La Fresa Francesa:
Because you obviously think of France when you hear of Hialeah.... don't you? Well let me tell you, France has made it's Hialeah debut. Located in a strip mall, this hidden gem instantly transports you to Provence upon opening it's doors. It's a small quaint cafe with rustic french charm. With only a handful of tables you may have to wait a while for a seat, but jot your name down, it's worth it. The mastermind couple behind La Fresa Francesa are Sandy Sanchez and Benoit Rablat. Sandy, the friendly Hialeah native works the front of the house and Benoit the French native runs the kitchen.
On the menu you'll find french items with a cuban twist. For my drink I chose their homemade strawberry lemonade which was not overly sweet, slightly tart and very refreshing. I hadn't noticed the guava mimosa until I became envious of the girl in the next table sipping it, I shall order that next time. For my main entree I chose the Cubano en Paris sandwich, delicious braised pork, perfectly melted gruyere cheese, slightly tangy dijon, pickled red onions in freshly baked la brea bakery artisan bread. It was delicious, it's like the french version of a pan con lechon and I am an instant huge fan.
For dessert two crepes caught my eye. I was happy to have my best friend with me so that we could order both and share. We ordered the guava creme and the monito borracho. The guava creme was not light on the filling, you got a great portion of pastel guayaba jam in every bite, perfectly balanced by the creme fraiche. The crepe was crispy on the edges and soft around the filling. The monito borracho is more of an open faced crepe, it has the flambeed bananas in a delicious pool of butter, brown sugar and spiced rum. They were both amazing, can't really pick one over the other. Note: you can get a scoop of vanilla ice cream with the monito borracho crepe, OH MY!
In short, I will now be making out my way to Hialeah quite often thanks to this little piece of Provence nestled in its neighborhood.
