Salon Hair and Rum

There are certain rules that I live by as a Cuban woman.
One very important one is that if I spend a Saturday morning at the Hair Salon (thanks, Kate!), I will not be cooking for anyone on Saturday night. And in fact, Husband should be prepared to actually take me out on a date.  Seriously,  Salon Hair should NOT be wasted.
He's been married to me for almost 15 years now. He knows and is careful to abide by the Salon Hair rule.
But here is what separates the (happily married) Men from the (casually dating) Boys....

HE FOUND A NEW CUBAN RESTAURANT IN ORANGE COUNTY.
(insert wild cheering and applause here.)

It's called Havana Mania and it's in Brea.

P3242503 A mere 30 minutes from Mission Viejo. (distance is measured in time here)

Havana MANIA?

Helpful definitions:

in English:
mania - [mey - nee - uh] noun. 1.excessive excitement or enthusiasm.

in Spanish (translation):
manía - [mah-nee-ah] noun.
1.a compulsive habit.

Cool. I'm bilingually covered. =D

WARNING: SERIOUS EXCESSIVE EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM COMING UP...

We were so impressed with the atmosphere, service and especially the food. Fabulous. Cuban. Food. (let's have a moment of silence and show the proper respect, shall we?)
I ordered a combo of Ropa Vieja and Lechon Asado. Eric had a beautiful Bistec a la Criolla. All this with the mandatory black beans, white rice & maduros.
0324072008 We got to meet Stefan, one of the owners and after we finished gushing about how delighted we were to be there, etc, he brought over a couple of shots of 15 year old Guatemalan rum.P3242498


"We don't get it that often, and it's too expensive to sell,"
he told us, "so when we get it, I give it away." 
Well, ok. If we must. We'd hate to be impolite. =D
I confess that in spite of being Cuban I have never acquired a taste for rum. But this stuff was smooth and easy to sip.  Just ask Eric how wonderful it was as a chaser to his mojitos. ;-)

P3242505
So... ok... maybe the rum went to his head just a little...
but remember...
technically he was celebrating a Salon Hair Day victory. =D

Good job, Honey! High fives all around.

P.S. there's also a location in Redondo Beach, Ziva. (hint, hint)