Some of the traditional dishes he’ll prepare include ropa vieja (shredded beef), picadillo (ground beef and tomatoes with raisins), arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), roasted pork and white rice and black beans.
While it’s not actually widely eaten in Cuba, Leal enthusiastically described the perfect Cuban sandwich: “Roasted pork, deli ham, Swiss cheese, cheap yellow mustard and kosher pickles.”
“The bread is the key,” he said. “Cuban bread is very different. It’s called ‘paniagua,’ or water bread. The crust is paper-thin. You put butter on the outside. And the key is being able to smash it down.”
And for dessert?
While highlights include flan and arroz con leche (rice pudding), cheese, fruit and nuts are traditional after-dinner fare in most Cuban households.
“Dessert was something for special occasions,” Leal said. “I remember my grandfather. He always had his Cuban coffee and a little bit of cheese after dinner.”
Cuban coffee is like espresso, they explained—very strong but with sugar in it.
“When you finish your coffee,” said Leal, “there’s the sugar at the bottom. The residue. I remember as a kid just waiting for that syrup at the bottom of the cup.”
The Cuban cocktails you can expect to see include the daiquiri, mojito, Cuba libre, rum-based drinks and sherry, which is common before or after dinner.
“We want to have wines that are reminiscent of the kinds our parents drank,” said Leal. “Like Spanish or Argentine wines. They’re not extraordinarily dry. They’re on the sweet end of the scale.”
While inspired by their childhood memories, the three partners also get inspiration from great Cuban restaurants in the United States, such as Philadelphia’s Alma de Cuba and the metropolitan franchise Cuba Libre.
“We ate at Versailles in Miami,” said Leal. “I said to my mom, ‘I would have thought you and grandma were in the kitchen.’”
When asked if the renewed interest in American relations with Cuba informed their decision to open the new restaurant, Manjon asserted that they don’t want to make politics part of it.
“To me, it’s not political,” said Leal. “To me, it’s keeping something alive.”
Los Tres Cubanos is located at 540 Race St., Harrisburg.
