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Get Outta Town ... Maria Manso

Written by Susan Dyer Reynolds, Northside Editor

Saturday, 30 April 2005

The chef who first inflected her native Cuban cuisine with a dash of Asian flair at the Clift Hotel’s popular Asia de Cuba restaurant has opened an eponymous eatery along San Rafael’s quaint 4th Street. Maria Manso World Cuisine fuses flavors from around the globe to create dishes like the Havana pork chop – a juicy panko crusted pork chop with sautéed watercress and black bean citrus salad – and moist sake-marinated black cod accompanied by Chinese long beans, napa cabbage and nori. Appetizers include ravioli stuffed with a mixture of lamb, garlic and soy in yellow curry coconut sauce, and saffron Dungeness crab salad with toasted almonds and avocado layered on a crispy wonton and drizzled with port wine reduction. The simpler lunch menu offers a nice assortment of sandwiches, such as the traditional Cubano – pulled pork, ham and cheese hot-pressed on a baguette – that seems to be the “It” sandwich these days. The inspiration for the muffaletta, an Italian roll piled with thinly sliced salami, mortadella and provolone cheese – likely came from the time Manso spent in New Orleans, where she took her first culinary job as an oyster shucker. Creative soju cocktails are perfect for sipping with your sandwich on a warm day out on the private, foliage-covered deck. Maria Manso World Cuisine: 1613 Fourth Street, San Rafael. (415) 453-7877.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 January 2008 )