Arrangements by Alice

We’re into fresh, local ingredients for our menu items. But you knew that already. We believe that fresh ingredients make better food and drink and the last thing we’d place on your table is a stale flower arrangement. Dining at La Sirena Clandestina should be a transportative experience, and we know that every element within the space contributes to that feeling.   

So, it serves to reason that our flowers are fresh and local, too. Alice Hanson, our arrangement specialist, sources her materials from Steve’s Flower Market, just a few blocks away from La Sirena Clandestina, on a weekly basis. Just like John’s Green City Market forays, Alice goes into her weekly arrangements with an open mind and picks her direction based upon what’s available.

When Alice joined La Sirena Clandestina’s opening team, she quickly found that most of us wear more than one hat. So in addition to serving up our finest dishes a few night a week, Alice stepped up to handle the flower arrangements and now holds herself responsible for the unique and beautiful botanic vignettes around the restaurant. It’s a responsibility that comes naturally to her: The first inclination of Alice’s green thumb came when she got her very first job—which, of course, was at a greenhouse. Her first day of work found her cutting peonies in a field; a powerful memory that informs her arrangements today. (In fact, if you ever find yourself at La Sirena during peony season, you’re sure to find one of the papery blossoms sharing your table.)

Things can get pretty hairy around the mermaid shack, but Alice’s arrangements strive to strike a balance between masculine and feminine. Though she’s usually drawn to traditional styles of floral arrangement (or, in her words: “Grandma Flowers”), every now and then she’ll stray from the classical to something a little weirder—because, as she says, “I don’t think nature has created an ugly flower. Give them the right backdrop and anything can be pretty.”

Alice’s reputation quickly outgrew her weekly arrangements for us, and she now offers floral catering for any occasion. Does your table need sprucing? Go ask Alice: alice@roserosedesigns.com.

Lunch Menu: El Che

El Che - roasted pork loin, ham, swiss, malagueta mayo, yellow mustard, pickles.

It seems like there’s always some controversy surrounding the origin of a particular cocktail or dish. And if there isn’t an argument about origin, then someone’s nose is out of joint about the correct preparation. What can we say? There’s a lot of passionate feelings about food and drink swirling around outside the mermaid shack—and inside, too—but we’d rather spend our time perfecting a drink or dish than grilling each other about it.

Famed sandwich historian, The Internet, spends a lot of time raising inflammatory questions: Was the Cuban Sandwich born in Cuba or did it evolve into its current state within the Cuban immigrant culture of 1880's Tampa? Is the addition of salami required (Tampa) or a sacrilege (Miami)?

Well, we don’t get into territorial disputes and we don’t get too involved with ‘historically accurate’ preparation. None of our offerings come with a detailed provenance. We’re interested in taste and authentic experiences. Which is why our take on the Cuban Sandwich, featured on our lunch and brunch menus, isn’t even called a Cuban Sandwich on our menu. It’s the El Che, named after you know who—whose Argentine birth didn’t stop him from being a real player in the Cuban Revolution.

Sally Sells...

Most of our customers never take the time to really case the joint when they decide to dine at La Sirena Clandestina, but we hope you take a thorough look at our Morgan Street exterior during your next visit, because one of our favorite pieces of art (that one up above) lives on a garage door at the side of our building. 

We were really into the the graffiti/street art we found on the garage when we moved in. “Sally sells crack cocaine by the sea shore” was scrawled in black spray paint across the battered metal door. It was a sentence that we felt really encapsulates what La Sirena Clandestina is about—minus, you know, the crack cocaine. The unexpected, the slightly weird, and (we hope) a touch of genius; that graffiti says it all. Instead of trying to paint over it, like another tenant might have done, we tried to get the building’s owner to let us bring it into the restaurant. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen, but we still took pride in our defaced door. Until the inevitable happened: we got tagged and the new graffiti covered up what Sally was really up to. As far as we know, Sally is no longer selling crack cocaine by the sea shore. 

Michelle Marrocco, a talented artist and one of our servers, was inspired to paint over the tag in a way that once more spoke to what we’re about. Next time you visit us, take a detour around the corner for a dose of the unexpected.

A Daiquiri in GIFs

 

Now you can watch Justin serve you a million daiquiris and still drive home (not nearly as fun as actually drinking them, though). This GIF reminds us that making a daiquiri is easy, just not as easy as ordering one at the bar. If you’re not into easy, here’s the recipe for all you homebodies.