Para Maria
Chef Tatiana Rosana’s earliest memories are filled with the sights, smells and tastes of her grandmother Maria’s kitchen.
“I'm a first generation Cuban American, and food was really centralized to everything that we did…And I have very distinct memories of growing up in my grandmother's kitchen…being a part of what she was doing, learning about our culture… And I thought, what better person to really honor at this space than my grandmother?”
And you can feel like you’re part of the family at Para Maria.
Set inside the Envoy Hotel in Boston’s bustling Seaport District, Para Maria is a bright, colorful restaurant Chef Tatiana created to bring a piece of her family’s Cuban culture to New England.
“I wanted it to be a space where we are bringing people together…a place that you can feel really comfortable breaking bread, sharing meals and enjoying each other's company.”
The menu is lined with creative takes on all of your favorites, whether you’re coming in at breakfast, lunch or dinner- made with one ingredient they all have in common.
“Love is what goes into every single one of our dishes here at Para Maria. I love cooking because it's a way for me, not only to really be involved in my roots, but also to get creative with my culture, with the food that I grew up with. To share that culture with other people.”
And no matter what meal you’re here for, you’ll always find a warm, welcoming dining room, a spectacular bar with floor to ceiling windows, and even rooftop dining.
“It's really warm. It's really inviting. I believe everybody who comes in here is family. So welcome to my family. Come in. Let me serve you. You always have a seat at my dinner table.”
Deciding how to start your meal is next to impossible, with so many creative apps available. There’s the Mojo Pork Tacos- made with Tatiana’s grandfather's recipe and topped with grilled pineapple and pickled cilantro and the ultra tender ribs, slathered in guava barbecue sauce.
“You get that sweet stickiness from the guava. We cook the ribs really nice and low and slow as well and then we glaze them in this guava barbecue sauce. They're savory, they're sweetand they're absolutely delicious.”
A starter you’re going to want all for yourself is the satisfyingly unctuous Spanish Onion Soup.
“The Spanish onion soup is our take on a classic French onion soup. We use a chorizo broth. We put a poached egg inside. Top it with Monterey Jack cheese, some baguette, put it in the broiler and when you break into it, that egg just pops. It makes it really rich. You get the smokiness of the chorizo, and it is so delicious.”
Finger food meets fusion in the form of paella arancini.
“The paella arancini has all the classic ingredients in a gorgeous paella. We pair it with a spiced tomato sauce to really round out those flavors, a little bit of chorizo on the top. The best thing about the paella arancini is that they're delicious, perfect.”
And Tatiana even turns a traditional sweet, savory with her Spicy Corn Churros.
“Everyone's very familiar with the sweet churro tossed in cinnamon sugar. I wanted to flip that on its head so we have spicy corn churros. We toss our spicy corn churros in dehydrated lime peel and salt and then we pair it with the salsa con queso, a little bit of extra spice, just to really round it out, same like me, little spicy, little fun.”
Main dishes run the gamut from shareable options like the Garden Vegetable Paella.
To dishes you’ll want all for yourself like the Para Maria Burger; a flavor bomb, topped with pepper jack cheese, pickled jalapeños, guacamole and a chipotle aioli.
“You take that first bite, the pickled jalapenos help to cut through the fattiness of all the other ingredients. The guacamole is really light and refreshing. You get some spice from the pepper jack cheese. And our house made Chipotle rounds it all out for the finish.”
There’s the pristine New York Strip topped with a pomegranate demi glace and served alongside braised sweet potatoes topped with a jalapeño lime crema and the unique Pollo Relleno served with elote polenta.
“So we stuff right under the skin of this chicken, delicious mushrooms, Oaxacan cheese. We paired it with a chili sauce that adds that smokiness and then my favorite part is the polenta. It's topped with elote sauce, smoked paprika, cilantro. It really has all the flavors of the elote without having to have a corn on the cob takes away all the mess, but still has all the flavor.”
If you missed the churros during your appetizer course, you can catch them at dessert stuffed with dulce de leche and if you want your sweets in the AM, you can find treats like the Coquito French toast served at breakfast seven days a week…or try this breakfast spin on a Cuban classic that just HAD to be on the menu.
“I would be letting the Cuban community down if I did not have a Cuban sandwich on the menu. But I decided to do a breakfast Cuban sandwich. So we still have the Mojo roasted pork, some nice sliced ham. We have the Swiss cheese on there with a nice egg. We make a dill aioli that goes on the bottom of a gorgeous English muffin. You get all the flavors of an amazing Cuban sandwich, but you can have it for breakfast.”
And whether you’re there at breakfast, lunch or dinner, you’ll find each and every dish is made with love at Para Mara.
“Cuban food is really about comfort and that's what I want to show every single person who walks in here. Food and dishes, for me, is about nostalgia. So if I can tug on a few heartstrings, then I've done my job.”
