Oficina Latina Está Caliente
Hola los bebés alimentos! That’s “food babies” in Spanish (thanks Google Translate). Last week, I finally got to cross Oficina Latina off my “To Do” list! Thanks Kristin, Sofia, and Rachael for helping me accomplish such a feat. Since I live a few blocks away, I walk by this place almost every other day and am relentlessly allured by its “sexiness,” which I’ll detail throughout this post.
I’ve been thinking about this meal for the last few days for several reasons: 1) Nolita is dreamy, 2) Oficina Latina is exquisitely colorful, 3) Eating delicious “Pan-American” food is like walking on sunshine, 4) Antique furniture and quirky gadgets get me every time, and 5) I get anxiety about getting behind on my posts (which is, of course, brought on by eating while I should be writing).
So let’s start off with a picture that was NOT taken by my crappy Blackberry. Sure, some may say that Oficina Latina looks like a run-down shack. But trust me, it’s supposed to look that authentic and caliente. Plus, there’s a lot more going on inside. Keep reading…
Grub Street
See? A lot more going on inside. The restaurant and bar offer super fresh and creative cocktails that make use of tropical flavors and unusual garnishes (candied ginger). Because my unfortunate-lightweight-self couldn’t handle a cocktail of my own (oh…forever doomed by the seductive margaritas at Casa Mezcal), I only sipped on Sofia’s lovely Lychee Mojito.
Grub Street
Hold on! I just want to show you los bebés alimentos one more picture before I get to the food. How freaking adorable is this restaurant? Imagine the scene with extremely dim lights, lots of happy people, and drinks abound. The TV seems out of place though huh.
Grub Street
Although Oficina Latina’s menu seems pretty packed, we could easily pick out the “stars” of the show. Our first course consisted of several dishes, including the Ensalada De Remolacha–a roasted beet salad with leeks, green beans, walnuts and creamy blue cheese. I never realized how much I liked beets until this dish had its way with my taste buds. Sure, the presentation could’ve used some spiffing up, but the distinct flavors worked very well together.
Arepas! Ever since discovering Caracas a few years ago, I hold all arepas to a certain standard–a very high, Caracas-licious standard. The Arepas Vegetariana at Oficina Latina packed a flavorful punch in the avocado salad filling thanks to mushroom, black olives, and queso fresco. However, due to a bad recipe or over-grilling, the grilled spinach corn cakes were disappointing. There was no steam billowing out from the arepa, nor was the center warm and soft! I don’t know too much about Venezuelan food or arepas, but I know that I didn’t love these arepas. They were just ok. Just mehhh…
At this point, my mind is a blur and my belly is rumbling. Why? Because I’m craving Croquetas De Cangrejo! These Mexican pan-seared crab cakes are absolutely #dabombdotcom. Although teeny tiny little suckers, these crab cakes are incredibly rich with mushroom, tomato, and most of all, some magnificent bread crumbs (I never thought I would ever write anything like “magnificent bread crumbs”). They were salty but in a lovely way that the dish required. The crab meat wasn’t out-of-this-world fresh. But since there was so little of it in the crab meat-to-bread crumb ratio, it didn’t really make a difference to us. Mmmmmmm yummy!
I LOVE CEVICHE. And even before I looked at Oficina Latina’s menu last Thursday, I had a strong inkling that I might satiate my ceviche craving here. The Ceviche De Calamari Y Vieras doesn’t look too amazing, but with little bits of pineapple, the chef couldn’t possibly go wrong. This Peruvian dish consisted of calamari and scallops cured in lime juice. Celery and cilantro made their way into the ceviche to give it some flavah and crunch. And the pineapple really topped it all off! It was an incredibly distinct, fruity flavor, which I’ve never experienced in any other ceviche before. 100 thumbs up.
Tostones! For me, plantains are synonymous with Latin American cuisines. I know this because every other Latin American restaurant in this city has some variation of plantains on their respective menus. Thank goodness for my Dominican roommate from sophomore year at NYU, Victoria. She taught me how to make maduros and tostones, which means I’m forever indebted to her. Ok, now I’m going way off topic. But the tostones at Oficina Latina were not great, and that was a huge disappointment coming from a restaurant with such a widespread grasp of Latin American cuisines. I like some crunch but these were too dry and needed salt!
I wasn’t in love with the Recalentado A Caballo either, but it was nice to have a rice dish to polish off our Latin American feast. This Dominican dish of white rice with spicy pork and bacon topped with a sunny side up egg was easy-to-eat and saucy (as in having lots of sauce). Did I mention that it’s cooked in a cast iron pan? Btw, on Google Translate, Recalentado A Caballo translates into “Reheating a Horse.” So…Oficina Latina, was that really pork? I kid.
And now for my favorite part of blogging…sweet tooth time. No one at the table was noticeably enthusiastic about dessert, but I made sure that we tried something. What’s dinner without dessert, right? Well, that something wasn’t phenomenal, but it was good enough to hit the spot. And that spot was craving some warm, chocolatey goodness with vanilla ice cream. The cake was a tiny bit too floury and dry but otherwise very good.
As you can tell, there are some hit-or-miss items on the menu. But I can’t stress enough how much I loved the entire experience. If anything, Oficina Latina needs to work on the presentation of its food. Oh yea, and service. Forgot to mention that one. Our server had almost no idea what he was doing (but he was really nice!). Maybe he was in the weeds, but he just couldn’t get his mind in one place, and it was SO obvious. It’s a miracle that he even got our order (almost) correct. Other than that, the bartender, manager, and bus boys were delightful and stylish to boot.
P.S. It’s almost 3 am. I’ve only just finished this post. I need to study. I’m hungry. Must sleep. Fail.
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