Cena, the luxe Italian restaurant on the lower floor of the building that houses the rambunctious Mussels and Burger Bar at 9200 Taylorsville Rd, has several special meals this holiday season, some, like the “La Vigilia” seafood dinner, reflecting the ethnic themes of the restaurant, and another, re-imagining modern Cuban cuisine.
Thursday, Dec. 18 will be the “la Viglilia,” the traditional family Christmas Eve dinner in Italy, the Feast of the 7 Fishes. For that menu, look forward to snapper crudo, tuna crostini. lobster pasta, baby octopus, Sicilian-style cod, cenamisu and chocolate chip pistachio cannoli. The “La Vigilia” dinner will be $60.
A New Year’s Eve dinner (you can’t plan too far ahead for that Big Night) will include pancetta-wrapped stuffed dates, cauliflower bisque, prosciutto and pear salad, pasta alla aragosta, or steak Rossini and goat cheese flan or pistachio chocolate torte for dessert. The New Year’s Eve dinner will be $55.
And to cap off a holiday season, January 21 and 22 Chef (and Cena owner) Fernando Martinez will collaborate with several guest chefs for a New Cuban Revolution Dinner, a modern interpretation of classic Cuban cuisine. The chefs will be creating a 6-course dinner on how the evolution of Cuban cuisine could have been.
The Guest Chefs will be Douglas Rodrigues, “The Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cooking”, Reinaldo Alfonso from Alma de Cuba in Philadelphia, and pastries will be made by Ole Restaurant Group Pastry Chef Christian Cobos. Chef Allan Rosenberg of Cena and Chef Yaniel Martinez will also be collaborating on this meal, which will Include a wine, cocktail, and beer pairing created by Cristina Martinez and Rick Moir. Among the proposed dishes are likely to be wild boar masas de puerco with Manchego arina de maiz, pickled red onions and Cuban mojo powder, Brussels sprout salad, and a Cuban chocolate cigar, with edible matches and café con leche ice cream for dessert. This special dinner, along with all drink pairings, will be $120.
For reservations or more information on all of these, call (502) 333-0376.
