Trip to Miami

I had a trip for work to the City of Miami last week, unfortunately the trip was way to short.  I arrived Tuesday afternoon and left Thursday afternoon at 1:00 pm, it didn't give much time to sight see.  The first night for dinner I went to Miami Beach, I have never seen so many Lamborghini's and Ferrari's in one place in my life, I know the people who have those don't work at the same place I do.  Since it was late, and I was tired, I didn't get to see much for sites or the culture of Miami.  Our group ate at a place on the main street by the beach and it was just o/k, I had a steak and it was not very good, at least the Corona's were cold.

On Wednesday Night I connected with a person who lives in the area and works for the same company as me, she has quite the cultural variance in her life.  My co-worker is originally from Montreal Canada, she is now an American citizen, her first husband was Jewish so she still celebrates some of their traditions.  Her current husband is from El Salvador so she is quite good in speaking Spanish.  She knew I wanted to experience some Cuban food so she choose a place that was known as a trendy upper scale authentic Cuban restaurant.  The place was called YUCA which is an acronym for Young Urban Cuban American.  Below is the menu that was part of the special deal:

http://www.ilovemiamispice.com/menus%202012/yuca_dinner.pdfs

The special was three items, including an appetizer, entree and desert.  I had a fabulous appetizer which was a spicy sausage wrapped in a tomato peel, this was probably the best part of the entire meal, the flavor was fantastic.   Below is the description from the menu:
PIQUILLOS DE PEPIN ROASTED SPANISH PIQUILLO PEPPERS, CHORIZO, PORCINI MUSHROOMS, CREAM CABRALES CHEESE SAUCE

The entree I had was Pork I was told that Pork is a staple meat in Cuba so I had to try it, the meat was served on the bone kind of like a crown roast except with only one bone.  The pork was very tender and not overly seasoned, this was very good and a lot to eat, it was served with rice.  Of course we had to have a side of black beans and rice which is a Cuban mainstay. Here is the description from the menu regarding the entree:
PORK OSSOBUCO
CONGRI RICE, RIOJA SAUCE

For Desert I had to have the cake and ice cream, this was very good, the cookie on the bottom of the ice cream was a little chewy but the rest was tasty and put me over the top as far as being full.

TRES LECHES DE TURRON
“A YUCA ORIGINAL” SPONGE CAKE MADE WITH SPANISH “TURRON DE JIJONA” SERVED WITH OUR HOMEMADE GUAVA CREAM
CHEESE ICE-CREAM

Picture of YUCA

I really didn't have as much time to explore the city as much as I wanted to, it seemed that there was no lack of cigar shops, they were on every corner as well as women walking around selling them.

This was a great experience and I would like to be able to go back some day and spend some more time soaking in all the culture it has to offer.

Until next time, thanks for following my journey.
Barry