SOBE FOOD FEST: Cuban chef Douglas Rodriguez
(Photos/Courtesy of Douglas Rodriguez)
Trying to interview chef Douglas Rodriguez at his South Beach restaurant a couple of days before the beginning of the annual Food & Wine Festival here is something like trying to chat with Don Corleone on the day of his daughter’s wedding—no way around it, you’re going to get interrupted. Just as Rodriguez sits with me on a couch in the lobby bar at De Rodriguez Cuba on Ocean, his deeply personal homage to food from his parent’s homeland, the parade of people starts. One person approaches with a bounty: an almost-impossible-to-get-in-America 5 lb cochinillo, which will be perfectly roasted to make sweet suckling pig. Another with a problem: a big fish that’s been over-frozen which Rodriguez, uncompromising in his desire for quality ingredients, insists will be returned. Another, a kitchen employee, arrives with nothing but a humble hand shake: “Chef,” the man says. “Are you having a good day?”
