Let’s be perfectly clear. The very first thing to enter my mind upon learning about the advent of the Prado 264 restaurant (below) was this hit song by Perez Prado, “The King of the Mambo.”
It’s cherry pink and apple blossom white
When your true lover comes your way
It’s cherry pink and apple blossom white
The poets say
And now for the rest of the story. Reporting at Louisville Business First, our friend and former colleague Michael L. Jones identifies the successor to Mark’s Feed Store at 1514 Bardstown Rd. in Deer Park.
Mark’s Feed Store’s location in Deer Park to close Aug. 24
Everyone knows that building, right?
Prado 264 to bring upscale Cuban-Italian dining to former Mark’s Feed Store site
Prado 264 is opening in the former Mark’s Feed Store location at 1514 Bardstown Road. The new restaurant is being launched by husband-and-wife duo Luis Gonzalez and Lisanne Garcia, who moved to Louisville last year from Florida.
In Spanish, prado is a meadow, field, pasture or lawn. It could also be a promenade. Gonazales explains the Italian-Meets-Cuban paradigm.
“I think in the ’20s or the ’30s, they started opening the first Italian restaurants in Havana, especially in a very iconic place in Havana called Paseo del Prado,” he said. “They started mixing their Italian flavors with Cuban flavors and techniques, with Cuban spices — like the sweet peppers, or the spices that we use for our kitchen.”
“It’s Italian roots with Cuban fire.”
A Miami chef, Michael Garcia, is relocating to Louisville to helm the kitchen. Remodeling is under way, and the owners hope to open Prado 264’s first-floor “everyday” eatery space in May, with the upstairs event area phased in later.
As for the “Italians abroad” cookery thread, whether landing in Havana, Cuba or Hartford, Connecticut, we just took a glance at this topic two days ago.
Edibles & Potables: Strombolis, UNESCO, and “the myth of traditional Italian cuisine”
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Photo credit: Perez Prado, from the Frank Driggs Collection/Archive Photos (The Guardian link).
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