El Buren Caribbean Cuisine in Highwood belongs to that special category of restaurant: IfImever, which translates to, “If I’m ever going to open my own restaurant, now is the time.”
Chef Angel Rodriguez had worked at Miramar and at Froggy’s. His wife, Beatriz, who owns El Buren, said, “He always dreamed of having his own place and to see all of his own native Puerto Rican recipes come to life.”
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The Waukegan residents considered opening that restaurant in their hometown, but it didn’t pan out. Angel knew Highwood and saw a void his dream restaurant could fulfill.
“Highwood is a restaurant destination and a blend of different types of food,” he observed, “but Caribbean (cuisine) was missing.” A friend, Beatriz said, encouraged the couple to make the leap. He told them, “If you’re ever going to do this, you need to just go in and do it.”
The restaurant opened last September in the space formerly occupied by the Grill.
Beatriz, whose parents were from Puerto Rico, was born and raised in Waukegan. Angel was born on the island, and first moved to the United States with his grandmother at a young age. Beatriz’s family knew Angel’s family, but they did not meet until mutual friends orchestrated an introduction. The first meal he cooked for her, she recalls, was Caldo Santo (it’s on the menu), a seafood stew ($26). “I remember he made it as if he was going to feed an army,” she said.
They’ve been married for 17 years.
She does double duty running the restaurant as well as working in the audiology department as a patient service representative at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, where she has worked for 25 years. “It’s a whole new ballgame for me,” she admits, “but I want this restaurant to be what he wanted it to be.”
Angel describes Caribbean cuisine as flavorful and distinguished by its spices. All the dishes are made fresh and in-house, from the Malanga chips that start each meal to Angel’s cheesecake ($9) for dessert.
In between are signature dishes from the region, including tostones rellenos ($8), an appetizer consisting of fried green plantains stuffed with shredded beef, shrimp, octopus and conch meat, the Cuban sandwich ($10), and pollo lamaiquino, or jerk chicken ($17).
One of the specialties of the house is the Chuleta “Kan Kan” ($22), a Flintstone-sized Puerto Rican pork chop boasting a crispy rind, and the mofongo o trifongo relleno, a fried green banana dish that is stuffed with either shredded beef ($16), grilled chicken in a Creole sauce ($16), fried pork ($16) or shrimp in a Creole sauce ($18).
In its first winter, El Buren lures patrons with the promise of exotic flavors and atmosphere. Framed on the wall are vintage travel come-ons to Haiti, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. There are retro ads for cool-looking mojitos. Blue walls suggest the ocean and piped in regional music sets a spicy mood.
For those who feel like dancing, El Buren obliges on weekends at 10 p.m.
Angel has a simple suggestion to those unfamiliar with Caribbean cuisine: “Give it a try”; which translate to: If you’re ever going to do it, now is the time.
Hours: Closed Sunday and Monday. Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Tues.-Fri. Dinner: 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Tues.-Thurs; 5 p.m.-2 a.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Address: 331 Waukegan Ave., Highwood.
Contact: 847-780-3310 or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Donald Liebenson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.