A Taste of Cuba at San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Asere

In Cuba, asere is slang for “hello.” In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Asere is an exciting new bar and restaurant whose food, drinks, and design evoke 1950’s Cuba and the legendary speakeasies and underground gastronomy that were born during the Cuban Revolution. 

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There are two floors at Asere, whose proper name is Asere Cubano Kitchen/Bar. Downstairs is an intimate restaurant replete with tile floors, low chandeliers, and fashionable barmen and waiters sporting suspenders and buzz cuts that are so preppy they’re subversive. One can imagine Asere actually existing in 1950’s Cuba. ‘F you, Fidel,’ it seems to say, as guests toast to a world that is falling apart around them. [pagebreak]     

Head upstairs to La Carniceria, the speakeasy that Asere’s barmen will take you to personally (if you’re nice) and the anti-communist cool kicks up another notch. Even before reaching the door, you know you’re in for a treat. The stairwell that leads to La Carniceria is ensconced in bright lights hung on walls covered in hammered bronze, gold and brown velvet drapes, and heavy mirrors in gaudy Baroque frames. It’s fun house meets haunted house meets eager anticipation. 

When La Carniceria’s door swings open, you gasp. ‘I’ve fallen through the rabbit hole,’ you think, and indeed you have. Music (jazz, Bossa Nova, and Beatnik, mostly) hums from a source you can’t find, and beautiful people, martini glasses and champagne coupes in hand, mix and mingle in the intimate bar and on the narrow balcony that overlooks the whole of San Juan’s premier nightlife destination, La Placita de Santurce. 

To drink, try the gin-based Lavanda Bruja or the smoky Mojito Habanero. Both are creative and delicious, and if you’re lucky, one of Asere’s best assets, mixologist Miguel Mikey Soto, will make them for you. Charming and capable, Soto’s attention to detail, lighting herbs on fire, pouring from on high, shaving ribbons from fruit skins and twisting them into impossibly pretty garnishes, is the kind not often seen outside of VIP rooms and bar tending competitions. [pagebreak]

To eat, start with the Cubanito Spring Roll, Tostones Rellenos con Ropa Vieja, and Three Cheese Croquettes with Guava Pineapple Salsa (what Cubans call tímba). For mains, the Osso Buco with Mojo Cubano and the classic Cuban sandwich, made at Asere with bread baked in house, are both winners. End your meal with a sweet Natilla Cubana, also made in house. 

According to chef Gabriel Mariño, a proud Cuban who learned to cook from his mother, the menu is centered on well-executed classics that draw on the influences that helped shape Cuban Cuisine; namely, Spanish, African, French, and Caribbean. The presentation might be modern, but the roots are 100% Cuban. 

“It’s a very special place,” explained Hugo Pérez, Asere co-owner along with Jose Añibal Santiago, in a recent interview with Spanish language Buena Mesa Magazine. “Everything is authentically Cuban. We don’t do fusion or complicated combinations. The chef is adamant about this and we want to maintain that vision.”   

No need to speak easy on the matter of authentic Cuban food. With you, Señores Mariño and Pérez, we couldn’t agree more.