Another of our famous Mallstars, Tony is owner of the hippest coffee joint on the downtown mall, Cafe Cubano. I don’t know anyone else in town that takes more pride in drawing a shot of espresso than Tony…be sure to ask for a cortadito (typical Cuban coffee: lots of sugar, espresso and a drop of milk…it will knock you on your caffeinated feet), and you will see the attention he gives to the tiny succulent shot. So I thought it would be great to find out more about the man behind the coffee…so here goes!
Starting a life and business in Charlottesville
Where were you before Charlottesville?
I was in Miami in the restaurant business, but when my wife was diagnosed with a serious illness we moved to Alexandria. There I partnered with a restaurant guy in the DC to manage a couple locations and we later sold the business to a South Korean group in 1992. That gave me the chance to move to cville. I started working in Richmond for about a year consulting for a restaurant group and later worked for UVa with a management consulting group.
Why did you come to Charlottesville?
My first wife, who passed away, had a sister that lived here. For twenty years we traveled to cville about 2-3 times per year. I was always impressed by the environment.
How did Cafe Cubano come about?
I had an opportunity to meet the brothers from Higher Ground Coffee. I loved their food and coffee and decided to buy it. My goal was to deliver a micro-concept on the downtown mall. I loved the diversity and “city” feeling of the mall. The customer base came from all walks of life. From movers and shakers to UVa professors and students to nerds to entrepreneurs…it reminded me a lot of old-town Alexandria.
Alicia Keys said, “If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want–I go to the bathroom”. I assume that she’s talking about the bathroom in her house, and not any of the public restrooms in Charlottesville, but for the moment, I will humor (probably only) myself and think that she could be applying this philosophy to say, Zinc.Or Maya.Or Mas.
Daylight savings time. In addition to causing 3% of people to be late for work yesterday (I just made that up) it also gives us “Spring Fever.” Spring Fever is a medical condition; a shock to the system resulting from the one-two punch of marginally warmer temperatures and a precipitous increase in late-day sunlight levels. For some people, this causes a marked increase pathological dating. Let the record show that I am OK with this. Another common symptom is an almost irrepressible urge to leave work and head directly to the closest outdoor happy hour. It’s not a good idea, but goddamn it, you’ve had a hard day doing… whatever it is… you do here. Pull up a chair and take a long, slow pull of the strong waters. You’ve earned it (no you haven’t).
Mas‘ Tomas (we think) chimes in on one of our most disagreed upon posts about asking bartenders to take back drinks based on the customer’s tastes.
recommendations are the lingua franca of restaurants and a good bartender understands that. if he/she makes a recommendation, or suggests a signature drink, you are within your rights to send it back if it doesn’t match your expectations or the bartender’s description. individual preferences for strength and potency aside, a well-made cocktail should be a delight, not a harrowing challenge to finish. a good cocktail is like good sex - both partners know if it’s good, both know when something is amiss. however, if you catch a bad one, or one just poorly mixed, don’t lie and say it’s great or you have never felt like this before. have the bartender taste it too. feedback is the second best tip you can leave an establishment, even if it hurts their feelings. sure, bartenders are always busy and don’t always have time to hold your hand as you experiment with alcohol or beverages you are unfamiliar with. stick with the basics, then, after you have established some level of trust with that bartender, let them take you where you’ve never been before. there should be respite in your nepenthe.
This is the real deal, folks. If you disagree, you obviously have not the powers of the bearer of thunder and lightning, nor the gentle powers of a storm demon who brings death and disease to your village. »Read More
It’s hard to say I’m sorry. But I’m sorry. If you have not been to Mas in the past couple of months because of my criticism veiled in sexual metaphor eight months ago, I want you to know that Mas and I are back on, after all that we’ve been through.
Hot and heavy.
I mean that literally this time. My servers warn against handling the plates when they arrive because they are hot, and also heavy. Also, we recently ordered a variation on a rilleno in which two spicy poblano peppers were stuffed with turkey and breading and grilled, then placed over a rich but delicate cream sauce– it was very hot and heavy. The carne asada too. Perfect, no exaggeration.
The service the past few times I’ve gone is the best I’ve ever experienced, too. C, C, L, J, B, and the rest are just salt of the earth. And I’m not saying that figuratively, because it’s accepted that human blood is about 0.9 percent sodium chloride.
So, dear readers, please go to Mas, and send them my love.
Having dinner at Mas the other night, a large photograph/poster hanging on the wall next to the register caught my eye. And by caught my eye, I mean I was poked. I had to double-take to make sure it wasn’t the lighting, and upon closer inspection (from 20 feet away), I became sure of what I saw. Could it be this is Mas’ tongue in cheek response to Lilith declaring they are not getting laid?
Ruven Afanador is a famous photographer of celebrities and models. Recently, he has focussed on photographing one of the world’s craziest athletes: matadors! Yes, they dress in skin tight outfits, making sure their bulge is ever-so prominent, and then jump into the ring with a raging bull. The object of the game is to pretend you know how to control a bull and kill it. Despite a world where people have tried and failed to control dangerous animals, matadors continue to play their game of chance. Ruven manages to capture this machismo in all of its grandeur.
His work is actually quite good. While this kind of photograph should raise a few eyebrows in the good ol’ south, Mas hangs it proud and to the right. So what they lack for in customer service, Mas makes up for in modern bulbous photography. If things continue the way they are at Mas, we will surely find more of these bold photographs plastered on all of its walls. After all, what better way to distract customers from mean waitresses than with art that seems to pop out at you? Things are getting spicy at Mas, and its not the chorizo.
PS: I am tired of people pronouncing Mas like Moss. It is pronounced “más“, which is a Spanish word for all of you educated folk, not some British derivation.
There are some nice, chatty birdies running around Charlottesville this weekend. They’ve spread the gossip, indeed…
Jenna Bush
a bunch of Jenna Bush’s secret service vans were at Walker Square (home of her fiance) last weekend. Is it possible she has moved here? I think the spies need to hit bars hard this weekend and keep their eyes and ears open.
MAS
The last brunch for Mas was this past Sunday….I think this needs some investigating.
Busrider had a lengthy comment I wanted all of you folks to read. On Sunday, I posted an article about my predicted restaurant failures in 2007. We hit a soft spot with some of our readers and Busrider decided to weigh in. He/She brings an interesting issue to the table. Is the Charlottesville restaurant scene all smoke and mirrors? Would our restaurants survive in larger metropolitan areas? Certainly, this is best analyzed on a case by case basis, but there are overly praised restaurants that wouldn’t do well in major cities.
Another of our famous Mallstars, Tony is owner of the hippest coffee joint on the downtown mall, Cafe Cubano. I don’t know anyone else in town that takes more pride in drawing a shot of espresso than Tony…be sure to ask for a cortadito (typical Cuban coffee: lots of sugar, espresso and a drop of milk…it will knock you on your caffeinated feet), and you will see the attention he gives to the tiny succulent shot. So I thought it would be great to find out more about the man behind the coffee…so here goes!
Alicia Keys said, “If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want–I go to the bathroom”. I assume that she’s talking about the bathroom in her house, and not any of the public restrooms in Charlottesville, but for the moment, I will humor (probably only) myself and think that she could be applying this philosophy to say, Zinc.
Daylight savings time. In addition to causing 3% of people to be late for work yesterday (I just made that up) it also gives us “Spring Fever.” Spring Fever is a medical condition; a shock to the system resulting from the one-two punch of marginally warmer temperatures and a precipitous increase in late-day sunlight levels. For some people, this causes a marked increase pathological dating. Let the record show that I am OK with this. Another common symptom is an almost irrepressible urge to leave work and head directly to the closest outdoor happy hour. It’s not a good idea, but goddamn it, you’ve had a hard day doing… whatever it is… you do here. Pull up a chair and take a long, slow pull of the strong waters. You’ve earned it (no you haven’t).
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