BEGINS IN 2 WEEKS fressing with fishman Havana In Detroit 2012 TOINNER I W BEST SCORE BEST CHOREOGRAPHY s vr Detroit Opera House • Dec. 15-21 -BROADWAy DETROIT SPONSORED BY RYS LE R ChryslerDealer.com ticketmaster.com , 800 982 2181; Fisher Theatre & Opera House box offices. Info: BroadwayInDetrort com, 313-812-1000. OC 6:30PM Dec. 20 . Groups (12+): Groups@BroadwaylnDetroit.com or 313-811-1132. - - 21,41,0 Buy $100 worth of gift cards and get a $20.00 Complimentary gift card for yourselfl!! Kids Eat Free Monday Restaurant Italian Cuisine 248.476.0044 Buy one lunch or dinner entree and get the second 1/2 off Of equal or lesser value 15% off total food bill Not good with any other coupons. Not good on holidays. One coupon per couple. Up to $30 Expires 12/30/15 Not good with any other coupon. Not good on holidays. One coupon per couple. Up to $30 Expires 12/30/15 Farmington Hills • Corner of Grand River & Haggerty Road Auburn Hills • 1 1/2 miles south of the Palace of Auburn Hills 1966950 Try Our New Boneyard Beef Ribs! Orchard Lake Rd. South of 14 Mile • Farmington Hills 851-7000 r--37 Excluding tax, tip and beverages • With this ad • Carry out or Dine in • Expires 1/03/16. JN Not valid on Holidays Catering for all Occasions • Carry-Out • Our Speciality "Low Carb Ribs & Chicken & Lamb Ribs" 66 December 3 2015 n 2016, it will be even easier to get to Cuba as the White House continues to ease travel restric- tions on the once-forbidden fruit of the Caribbean ... but that's still a long haul compared to a cruise down the Lodge to Vicente's Cuban Cuisine (1250 Library St.). Just a few blocks from Campus Martius Park, the restaurant is known for its sangria and salsa dancing every Friday and Saturday night, but from the street it certainly doesn't look like much. Admittedly, we might have never tried the place but for needing somewhere to eat in the city before witnessing Stevie Wonder's absolutely epic return to the Motor City for a second stop on his Songs In the Key of Life tour at Joe Louis Arena last month. The menu, designed by Chef de Cuisine Roberto Caceres, offers a taste of some of the country's most familiar dishes — everything from a Ryan selection of over- Fishman sized paellas served to order for parties of two or more to a superb frijoles negros (black bean) soup that can warm you up even in the thick of Detroit's worst snowstorms. Around the table we shared a few tapas from their selection of some two-dozen small plate appetizers. The calamari, marinated in a lemon but- ter sauce and served with capers and green onions, was thick, fresh and juicy. Their queso de cabra — goat cheese baked onto sliced tomatoes and served with a tomato basil sauce —was out of this world. For dinner, you won't miss with any number of their seafood entrees, paying proper homage to a country surrounded by water. The salmon a la parilla was grilled perfectly and part- nered nicely with sauteed spinach and thick slices of sweet plantains over a bed of rice. I found the highlight of the evening to be their pato a la naranja, a semi- boneless half duck roasted in a Grand Marnier orange sauce. The meat was succulent and tender, and the perfect- ly golden brown skin had an amazing crunch. I'm always hunting for a good duck dish, and what Vicente's does with duck will blow you away. Fair warning — call ahead for a table. Even with inches of snow pour- ing from the sky, there was no short- age of eager customers ready to grab a seat! NEW OPENINGS McClary Bros. are swinging the doors open this week on a new tast- ing room for their drinking vinegars in Farmington (32621 Grand River Ave.). Though the vinegars are designed for cooking and cocktails, there are no plans for a liquor license at the site. House of Pure Vin is wining and dining Detroit shoppers with a taste for fermented grapes at their new store at 1433 Woodward Ave. Stocked with thousands of bottles of wine from hundreds of brands (many of which are local to Michigan), the store will start daily tastings later this month. QUICKIES Somerset Collection's CityLoft has returned to Detroit, packing 28 retail- ers into a new seasonal space on the ground floor of 1001 Woodward Ave., across from Campus Martius Park. There's also a wine and beer bar and fireplace patio if you need a place to rest your feet (and wallet). Huey Lewis and the News will per- form at this year's North American International Auto Show Charity Preview on Jan. 15. For information, visit naias.com/tickets. MAZEL TOV TO ... Sam Lites and Isabella Tobias on their engagement. And happy birthday to Christine Colman, Mark Singer, Fran Victor, Alyssa Sirlin, Elana Haron and Seth Haron. * Got a tip for Ryan? Email him at ryan@thefishmangroup.com .