Cuisine:

• Latin American
• Tapas
• Others
• Fast Food and Hamburgers

Pura Vida Description:
A native of Puerto Rico, chef-owner Hector Santiago has grown his restaurant over time in a small corner of an early twentieth-century strip center in Poncey-Highland. As his wife Leslie manages the front of the house, Hector presents a wide variety of flavors reflecting the couple's travels throughout the Hispanic world looking for intriguing flavors. Ingenuity and interpretation rather than rote mimicry are the hallmarks of this highly personal cuisine. The "Diablo Shrimp Coctel," for instance, embeds small, succulent shrimp in a butternut squash gelée with a diablo blanco hot sauce, a blend of flavors and textures that shows a finely tuned sense of balance. Santiago makes all his breads, including a steamed coconut bun stuffed with candy-sweet pork belly, shaved cabbage and cilantro. Is it Asian or is it Latino? Who cares? The "Ribburger" is a six-ounce patty of flavorful beef from the rib adorned with habanero mustard and habanero ketchup on a house-made bun. The wine list relies on Spanish, Argentinean and Chilean selections, for the most part, with plenty of food-appropriate choices by the glass. The Condesa de Leganza rosado from Spain hits many of these dishes spot on. Come for dinner and stay to tango!


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