


“We are thrilled to have Chef Alejandro at the helm,” says Mena. Hemingway lived on the island of Cuba for more than 20 years, and wrote the famous novel during his residency.

Porben is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Miami and the Culinary Association of the Republic of Cuba.Īlong with fellow owners Earl Campos Devine and Oscar Rodriguez, Eliesteban Mena designed and conceptualized Sala’o as a tribute to Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Old Man and the Sea. Prior to his current role at the eatery, Porben worked at some of Miami’s highly acclaimed restaurants including Scarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Pubbelly Sushi Dadeland, and Zuma. A native of Cuba, Porben joins Sala’o with an impressive culinary background. Through it we saw a chance to elevate everything at Sala’o and reopen stronger than ever.” A major aspect to that elevation, newly appointed Executive Chef Alejandro Porben. “We’ve done what we needed to do to get through and back to where we can begin seating customers again. “Putting it gently, this has been a difficult time for everyone in the restaurant and hospitality business,” says Eliesteban Mena, who co-owns Sala’o as well as Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina, located just steps away from Sala’o on 8th Street in Little Havana. Now, as they celebrate their one-year anniversary, the eatery is officially announcing its new executive chef, his inspired new menus and a dynamite new bar program inspired by the vibrant flavors of Cuba executed with panache and unfailing technique. And then COVID arrived and though the lights never went out at Sala’o, proprietors saw in the mandated closures and restrictions an opportunity to revamp, refine and relaunch. Nestled in the heart of Calle Ocho, one of Miami’s most iconic and vibrant neighborhoods, Sala’o Cuban Restaurant & Bar is a contemporary, Cuban-American restaurant & bar as heralded for its soulful menu as it was for its bustling bar scene.
