Caribe Cafe: Taste the Cuban side of Live Oak

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From left, Johnny Mercado, Vanessa Mercado and Marisol Brown. - Photo: Andrew McGee

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February 15, 2013

Caribe Cafe: Taste the Cuban side of Live Oak

Owners hope to bring Latin festival to downtown Live Oak

Andrew McGee Suwannee Democrat The Suwannee Democrat Fri Feb 15, 2013, 04:35 PM EST

Live Oak — Marisol (she goes by Mari) Brown, Johnny and Vanessa Mercado are the owners of Caribe Cafe of Live Oak and invite anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of eating their authentic cooking to come on by. They are located on Court Street, next to Bank of America.

“My brother, my sister and myself are from Puerto Rico,” said Brown. “We’ve all lived for a long time in Miami and that’s where we got the Cuban side of it.”

Brown explained that Cuban and Puerto Rican cultures are not that different.

“Puerto Ricans and Cubans have very similar tastes in food and music and all of that,” said Brown. “So, this is Puerto Rican and Cuban,” as she pointed to kitchen and display case.

Brown said that the similarities are so close, she really can’t tell the difference.

“There are certain foods that are specific from each island,” said Brown. “Like black beans are very Cuban, but we use them too.”

Another example of a popular and similar food is yellow rice with pigeon peas or arroz con gandules.

“It’s very Puerto Rican,” said Brown. “Cubans don’t use it as much, but they like it. It’s pretty much the same, so we’re able to integrate it.”

Brown has been in Live Oak for about 10 years, her brother Johnny only about a year.

“I married one of your locals,” said Brown. “So, that’s how I ended up here.”

Brown said that she has some family that already lived here and that her husband Jep (from the VB Brown family) had attended the same church as her aunt, Gladys Newport.

“So, I guess my aunt was playing Cupid and got us together,” said Brown. “We clicked real well.”

The pace and feel of Live Oak is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Miami and south Florida. She said that moving from Miami to Live Oak was a big shock. She said once she got used to it, she couldn’t go back. She likes the slow pace and ease of Live Oak compared to the fast-paced Miami life. She really likes the traffic here.

Being a restaurant owner, you’d think Brown was quite the cook and knew her way around the kitchen.

“For me, that’s null and void. It’s my sister,” laughed Brown. “I can’t cook. My mom was very good at cooking.”

Brown said her sister had a small cafeteria in Puerto Rico and has been cooking all of her life. Brown said since she can’t cook, she handles the business side, among other things, as bookkeeper.

After moving here, she said being a member of a Latin culture it was an important opportunity to learn the local culture and familiarize herself with the typical foods. Since Americans generally enjoy different cuisines, Brown thought since their Cuban food was something new and different, maybe it would also be well-received.

“Y’all are used to mainly your own food or barbecue or Chinese or Mexican,” said Brown. “This is completely different. I think we did pretty good.”

She said that of her Latin community, the Puerto Ricans and Cubans are responding positively to the new tastes Caribe Cafe has brought to the area. They told Brown that her sister could cook.

“Don’t ask me to cook,” said Brown. “I told her (sister Vanessa) the other day, don’t get sick because I’ll have to close the doors.”

Originally, Brown wanted to slowly introduce the cuisine to the folks of Live Oak. For the first several weeks of their opening, they were serving some of the typical regional country-style food along with their own food.

“When we first opened, we were integrating a little bit of American food in there because I didn’t want it to be a shock,” said Brown.

She quickly realized they were throwing away the regional food because her customers wanted authentic Cuban cuisine.

“We haven’t had to tone it down at all,” said Brown. “It’s good that they like it and I’m happy with it.”

Brown said they’ve had people come in who were from Miami or Tampa or had been there and were accustomed to having their Cuban “fix” in the way of breads, pastries and coffee.

“We have Cuban coffee. My husband calls it diesel fuel,” laughs Brown. “It gets you going all day long. It’s very strong and I always ask people, ‘Are you ready for this?’”

Brown said that her biggest seller at the cafe is the Cuban sandwich which is made using Cuban bread with ham, pork, mustard, Swiss cheese and pickles then grilled to a golden brown. Other favorites are the desserts, but she admitted they like to change the menu items occasionally.

“Nothing here is set in stone,” said Brown. “You know, if a customer asks us for something a little bit different, we’ll make it.”

Brown said that she has been approached on different occasions by customers to have a set menu for each day of the week which she said she would love to do, but would explain to them it was up to her sister.

“What you eat everyday here depends on my sister’s mood,” said Brown. “And how she feels. She’s the cook and she doesn’t ‘just cook’, she has to feel it.”

Brown wants to have a festival which will be the first of its kind in Live Oak.

“We’re in the planning stages,” said Brown. “It looks like for summer or fall. It would be a way of showing what we have, but not just a Latin festival, but Latin and American. We have a lot of plans, but God will get us through it.”

Brown also wanted to mention that through the Latin community, a local Internet-based radio station has been very supportive of Caribe Cafe. It’s called Enlace Latino and their website is http://www.enlacelatinocorporation.org.

As a new business and restaurant owner, no matter where you are, it can be a risky business. What challenges has The Caribe Cafe faced so far?

“We are a minority here, big time,” said Brown. “I think we’ve done pretty good and the thing is, we don’t do anything without consulting Him. If God brought us here and allowed us to do it, we trust Him and keep on.”

Brown pointed at a slogan she has on the front of her menus which reads: “To God Be The Glory!”

“That’s one thing I learned about this town,” said Brown. “God is all over the place. I don’t really want to be anywhere else.”

Caribe Cafe of Live Oak, located at 109 Court Street SE, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner items including coffee, desserts, pastries, sandwiches, wraps and salads. They cater parties and bake cakes for all occasions. They also deliver food in town. They are open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For any questions, call 386-219-0115.