CORDON BLEU CUISINE LITTLE HAVANA STYLE By Joel Chusid Right on bustling SW Eighth Street (Calle Ocho) in Miami’s Little Havana is an elegant, intimate and peaceful oasis of gourmet stature. Chef Caprice Tassinari, trained at the Cordon Bleu school in Paris, serves up what can be described as a continental menu, with several seafood dishes, all Caribbean-influenced at Teté. These are nothing like traditionally heavy Cuban fare, but instead light enough for some diners to be able to handle an appetizer, soup, salad, and even dessert. The restaurant has been open since August 31. We started out with complimentary risso balls, fluffy rissoto shaped into a ball with fresh mozzarella, and then opted for a delicious Argentine Malbec red wine, accompanied by black olives that lasted us through the meal. Plantain crab cakes with cilantro remoulade were heavenly, as was the crab and leek bisque, with lumps of crabmeat in a light creamy broth. The Teté Salad consisted of baby greens, fresh mozzarella, cherry and sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sun dried cranberries, orange mandarin, and macadamia nuts in a ginger balsamic vinaigrette. The Oriental Fish, a grilled coconut sea bass or choice of another fresh alternate, was delightfully tasty, served in a soy ginger sauce, with sweet potato mash or homemade pasta. Caribbean Chicken was coconut crusted, stuffed with portobello mushrooms and fresh mozzarella, served in a roasted tomato sauce with pasta. Skirt steak and pork loin scaloppini were other options. Desserts included tiramisu and mango and guava cheesecake, of course, accompanied by strong Cuban coffee. Service was excellent and the deep ochre walls with original paintings make for elegant surroundings. The menu is presented in English, so those concerned about a language barrier in Little Havana need not be. A unique dinner menu is offered on "Cultural Fridays", once a month. The menu, printed in cute, deliberate "Spanglish" provides for a quicker service so that customers can complete their meals more expeditiously to be able to walk around and enjoy the music and cultural offerings along the street. Example: "Steak Teté – Grilled marinated entrecote con pesto-tomato sauce, y pumpkin ravioli in a shrimp coconut sauce." Teté Restaurant. 1444 SW Eighth Street, Miami. (305)858-8801. Fax (305)858-3099. Lunch: 1130am-330pm Tues-Sat. Dinner 630pm-1030pm Thurs-Sat. Beer and wine only. E-mail: TeteRestaurant@aol.com. Get more "Jetset Dining with Joel Chusid" here. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.