From the moment my companion and I walked into La Duni, we couldn't stop thinking about dessert. A few steps inside the stylish but welcoming room, we spotted a table laden with Dunia's sweets. Visions of gorgeous Venezuelan chocolate truffle cake and Nicaraguan-styled cuatro leches cake haunted us even as we samples our way through an array of appetizers and entrees.
La Duni's pleasures meld Espartaco's Spanish and Mexican upbringing with Dunia's Colombian heritage. Together, they present a globetrotting menu with examples of cuisine from Spain, Cuba, and Central and South America that patrons can enjoy at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Our favorites included the appetizer sampler plate, platon campero, headlined by queso fresco, a soft but pungent white cheese that we scooped onto crisp tortilla chips along with fresh tomato salsa. We also like the patacones de oriente, flat, round crackers made from pounded green plantains that make a nice foundation for bits of tangy marinated onion slices and any of Espartaco's fabulous mojos The orange mojo, made with roasted red peppers, chile flakes and garlic, has a tart finish; the green one, made with cilantro and roasted garlic, or parley, oregano and garlic, adds a fresh punch to meats, black beans and tortillas.
Among the entrees, the pollo al ajibe is a simple but exquisite roasted half chicken bathed in a blend of champagne and the juice from green oranges. The garlic rice and black beans are perfect, but the juicy chicken can stand alone. Easily as impressive is the grilled picanha steak, a somewhat chewy but rustically flavorful cut topped with the parsley-oregano-garlic mojo.
Sitting on sumptuous leather banquettes, bathed in candlelight, and warmed by walls painted butterscotch and mango, we could have lingered for hours. But after dessert and cappuccinos, we could only bid our favorite new find buenos noches.