Porto's Bakery continues to wow the locals in L.A.

On a Saturday afternoon, the Glendale store is packed with talkative and friendly people queuing up for their brief moment of glory at the counter. The lines seem overwhelming at first, but the take-a-number system is followed religiously and even in the busiest times, the wait is no more than five minutes. Special express lines expedite the process for the lunch crowd and people picking up four items or less.

Porto's Cuban bread is the stuff that Cuban food dreams are made of with a crispy crust, and a warm, doughy inside. The bread alone makes a trip to Porto's worthwhile, but once you get up to the front and peruse the bakery case you will be hard pressed to limit yourself to a loaf or two of bread.

The ovens are always busy at Porto's Bakery in Glendale, California where they typically bake bread at least four times each day. Those who know real Cuban bread flock here to get warm, fresh-from-the-oven loaves that pass the ultimate test: eat a slice or two and notice the collection of crumbs that accumulate on the floor or on your lap. They say you don't just eat real Cuban bread - you end up wearing it!

Pasteles are the pastry of choice here, and Porto's take on coconut and the typical guava and cheese combination (what they call a "refugiado") are so flaky, they truly melt in your mouth. Porto's made their reputation on cakes, the family business started in Cuba where Raul's mother, Rosa used to make cakes and sell them out of her home.

The family continue to do a big business in elaborately decorated cakes to celebrate every major life occasion from birthdays and baptisms, to quinceañeras, graduations, weddings, and retirement parties. The bakery specializes in several Cuban cakes, some soaked in French brandy syrup and filled with vanilla custard, pineapple custard, strawberry jam, or fresh strawberries.

Porto's is an excellent spot for a casual lunch with a complete sandwich menu – everything from the standard Cuban to the medianoche preparada (a medianoche with croquetas) to a great pan con lechón (roasted pork sandwich). Add a selection of great tamales, croquetas, and pastel de chorizo and you have a smorgasbord of Cuban delights.

Porto's recently opened a second location in Burbank, California. If you are in town doing the tourist thing, the Burbank location is closer to Universal studios and several motion picture studios in the Burbank area.

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Frankie's Pizza

A Miami Classic

I first came to Miami in 1984 and I have to admit that for many years I ate nothing but Cuban and Latin American food in South Florida. After all, I could get Chinese, Italian, German, and other “ethnic” foods at home in Minnesota, but Cuban food was all new to me. Like a groom with a new bride, I wanted to spend all of my time with my newfound love.

So for many years, Joe's Stone Crab and I were complete strangers. I never wolfed down a thick corned beef sandwich at Wolfie Cohen's. I never sank my teeth into a juice spurting Arbetter's hot dog. I was baffled by the presence of Uncle Tom's barbecue at the gateway to my favorite Cuban Food Land on Calle Ocho.

As I made my way up and down Bird Road in search of the next Latin American treat, I frequently passed the little white building with the straight-from-the-50s “Frankie's Pizza” sign atop a large poll.

Year after year, I passed Frankie's by on my way to more Latin culinary pursuits. Then one day I was running a few non-food related errands along Bird Road when the lure of Frankie's finally sucked me in. What I found was a little hole in the wall place – no credit cards, no delivery, and no place to sit – that is as old as I am. And it looked like it had changed little if any from the days when it was pretty much surrounded by a few farms, dirt roads, and undeveloped Glades land.

The founder of the restaurant Frank B. Pasquarella must have been a math major because at Frankie's, the pie are squared, in true Sicilian style. Once you get past the shock of seeing a square pizza, you realize that the rectangular format has a lot going for it. It's a lot easier to hold without resorting to the New Jersey “fold the slice in half” method – so you don't have any hot fillings plummeting down onto your lap.

Frankie's does sell individual slices, which makes it a great stop for a quick lunch. You won't find any combinations on the menu – nothing like the “meat lovers” or “Eddie's Extra Special.” Here you are left to your own appetites and imagination.

You start with the basic tomato sauce and cheese pie and then add your toppings: juicy Italian sausage with just a hint of fennel, thin slices of pepperoni curled at the edges and lightly browned in the oven, and a nice salami with a bright sausage flavor. Add some veggies – onions, green peppers, garlic, mushrooms, olives – and you have one great pie!

Don't pass on the fresh garlic; it gives the pizza a great bite and a wonderful aroma.

Frankie's Pizza

9118 SW 40th St
Miami, FL 33165
(305) 221-0221

Open: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday noon to 10:00 p.m. | Friday & Saturday noon to 11:00 p.m. | (Closed Monday)

Website: frankiespizzaonline.com

“Three Guys From Miami Celebrate Cuban” is our latest book. Here you'll find many classic Miami Cuban recipes, this time with an emphasis on dishes that are great for parties.

“Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban” is our first book. It contains many classic Miami Cuban recipes and favorite dishes.

Two great Miami Cuban cookbooks:

You'll use these for years to come!

Many a pizza has been ruined by a bad anchovy!

A tender smoked anchovy is a joy on the tongue - the best ones seem to melt in your mouth. We especially enjoy Nardín Smoked Anchovies, crafted with skill by a family owned business in Spain. These hearty fish are harvested from the Cantabria Sea in the Bay of Biscay using sustainable fishing methods.

The process starts on the fishing boats where the freshly netted fish are packed in a mild refrigerated brine - using half the salt of a typical brining solution. Once ashore, Nardín carefully washes away the brine and hand fillets the anchovies. They then hand dry and smoke the anchovies with beech wood, a delicate and mildly sweet hardwood. They pack the anchovies in pure olive oil and the result is an anchovy that is not overly salty with a sublime, mild fish flavor.

The texture of this fish is far and away above that if a typical anchovy, which normally sits in a salty brine for months. The plump texture of these will remind you of delicately smoked salmon

We love to eat these anchovies on toasted and lightly buttered Cuban bread with piquillo peppers, chopped sweet onion, and a dash of oil and vinegar. Either that, or right out of the can!

Find out more about these delicious anchovies by clicking here.

A favorite appetizer at our parties is squid in its own ink. Sounds strange to some, but the ink truly gives the squid a unique flavor. Tiny baby squid are the fish of choice. Their small size makes them very tender.

When we want to really impress, we splurge on these tender squid that are caught in the estuaries of Galicia in Spain. Packed by artisans in a small seaside factory, these squid taste as fresh as the ocean.

Find out more by clicking here.

Buenos Aires Bakery

In the heart of what has become “Little Buenos Aires,” this stand-out bakery sells Spanish omelets, pizza, and a selection of pastas just steps from the beach. However, the real treats here are in the bakery case. The facturas resemble Danish pastries and are perfect for breakfast or a merienda. There are many iterations of these sweet pastries, all with a unique and sometimes playful name. Who can resist a cañoncito (little cannon), botoncito (little button) or the ominous sounding “vigilante de manteca y grasa” (the guardian of lard and fat!) True lovers of Argentinean sweets seek out the alfajores, cookie wafers joined at the hip with sweet dulce de leche filling and covered in chocolate or vanilla flavored coatings.

Open: Daily 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Price: Low

Dress: Very Casual

7134 Collins Ave
Miami Beach, Florida 33141
305-861-7887

Campo Argentino

It's all about the beef at this Argentine bistro. Huge strips of skirt steak and mild tender chorizo from the grill will appall the vegan in your group, but leave the meat lovers squealing with delight. Campo Argentino is a low-cost alternative to some of the glitzier steakhouses in town.

Open: Sunday through Thursday 3:00 p.m. to midnight| Friday and Saturday 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Price: Low to moderate

Dress: Casual

6954 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33141
305-867-5951

Las Vegas Restaurant

So good, some spending the week at an area beach hotel eat here daily. With an ever-changing lineup of lunch specials, it is a strategy that is not as dull as it seems. We remember one memorable evening when we ordered the signature appetizer plate and ate so many papa rellenos, empanadas, tamales, croquetas, yuca, and plátanos we skipped the entrée and moved right to dessert. Go easy on the appetizers and save room for a delicious churrasco y camarones, the Las Vegas version of surf and turf. Las Vegas serves big-plated, down-to-earth Cuban that most places south of 30th Street can't seem to deliver without a lot of pomp and inflated prices.

Open: Monday through Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.| Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Price: Low to moderate

Dress: Casual

6970 Collins Avenue
Miami, Florida 33141
305-864-1509

Manolo

This new South American eatery serves churros, sandwiches, cakes, burgers, gelato, and pizzas to a crowd of Latins intent on watching soccer on several strategically placed TVs. The planchita is a combination of meats, peppers, and potatoes. Hot dogs wrapped in bacon and a burger with everything including a fried egg might make Manolo an anathema to the health food crowd. However, healthy eaters can't go wrong with Manolo's fresh squeezed juice. For those who gave up on counting calories, they serve a rich hot chocolate made with whole milk, just perfect for churro dunking.

Open: Weekdays 7:30 a.m. to midnight| Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Price: Low

Dress: Casual

7300 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33141
305-868-4381

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