When he was a child growing up in Havana, chef Osmel González remembers going to the beach with his parents and his brother. It was an all-day affair, involving sun, water and almost certainly a lot of splashing. Drinks (for the grownups, at least). And, of course, food (for everybody).
“We’d go to the beach for the entire day, from six a.m. till the sun went down,” he recalls. “They’d buy fish from the local fishermen, gather under the sea grape trees and fry fish all day.”
That fried fish has stayed with González, formerly of the Michelin-starred restaurant EntreNos in Miami Shores, and has now been reborn as tempura golden tile fish, served with refried tomato and fried egg emulsion and caviar, a nod to the popular minuta sandwich. This new version occupies a prominent position on the menu at his new restaurant, Emelina, which reimagines all the things Cuban cuisine could be…