Havana at Red Mill Blog

George Washington never looked SOOO good!

havanaredmill — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:03:38 +0000

So… 1000 fans 1000 fans, we are ready to make good on our promise of $1.00 Mojitos for 1 week. We will start it this Sunday August 22, 2010 and run it until Saturday August 28, 2010.

As much as we all hate them…there are just a few rules.

Click There~~~~~~> RULES.pdf

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

$1.00 Mojitos again at 2,000! :)

Filed under: Contest

Poblanos are Perfect

havanaredmill — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:14:56 +0000

With the launch of our new menu we have added many flavors and seasonings that we didn’t use before. One of my favorite reinvented flavors is our use of the super versatile Poblano Pepper. We’ve dried it into Ancho Chile’ for mashed potatoes, we’ve stuffed it and fried it, and we’ve made it into a mole sauce. Next time you are in the grocery store don’t overlook this mexican born pepper. It can definitely provide both the flavor and spice for your dish any way you slice it.

POBLANO PEPPER MARINADE

• 1 cup water
• One third cup white wine vinegar
• 2 poblano peppers, roughly chopped
• 2 oz. onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• Handful of cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt

Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan, cover, and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer, covered, for eight minutes. Puree sauce thoroughly in a blender. It yields about one and a half cups.

Filed under: Recipes & Cooking Insights Tagged: american food, ancho, cuban food, food, Havana, mexican food, pepper, poblanos, recipe

New Menu Release Party

havanaredmill — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:53:42 +0000

I love when we put new ideas to work. When we introduce a new menu, it can be very challenging and is a lot of work. Chef Paul really out did himself planning our new menu. I have wanted to do a major menu change for sometime now to be more true to our name, HAVANA. We had lots of Italian and Asian foods on the old menu. As good as it was it just was too confusing to our customers and our identity. Seeing our customers enjoy the new menu is absolutely AWESOME. At our new menu release party it was great to see everyone sipping wine, enjoying the atmosphere, and of course smiling while eating our delicious food. Some of our favorites included our new Serrano ham and cheese croquettes and our Guava BBQ ribs.

Here is a peek at the menu release party. Hope to see you soon!

Filed under: Havana Channel Tagged: chef, food, havana at red mill, new menu, Red Mill Commons, wine

Name our 20th Mojito!

havanaredmill — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:01:23 +0000

With the celebration of our 5th birthday last week and all of the menu changes (for the better) over the last few months, we began thinking about our drink menu. From Dragonberry to Coconut, mojitos have been staple of success for us over the last 5 years. With that said we are ready to debut our 20th Mojito chosen by YOU!

Here’s what you do:

Step 1: Become a fan on facebook (and tell all of your friends too )

Step 2: Go to our photos tab and under the photo album “Name our 20th Mojito” Post a comment with your drink recipe. Don’t forget to name it!!

Step 3: Get Votes! Have all of your friends “like” your recipe.

Each week Mojito with the most likes will get prepared and tasted by our staff. If there is a tie the staff will vote on the Mojito of the week which will also be featured as our drink of the week.

At the end of 4 weeks our staff will re-make all 4 drinks of the week and vote for our 20th mojito!

Wait it doesnt end there! We have prizes!

The finalist each week can come in for the week their recipe made the finals, and have a “drink of the week” on us!

The final Mojito that gets chosen will not only have a little place on our menu, you will also be the proud owner of a brand new Ipod Touch complete with the Cocktails app for the bartender in you!

Contest Starts today July 5th. The first round of finalists will be announced on July 15th. Contest ends August 5th with winner announced on August 12. The only requirement is that since it is a mojito it must have mint.

Ready? Set? MOJITO!

Filed under: Contest Tagged: beef, cuban food, Havana Red Mill, mojito, Red Mill Commons, virginia, virginia beach, wine

Yelp Review by Joe D.

havanaredmill — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:20:55 +0000

Below is a recent honest Yelp Review of Havana Red Mill in Virginia Beach. A special thank you to Joe D. for his time in carefully and honestly reviewing each menu item, and taking fantastic photos, too! We listen to everyone and make changes as you tell us,The Havana Red Mill experience is about the customer!

Check it out, and feel free to add your own review here!

Joe D.

Virginia Beach, VA

6/5/2010

6 photos

I had the opportunity recently to sample Havana’s new menu by Chef Paul Holbrook at the Red Mill location with fellow Yelper’s Naoma D. and Alison C. and I’m so glad I didn’t pass it up. Our tasting covered all aspects of the menu salads, appetizers, entree’s and deserts. Here’s what we tried.

Margarita Ceaser – The dressing changes this from an ordinary salad to a one with some zip.

Serrano Ham & Manchego Croquesttes – I dare say one of my favorite appetizers of all time. I could become totally addicted to these. They taste absolutely wonderful.

Caribbean Conch Fritters – I thought these were kind of plain. I can’t put my finger on it.

Sugar Cane Skewered Shrimp – Another WOW moment. These shrimp were excellent and coated in a pineapple salsa.

Ropa Vieja – This was a beef stew served in a tomato broth with peppers. This was good, but IMOP another item that needs a little more “ump” to kick it into gear.

Cumin & Pumpkin Seed Encrusted Grouper – One a scale of 1-5 I want to give the Grouper a 5. I really do, but it’s just not quite there. Definitely a 4.5. The presentation and texture of the fish is outstanding. It’s a great piece of fish. However there’s one tiny little thing missing that keeps it from going straight over the top. Maybe some citrus…

Guava Barbecued Baby Back Ribs – You know how you go to a rib place and they say the meat falls right off the bone, and then it doesn’t. NOT HERE. These ribs were unbelievable The meat was very lean yet juicy and covered with guava BBQ sauce. They also come with tobacco onion rings and an apple jicama cole slaw. They were hands down the hit of the evening. If you like ribs you have got to try them at Havana.

Last but not least was the desert called Banana Dolce. It consisted of several scoops if vanilla ice cream with caramelized banana sections…covered in a rum and then set on fire! Wow!!! I’m not much of a desert eater but I went back for seconds on this one. Awesome!

It’s such a pleasure to go to a restaurant where you can tell everyone involved from the kitchen to the floor staff cares. I want to thank Keith Berger and his entire staff for the first class visit and I’m looking forward to coming back very soon.

Filed under: Havana Channel, Recipes & Cooking Insights Tagged: american food, Banana Dolce, beef, cabernet sauvignon, chef, chianti, conch fritters, cuban food, grouper, Havana, Havana Red Mill, mojito, Red Mill Commons, restaurant, restaurant review, ropa vieja, skewered shrimp, virginia, virginia beach, wine, yelp

Do You Plantain?

havanaredmill — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:28:47 +0000

You work too hard to cook every night!

Let us prepare dinner for you Thursday April 29th, when proceeds from your check will go to Access Aids. They could not conduct all of the comprehensive services and programs they provide to individuals impacted by HIV/AIDS without the support of the Hampton Roads community. The support provided by local churches, civic groups, and volunteers ensures that programs will continue.

Besides, you might want to stop in and see what we are now serving to our guests alongside the bread and honey chipotle butter! (Plaintain Chips, anyone?)

Please take a minute and watch (and share) the video below?

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Art of Bread Pudding

havanaredmill — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:56:09 +0000

Over the course of a couple months I had repeatedly played with different ways and ideas of creating a bread pudding that is both moist and flavorful. You want your bread pudding to be extremely moist, but not runny, and of course no one wants it to be dry. This method involves a little more work, but the end result is my favorite of the bread puddings I have made.

The great thing about bread pudding is the ever revolving door around the outcome. You can really add whatever you want to the bread pudding to make it your own. I have done numerous over the years. It is always fun to try to use whatever fruits are in season, to keep your bread pudding up to date. Or if you have a cookie lover, I made a chocolate chip cookie dough bread pudding in which I folded in chunks of cookie dough into the bread pudding base. That turned out quite lovely as well. Let your mind wander and see what you come up with.

Below is the recipe for the mango, cranberry bread pudding, I hope you enjoy.

8 Eggs

1/2 lb. Brown sugar (i prefer dark)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tbl ground cinnamon

1 tbl vanilla extract

1 qt. Heavy Cream

1.5 baguette loaves (i have a 22 inch baguette loaf, to give you an idea of the size.)

Mop:
Cream base for bread:
Separate your eggs, reserve egg whites for other use. Take your egg yolks and whip in the vanilla extract, brown sugar and cinnamon. Place your heavy cream in a small sauce pot and bring up to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Temper your egg mixture with the hot cream. Place the sauce over a double boiler, while continuously stirring until it becomes thick like heavy cream again.

Bread Pudding:

Cut your bread into 1/4″ cubes and place into a large bowl. Take your sliced mango’s and cut them in to 1/4″ cubes as well and add to the bread bowl. Pour in your dried cranberries, followed by your sauce that has been thickened. Fold the mixture until incorporated fully. Let rest for a hour or so to let the bread soak up the sauce. Place in a spray 9″ cake pan cover with foil and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes to obtain some color on the top of the bread pudding. Rest, cool, slice into 9 even slices.

Filed under: Havana Channel, Recipes & Cooking Insights Tagged: american food, bread pudding, chef, chocolate chip cookie dough, cuban food, dessert, Havana, Havana Red Mill, heavy cream, holiday recipe, how to, Red Mill Commons, restaurant, virginia, virginia beach

Are You Missing Out?

havanaredmill — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:34:08 +0000

Have you had Havana at Red Mill’s Homemade Chocolate Chip Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Ganache? If not, you’re missing out!

The sauce is very simple to make at home and is versatile in so may ways.

Let it cool slightly on the counter top, and then coat fruit such as strawberries, raspberries
Coat cookies or pretzels for in evening snack.
Put it on ice cream, just use your imagination.

Whether your just beginning to learn to cook or you are a veteran, my advice is to just try to feel your way around the kitchen. Imagine in your mind the way something might taste, and experiment with it. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, but from my experience, when I really think something will taste delicious in my mind or on paper, I’m usually pretty successful. So try to be creative, you never know what might taste delicious and what won’t unless you experiment.

4 oz of chocolate chips

2 cups Heavy Cream

Butter (optional)

Bring the cream to a boil. Once cream comes to a boil, remove from the heat. Whisk in the chocolate chips in until sauce is smooth. You could whip in about an ounce or so of butter and it will give the chocolate a very nice sheen.

What dish would you create with this chocolate ganache?

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Filed under: Havana Channel, Recipes & Cooking Insights, Uncategorized Tagged: american food, butter, chef, chocolate ganache, chocolate sauce, cuban food, dessert, Havana, Havana Red Mill, heavy cream, herseys, holiday recipe, how to, mojito, Red Mill Commons, restaurant, virginia, virginia beach

Earthquake in Chile Affects Food Industry

havanaredmill — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:06:57 +0000

Valparaiso Seaport

The effects of any natural disaster around the world could have direct impact on a chef and the restaurant world as a whole. The recent earthquake in Chile has proven to do just that. Although the extent of the damage within the country could never be less important than the Havana Red Mill restaurant I work in here in Virginia Beach, we shouldn’t lose sight of what the Chilean people are going through and should lend a helping hand if at all possible, even with a small donation.

Standing up and helping in times of catastrophe is what makes humanity a beautiful thing.

Stone Fruit imported from Chile

With that being said, I have now come to a few road blocks within my own job. This time of year is summertime in Chile and they become the major exporter of fruits to North America, which are not available year round in the states. The earthquake has caused the Santiago International Airport to close and although some flights have resumed the flights to transport the produce to the states have not. The Pan American Highway has seen a significant amount of damage to roadways and bridges, which is the main road to get the produce from the farms to the airport or the Valparaiso seaport for shipment. This has put a major halt on the movement of stone fruits, and avocado’s, items I rely heavily on. The seaport in Valparaiso has seen significant damage as well, and the workers have switched to assessing the damage, instead of shipping. We should be expecting certain things to increase in price as the availability will go down, and that poses some minor problems for us as a restaurant. Where to get the products if they cant ship them, and how much will it cost.

In a sense it poses headaches for the food service industry, but Chile will feel the effects physically and economically the most, with the possible water contamination, which will halt produce production, which could affect a 3 billion summertime business, as well as the damages to the roads and ports.

We should keep the people of Chile in our thoughts, as they deal with these difficulties in their homelands.

How did news of the earthquake affect you? What relief organization do you want to share with others to encourage donations?

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Filed under: Havana Channel, Recipes & Cooking Insights Tagged: american food, cabernet sauvignon, chef, chianti, chile, cnn, cuban food, Earthquake, Havana, Havana Red Mill, how to, merlot, mojito, pan american highway, recipe, Red Mill Commons, red wine, santiago international airport, shiraz, valparaiso, vbhappyhour, virginia, virginia beach, wine

Emotional American Idol Waitress

havanaredmill — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:31:56 +0000

So the long Virginia Beach work day at Havana Red Mill is done. My boy is down for sweet dreams and my wife is asleep as well. Now some “me” time. I turn on my TV.

Yes, I am a closet American Idol fan.

Before Trey was born this was my time with Lisa where we would be together cheering and judging as if we knew about the music industry! It was a fun time, so I don’t get emotional during the show.

But this time it happened.

Contestant DiDi Benami, a waitress , sang a song that was written by Kara DioGuardi ( if you watch the show you will know that is one of the judges) You can tell while singing, her strength and passion, was conjured up by something else.A friend that had past. American Idol has given an average Joe (or should I say Joe-ette) the strength to go for it. Boy did she! My eyes teared up thinking back in the beginnings of these economic times when not only was I dealing with the difficulties of being self employed, struggling with the loss of my Grandmother and the loss of a true friend of 15 years, my dog, Spunky. Both had given me unconditional love for so many years. For that moment she also reminded me of my strength- my wife, my son, my family at work and home.

Wow, Simon: did you ever think that American Idol could do that?!

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Filed under: Havana Channel Tagged: american food, american idol, cuban food, Havana, Havana Red Mill, Kara DioGuardi, Red Mill Commons, restaurant, steak, virginia, virginia beach, wine