Pork and sugar 🍽
Restaurant Arelita customizes and brightens typical Cuban cuisine, offering a sweet experience
I went in pre-hyped about Restaurant Arelita because Lucy’ I’m Home’s Hector Diaz and The Coffee Exchange’s Andy Schlesinger separately reached out to me recently to put it on my radar, sharing high praise. They know legit Cuban food when they eat it.
Arelita resides at 2306 E. Platte Ave., on a less than attractive stretch of the street, but owner/chef Amaury Hernandez has done a great job to make the space as welcoming as possible. Pink and burgundy paint brighten the facade along with pictures of menu items and lush landscape photos of Cuba’s countryside. (I’m not sure where on-island they’re from, but they remind me of my time near the West Coast in a beautiful town named Viñales.) Inside a scene-setting oval-arch door — which feels like it belongs in a Mexican restaurant, which matched when Taqueria La Unica was prior in the spot — the walls are pink, peach and yellow with light wood accenting the dining room. It’s cute, with a proper salsa/rumba music soundtrack playing.
The menu features daily specials (except for Tuesdays, when it’s closed) like oxtail on Saturdays and Ajiaco (a Cubano version of the soup, not the Colombian) on Sundays. There’s also half a dozen dessert options (ranging from guava pastries to tres leches cake) and a dozen non-alcoholic drinks such as mango juice, lemonade, Cuban coffees and the most interesting and unique: guarapo, which is fresh-pressed sugar cane juice. Hernandez tells me he’s got the only sugar cane juicer in Colorado, for which he buys canes through Miami (I believe sourced from wider Florida, which grows an abundance of the crop.)
I’m surprised by how non-cloyingly sweet pure sugar cane juice tastes. It’s highly sugary, yes, but still natural tasting with an interesting aloe-juice-like note to the finish and a slight viscosity texturally. I immediately think of how it could inform a craft cocktail. And after a few sips I feel the sugar hit my system in a bit of a cold brew, rocket fuel kinda way, like the adult version of getting a toddler wound up on sweets. In a message I find sweet in the emotional way, Diaz tells me “I used to carry a piece of sugar cane in my back pocket in Cuba when I was a kid and I would chew on it all day. I’m sure most kids did that.”
From a lengthy list of apps, sandwiches, entrées and sides, we decide we must try the eponymous Arelita sandwich and one of our go-to Cuban favorites, lechon asado. The Arelita takes all the typical Cubano fillings and adds egg omelette and “ham finger” (croquettes that are a porky version of a crab cake sorta) which prove to be welcome additions and not overcomplicating to what’s already a near-perfect sandwich concept. It’s an awesome bite, big too, cut into halves ideal for sharing. We’re totally happy at the $18 price.
The menu overall reads quite affordable (considering the portions) and the lechon asado’s practically a steal at $14 with two sides included. We opt for sides of yuca con mojo (boiled cassava with citrus-garlic sauce) and tamal Cubano (ground corn and pork with bell pepper, seasonings and chicharron garnish). The yuca con mojo is like the garlic mashed potatoes version of cassava versus ordering yuca fries (which Arelita also has). It’s starchy as hell and toasted to a sheen, reminding me a bit of yaki mochi (Japanese grilled rice cakes). All of which is to say it’s pleasing and filling.
The tamal arrives atop corn stalks as a Mexican tamale would be wrapped in, but it’s definitely its own thing and shouldn’t be confused. Unlike fine corn masa, this is coarse corn bits, almost casserole like or reminiscent of riced cauliflower, spiked by the peppers and mild seasoning. With the chicharron crescendo it’s wonderful and it pairs beautifully with the mojo-marinated, roasted pork, which is so good on its own that it doesn’t need further sauce dipping.
We leave with leftovers and a strong desire to come back for more when time allows. Or hunger and proximity in a given moment dictates. Schlesinger and Diaz aren’t wrong — Arelita is pretty fantastic and absolutely authentic based off our limited dining. Definitely go, and don’t forget to order the guarapo.
