Hot Dish Review

With all the buzz surrounding Hector Santiago’s sandwich shop below Pura Vida, I finally got there for lunch on Friday to see what all the fuss was about.

Rumor has it that Hector himself is making the sandwiches at Super Pan Latino. When I arrived he was indeed there, just not behind the counter. The staff was super friendly as I made a couple of inquiries about the selections.

Having studied the menu and read the reviews, I already knew I would order either the serrano ham and manchego or the pork belly. It was a chilly day so the latter won out because it was hot sandwich.

I knew what I was getting into even without the reviews proclaiming this particular sandwich’s greasiness. It’s pork belly for God’s sake!

For the uninituated, pork belly is bacon before it is sliced, layers of fat alternating with layers of porky goodness. Hector smokes the meat which is tucked inside two little steamed coconut buns drizzled with tamarind sauce, aji coban sambal and topped with shaved cabbage and cilantro.

My first bite of the crispy end yielded both meat and fat with half of the cabbage and cilantro. I didn’t get any of the fiery sauce until I was almost finished with the half since it was at the bottom of the bun. I would have liked a copious amount of the crunchy cabbage and there can never be enough cilantro. It came off a little plain due to the minimal amount of sauces and toppings.

I continued working on my sandwich, pulling the tender strings of pork away from the fat with my greasy little fingers. It was a messy but delicious task.

The quirky space is only open Tuesday through Friday 11:30-2:30. Diners place their orders up the stairs to the left, and can find a table in the dining area downstairs. Super Pan is clearly a labor of love for Hector.

I cringe to even say this, but just in case you’ve been living in a cave in Guatamala for the last two years, Hector Santiago was a contestant on Top Chef a couple of seasons back….the same year Woodfire’s Kevin Gillespie almost won it.

Hector stopped by to say hello and sent a cupcake to my table. Nice. I will surely return to sample more of the menu!

1057 Blue Ridge Avenue 404-477-0379

Interesting tidbit from McCall at Melissa Libby:

Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill Chef/Owner, and Bravo’s “Top Chef” Season Six Fan Favorite, Kevin Gillespie is teaming up with best-selling, award-winning cookbook author David Joachim in a two book deal. With recipes conceptualized through quality ingredients, mirroring the kitchen at Woodfire Grill, the cookbooks showcase Kevin’s passion for his food through rustic, raw, and “heirloomesque” photos and celebrate Kevin’s philosophy that learning is one of the key values in good cooking. Gena Berry is the recipe editor on this project. Sold in a pre-empt to Kirsty Melville and Jean Lucas at Andrews-McMeel, by Lisa Ekus-Saffer and Sally Ekus of The Lisa Ekus Group (www.LisaEkus.com). Publication of the books: Fall 2012 and Fall 2013.

About Woodfire Grill:
Woodfire Grill is located at 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road and serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Call 404-347-9055 to make a reservation. For more information, visit www.woodfiregrill.com.

Talk about memories. Pura Vida is one of those restaurants that has stood the test of time for me. The scene of many dates, meeting of friends, and countless pitchers of sangria. It was where me and AD used to hang out with a pack of cigarettes back in the day when you could still smoke in public.

Chef and owner Hector Santiago was one of three Atlanta chefs competing on last season’s Top Chef, and although he went home relatively early, it surely garnered him and the restaurant some appreciated publicity.

The menu has undergone many changes over the years. Originally, Puerto Rican tapas dominated, now it is an amalgam of Latin flavors. Some dishes, like the garlicky mushrooms, the malanga root chips, and the chicken empanadas, are mainstays. The hanger steak pinchos is another, although Santiago has revised the presentation. I always order it and it was among the few tapas ST and I shared for a late night dinner Saturday. Chunks of tender steak are skewered and grilled, then drizzled with a punchy cilantro chimichurri.

Another staple is the sangria. Pura Vida serves both white and red, the best in town! The white sangria is full of fruits like pear, grapefruit, and apple while the red has grapes, orange, and apple, all liquor soaked. I always request lots of fruit and eat it out of my glass with a spoon. Our server, Nathan (or was it Andrew?) was efficient and cute.

Since it was ST’s first visit to Pura Vida and, like, my 50th, I wanted him to try some of my favorites. It had been a while since I had the coctel de camerones. The updated version is called diablo shrimp coctel….same basic ingredients of butternut squash, a creamy sauce and a hot sauce. Still awesome.

My all-time favorite dish is the duck maduros, plantains layered with duck meat. Santiago took it off the menu for quite some time, much to my dismay. Then it was back. Now it has evolved into the duck confit with caramelized plantains. OK, can’t complain! It is basically the same flavor as the duck maduros, a lusty combination of gamey duck and sweet plantains.

For a while, chef explored Latino variations on foie gras, creative, expensive, pretty damn good. These days he is back to basics. the little pork and ham sandwiches called mi media noche (midnight snack) and the burrito are prime examples. A few years ago he began offering goat, slow cooked in coconut milk with green banana mash. It is delicious, although the mash could use more flavor.

The atmosphere is festive. I usually enjoy sitting at the bar but it was late so ST and I snuggled in a booth which usually require a reservation, or at least a wait. Thanks Pura Vida for yet another great memory.

656 N. Highland Ave. 404-870-9797 www.puravidatapas.com