RESTAURANT WEEK DC: Suggestion #2 Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar

Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar, located at 9th & H Street's NW,  will offer a festive Cuban feast for lunch, dinner and brunch this Restaurant Week.  At lunch, one can select one aperitivo, one favorito and dessert from Chef-Partner Guillermo Pernot and newly appointed Executive Chef Brad Smith’s prix fixe menu.  Standouts include the Bay Scallop Ceviche with bay scallops, tomato, Bermuda onions, cilantro, jalapeño salsa, fresh lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, served with saltines; Spanish Coca Flatbread, crispy flatbread topped with grilled zucchini, Portobello mushrooms, onions, roasted peppers, eggplant, tomato and melted Tetilla cheese, and the Ropa Vieja, classic Cuban shredded beef brisket stewed with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, red wine, served with maduros and steamed white rice.  Dessert consists of a sample of two different desserts: Mami Totty's Arroz con Leche, a classic Cuban rice pudding recipe handed down from Chef Pernot's mother-in-law, served with a coconut macaroon, and the Cuban flan, a traditional Cuban dessert of vanilla custard served with whipped cream.  The lunch menu is priced at $22.

 

For dinner, Cuba Libre is offering a four-course, prix fixe menu priced at $35.  Guests will start their meal with a canapé of Bruschetta De Tostón, black bean hummus, followed by a choice of one aperitivo as their first course with options such as Black Bean Soup, traditional Cuban black bean soup with rich authentic flavors; Tuna Ceviche with yellowfin tuna, jalapeño, coconut and ginger sauce and red onion escabéche; Coconut Crab Fritters, jumbo lump crabmeat with fresh grated coconut, peppers and fresh herbs, served with a sweet chili dipping sauce, or Chinita Chop-Chop Salad with romaine hearts, avocado, shaved breakfast radishes, carrots, mustard sesame vinaigrette, and a rice tuile. For the second course, guests may select one of the four entrées such as Vegetable Paella with grilled broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, leeks, eggplant, wild mushrooms, artichoke hearts and saffron-long grain rice, served with an asparagus and roasted piquillo pepper salad; Tuna a la Plancha, yellowfin tuna seared in olive oil on a flat iron grill, served with a red curry-mango sauce, white rice and Cuban black beans; Ropa Vieja, classic Cuban shredded beef brisket stewed with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, red wine, served with maduros and steamed white rice, as well as Citrus Chicken, marinated semi-boneless double chicken breast with plantain fufu, black bean sauce and chipotle aioli.  The same dessert options from the lunch menu complete the feast.

Brunch begins with a Cuban Bread Basket for the table filled with assorted homemade Latin breakfast breads including banana bread, guava cream cheese hojaldre (puff pastry), crispy churro, a coconut-berry muffin and chocolate muffin served alongside mango butter, guava marmalade and coconut lime preserve.  Then guests are asked to select three items from the featured seasonal brunch menu.  The brunch menu is priced at $22.

Cuba Libre will be extending their Restaurant Week offering from January 25 through February 7.  

Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., lunch is served Monday through Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner is served Monday through Saturday, from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. and Sunday, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.  It is requested that the entire table participate.

For more information call (202) 408-1600 or visit www.cubalibrerestaurant.com.