First year
Editor and graphic design: DIANA RANGEL
www.almacocinalatina.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission in writing from the publishers. ŠAlmaCocinaLatina ŠIrenaSteinPhotography
A L M A
C O C I N A
L A T I N A
First year
Photography:
IRENA STEIN
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Alma Cocina Latina está compuesta por una dosis equilibrada de imaginación e investigación culinarias de raíces mestizas. Una cocina que explora y explota la cultura gastronómica de diferentes regiones geográficas, con el objetivo de extraer sabores provenientes de nuestros ancestros y someterlos a los conocimientos obtenidos tanto en los viajes como en el estudio, la creatividad y la experimentación. Alma Cocina Latina combina la invención y la tradición, el ámbito global y el regional, procurando enamorar a los comensales con su multisápida diversidad, aunque respetando siempre su identidad, de manera de generar una huella distintiva en los paladares. Una cocina que aspira alojar sus sabores en la memoria culinaria de quien se acerque a disfrutar la variedad de su oferta gastronómica.
Enrique Limardo Executive Chef
Alma Cocina Latina:
“una mesa de deleites insospechados.”
To open a Venezuelan restaurant in the heart of Baltimore, Maryland, was an audacious move. We all knew it. But the passion for our food made all the doubts dissolve one by one, as they came. We proceeded to open Alma’s doors in the Spring of 2015. The first year was difficult and extraordinary. We are all aware of the high risks of a new restaurant, especially when the menu holds ingredients and flavors most guests have never experienced, when the menu requires a bit of translation from the staff, when the staff itself needs to be introduced to and understand a distant, and to most a truly foreign, culinary culture.
How would Baltimore embrace us?
The result has been an encouraging one. Our guests have come to welcome us, and we have in turn tried our very best to ensure that their experience is a delicious one. Most guests, no matter their age or style, express their feeling of a certain “energy” that resides in the beautiful space. This “energy” results in most guests leaving happy and joyful. What has made this all possible is not only the enormous devotion of our chefs in making our kitchen a constant creative studio, but the dedication of all those behind each crucial role: the bar, the staff, the purveyors, the management. Thank you Baltimore, thank you Alma Team! Irena Stein Proprietor
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Dishes 2. Ensalada de Plátano 5. Carpaccio de pollo con cacao 6. Tentación de durazno 8. Arepa de cangrejo y calamares 10. Ceviche Mixto 12. Crujiente de anchoas curadas 14. Foie gras con crujiente de cachapa 16. Recuerdos del Mar (primera versión) 18. Enrolladito de langostino y tocineta 20. Pechuga de pato con chocolate blanco y piña 22. Tiradito 25. Crema de auyama 26. Roll de langosta 28. Pan de Jamón 31. Cacao 7 32. La Fin Amaro 33. Delirio de Chocolate 34. Crujiente de cachapa con cacao, limón verde y nata 37. Quesillo 39. Dátiles con queso azul y tocineta 40. Fresas con crema, chocolate blanco y ganache de arándanos 41. Mini arepas 45. Mousse de Guayaba 46. Avellanas caramelizadas
48. Hallaca Venezolana 51. Pisco de María 52. Escabeche 55. Tartar de Atún 57. Vuelve a la Vida 60. Wagyu 63. Cangrejo y calamares 65. Langosta y pescado curado en jugo de repollo rojo 67. Cachapa Mixta 68. Recuerdos del Mar (segunda versión) 70. Calamares en ceviche de coco 73. Remolacha y espárragos 75.Hinojo 76. Empanadas 78. Papel de moras 81. Arepa La Nacional 83. Escabeche de vegetales 85. Bruschetta de queso de cabra 86. Arepitas de chicharrón 89. Esferas de queso 91. Escabeche 92. Brioche de auyama 93. Foie Gras 94. Casabe 95. Empanadas 96. Desayuno criollo
Places
4. Lake Roland. Baltimore, MD 7. Chuao. Venezuela 11. Highline. New York, NY 13. Tibroncito. Finca Dos Aguas. Venezuela 21. Tibroncito. Finca Dos Aguas. Venezuela 30. Lake Roland. Baltimore, MD 35. Henri Pittier Park. Venezuela 38. Wynwood. Miami, FL 42. Nancy Selvin´s studio. Berkeley, CA 49. Chuao. Venezuela 53. One Straw Farm. Baltimore, MD 54. Nancy Selvin´s studio. Berkeley, CA 56. Choroní. Venezuela 62. Chesapeake Bay. MD 64. Chuao. Venezuela 69. Choroní. Venezuela 72. Chuao. Venezuela 74. Henri Pittier Park. Venezuela 80. Guildford. Baltimore, MD 87. Playa El Agua. Choroní. Venezuela 90. Playa El Agua. Choroní. Venezuela
People and events
103. a. Enrique Limardo (Executive chef) b. José Ignacio Useche (Sous- chef) c. Irena Stein (Proprietor) d. Mark Demshak (Proprietor) e. Chris Rivera (General Manager) f. Chris Scott (Manager) g. Federico Tischler (Former co-executive chef)
104. Best Latin award. Best of Baltimore . Baltimore Magazine. July 2015. 106. Cacao Dinner with chef Carlos García (Alto Rest. Caracas). November 2015. 110. El Show del Pan de Jamón. Claudio Nazoa and Amilcar Rivera. November 2015 112. Making venezuelan hallacas.December 2015. 115. Alma staff 116. Best Restaurant Baltimore Magazine. February 2016 120. Alma first aniversary. 22 April 2016.
Praise for Alma... Alma Latina Cocina, voted: Number one of the Top Ten Restaurants –City Paper, January 2016
Best Restaurant Best New Spot and...First Runner Up for Best Happy Hour –Baltimore Magazine, 2016 Best of Baltimore, Readers’ Poll
Top Ten Dishes in Baltimore – City Paper, January 2016
Top Ten Dishes in Baltimore –Baltimore Magazine, January 2016
Diner’s Choice Best of Baltimore, Best Latin Food –Baltimore Magazine, 2015
“Alma Cocina Latina, in Canton’s Can Company, roared out of the gate after opening in late April and quickly amassed a serious following among food critics and diners. I’m not surprised.” — Excerpt from Soul Food, Baltimore Magazine
“ Canton has landed a winner, Alma Cocina Latina is the best restaurant to open for years in the Southeast Baltimore neighborhood.” — Excerpt from Alma Cocina Latina Brings the Soul of Caracas to Canton, Baltimore Sun
“For us Alma Cocina Latina produced some of the best meals we’ve had in years Baltimore or elsewhere. I can promise I’ll be back so often they might get sick of me.” — Excerpt from Alma Cocina Latina Delivers Delightful Venezuelan Cuisine, City Paper
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