With all the foodie chatter constantly focusing on the newest and trendiest crap-hole, I wanted to take us all back for a moment, when we were all so young, and gay, and free; and good, cheap Latin food was always the meal of choice. I stopped by Latin Cafe 2000 on Biscayne and 25th after being so utterly bored with more expensive meals at shinier, critic-sanctioned spots, and got a plate of hefty lamb shanks, that's right, two, for $14.95. That comes with black beans or plantains and rice. The shanks were admirable-cooked long and slow-juicy, in a red wine sauce that was rich and slightly sweet. I would say perfect-and at 15 bucks almost brought tears to my eyes. No risotto (yuppie crack), no mac&cheese (club kids' crack), no farro, no fregola, no couscous of any kind-just perfectly cooked shanks in a deep sauce with some complexity. Latin soul food. And in these uncertain times, there is nothing quite like a satisfying, cheap meal. In fact, my constant companion and I wrapped up one shank to go for the next day's lunch. They were playing a Marc Anthony live concert on the TV, and the night air on the patio was just cool enough. Nice mix of families, elders, and couples. They also have an entire page of the menu devoted to the sandwich. With pictures. Comforting.
