An island of nostalgia and classic Cuban fare

On Union Street in Pasadena, the sound of nostalgic bittersweet boleros from the ‘30s and ‘40s wafts out the door of Cafe Atlantic. Out front, beneath a black awning, two sidewalk tables are pinned like shiny aluminum butterflies behind a barricade. City regulations, I’m told, but what danger people eating Cuban sandwiches outside poses to passersby isn’t clear.

Xiomara Ardolina, who owns the upscale Nuevo Latino restaurant Xiomara, jumped on the chance to take over a cafe around the corner and turn it into a casual Cuban dining spot. She moved right in, and slowly, over a period of months, repainted the walls olive and a soft yellow and decorated them with photos of Malecon, Havana’s famous seawall, South Beach in Miami and a marvelous black-and-white print of Manhattan at night with the vanished towers looming in the sky.

The cafe still feels a bit makeshift with the bar and counter left over from its previous life standing awkwardly at the back, far too large for the space. Cans of soda and drinks and a small selection of pastries look a little lost inside. But the reassuring smells of cumin and garlic coming from the kitchen signal that this is a kitchen where everything on the menu of homey Cuban food is made from scratch, except the bread, which comes from Porto’s Bakery in Glendale. It’s the real thing, pan de agua, a plain white bread, which the cafe grills and lavishes with butter. The little rafts of Cuban toast are irresistible.

Cool salads and lemonade

The first time I wander into Cafe Atlantic, it is a hot day, and we sit outside at one of the two tiny cafe tables. Fresh-squeezed lemonade arrives in a carafe. Delicious and tart, it’s reminiscent of the citron presse you’d get in a French cafe -- and they keep filling it up. Cafe Atlantic’s menu includes a couple of lovely salads that are a welcome departure from the typical restaurant salads. Ensalada mixta is a perky mix of salad greens and watercress strewn with fresh peas, halved cherry plum tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, radishes and sweet red onion in a vinaigrette that’s weighted more toward the lemon than the oil. But don’t forget the sliced tomato and onion or the sliced avocado salads listed with the sides. Dressed with a squeeze of lime and extra-virgin olive oil, their flavors come alive.

Aperitivos, or appetizers, are meant to share -- and could make an entire meal. A classic Spanish tortilla arrives freshly made, the Latin version of Italian frittata. Puffed and browned to a deep gold, the deep-yellow eggs are laced with potatoes, strips of sweet peppers and onion with nuggets of spicy paprika-stained chorizo hidden in there somewhere. Like an oversized version of the traditional Spanish tapa, the tortilla sits on a slice of toasted bread. Cut into wedges, it’s delicious with the lush fried plantains.

Though the idea is traditional Cuban food, Ardolina, who designed the menu with Xiomara’s chef, Fernando Ramirez,can’t help giving things her own twist and updating dishes or upgrading them slightly with better ingredients. Shrimp cocktail, for example, comes in a stemmed glass with six shrimp hugging the sides. To a sauce criollo, typically made from a sofrito of onion, bell peppers and garlic with tomato, she slips in some horseradish to give it some punch. Her papas rellenas, or stuffed potatoes -- a popular Cuban dish -- is just one big ball of mashed potato stuffed with picadillo, spiced ground beef with olives and capers. It’s usually served plain, but at Cafe Atlantic she can’t resist adding a light tomato sauce. She’s right. It’s better this way.

Her lamb croquettes are more Nuevo Latino in concept, made with both lamb and Spanish chorizo ground together and bound with much less flour than the traditional croquettes.

If you’re wondering about the black bean soup, Cuba’s most famous dish, it’s here, a subtly seasoned version made with the glorious velvety beans cooked through and through. Ajiaco is a kind of stew or hearty soup usually made with horsemeat. At Cafe Atlantic, Ardolina decided to use tasajo, or jerked beef, and brisket and includes the array of tropical tubers that make this dish so interesting -- yellow and white malanga, boniato, yuca, calabasa, fresh corn and, of course, plantains.

Heavyweight sandwiches

Cuban food is not exactly noted for being light. If you’ve ever eaten an entire Cuban sandwich, you’ll know what I mean. Cafe Atlantic’s version has gone gourmet with Black Forest ham, Swiss cheese and roasted pork. Not everybody is going to approve of such changes, but Ardolina’s sticking to it. Personally, I prefer the sumptuous roast leg of pork sandwich grilled on Cuban toast. When it’s good, meat is suffused with the tastes of lemon and garlic. This sandwich and a carafe of that icy lemonade make a wonderful lunch.

One of the best dishes here is Creole-Cuban fried rice. It’s fresh and clean, made with rock shrimp, diced pork and ham and shreds of egg. Like almost everything else, it comes with avocado and plantain. Another good bet is the classic picadillo, served with white rice and plantains. A note on the arroz con pollo says it takes 25 minutes, which means the chicken is cooked to order; it’s served with a saffron-stained rice.

Some of the other entrees are lackluster, though. Bacalao a la Vizcaina is salt cod in a mess of sweet peppers and tomatoes. The salt cod one night hasn’t been soaked long enough and is incredibly salty. Oxtail stew in red wine is nondescript. Sliced top sirloin smothered in onions and parsley is much better. But the big disappointment the one night I manage to get an order is that Cuban-style roasted leg of pork. It’s so salty it’s almost inedible. Someone in the kitchen has a heavy hand with the salt shaker in any number of dishes.

Strong coffee and sweet desserts

Though the famous tres leches is not on the menu, the flan is made with both evaporated and condensed milk and vanilla bean and the rich, heavy custard is set off by a wonderful burnt sugar caramel. Pass on the bunuelos. When I tried them, the batter wasn’t cooked through. But try the pudin diplomatico, a tender and very sweet bread pudding laced with raisins, vanilla custard and berries.

You can get an espresso anywhere, so why not expand your coffee repertory with the cafe’s Cuban-style coffees? Cafesito is basically a sugared espresso; cortadito is similar to a macchiato (espresso with a little steamed milk to “cut up” the bitterness); and cafe con leche, coffee with milk -- again with sugar and a touch of salt to balance the flavors.

Mornings from 6 a.m. you can get Cuban continental breakfast, which is fresh squeezed fruit juice, grilled Cuban toast and tea or coffee, along with that Spanish tortilla and a couple of egg dishes served with black beans. And I guess the leftover pork leg must go into the pork hash “caballo style” with sweet peppers, onions, green beans and potatoes.

Open all day, every day, Cafe Atlantic is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. And if you miss Xiomara’s mojitos (Cafe Atlantic serves only wine and beer), stop in at the bar there before heading around the corner to Cafe Atlantic for some homey Cuban cooking.

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Cafe Atlantic

Rating: *

Location: 53 E. Union St. (at Raymond Avenue), Pasadena; (626) 796-7350.

Ambience: Casual all-day Cuban cafe with butcher paper on the tables, soulful Latin music on the soundtrack and a TV mounted in one corner (sound off).

Service: Warm and friendly.

Price: Appetizers, $5 to $10; main courses, $7 to $14; desserts, $4.

Best dishes: Black bean soup, ajiaco, ensalada mista, Spanish tortilla, Cuban-style tamale, papas rellenas, fried rice, picadillo, arroz con pollo, Cuban flan and pudin diplomatico.

Wine list: One page with a few Spanish wines. Corkage, $7.

Best table: One in the window.

Special features: Takeout menu until 6 p.m.

Details: Open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Parking in public lot across the street. (First hour free, second hour $1.50)

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.