Thank you for smoking: 'Cigars' Light Up in Verdea Restaurant and Wine Bar

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - April 3, 2013 - PRLog -- from pbpulse.com  Tuesday April 2, 2013

by Libby Volgyes

Thank you for smoking: Verdea’s ‘cigars’ light up starter menu in Palm Beach Gardens

Verdea heats up the kitchen with spicy flavors and a chef who melds Floribbean and Southern cookery.
On Chef Rodney Martin’s starter menu, for instance, the Havanas ($11) are smokin’ hot. Two delicious spring rolls (or flautas) lightly fried and stuffed with spicy shredded chicken and chorizo.
Dip these long, flavorful “cigars” into a house-made “mojito” ketchup, and they’ll have you rethinking your concept of a spring roll.

The cigars are seasoned in part with cilantro, cumin and piquillo peppers. And for the dipping sauce, the chef, who has been with Verdea for about eight months, stirs some of his homemade mojo into his homemade ketchup. The result is delicious.

“It’s definitely pungent and flavorful,” Martin said.

Think onions, cilantro, cumin, lime, lemon, garlic, chiles — now take a puff.

“The most fun in that dish is the presentation,” Martin said. “The appetizers here – I didn’t want them too haughty or too far-fetched or far-gone. I wanted to add a certain playfulness without losing the intended purpose of the restaurant. I want fun presentation, but seriously thought through in terms of products utilized.”

And just in case you need more of a spark with your dish – though with those Latin seasonings we don’t think you will – enjoy the little “matchsticks” off to the side made out of fried potato with Sriracha tips (and black pepper on the “burnt” match), all equally delectable when dipped into the Mojito ketchup.

It’s a good excuse to play with your food.

Verdea Restaurant and Wine Bar : 4350 PGA Boulevard, Palm Beach Gardens; 561-691-3130; open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The Havanas at Verdea are crisp fried “cigars” (or flautas) filled with Latin-spiced shredded chicken and chorizo, served with house-made mojito ketchup. The starter dish goes for $11. (Photo by Libby Volgyes/Special to the Palm Beach Post)

For more information about Verdea Restaurant and Wine Bar in the
Embassy Suites Palm Beach Gardens click below:

http://embassysuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/embassy-suites-palm-beach-gardens-pga-boulevard-PBIPGES/dining/index.html