5. La Duni Latin Cafe

We have dined at La Duni before and had a good experience. However, the Father's Day brunch was overpriced and the service wasn't good. They didn't offer much of a menu and the bill was over $200. We were disappointed this time. Our reservation wasn't correct and the staff was rude.

La Duni, the new Latin cafe and bakery, translates as the Promised Land for Epicurean philosophers who believe that since life is short, dessert should be eaten first. Pastry chef and co-owner Dunia Borga, whose nickname Duni provided the restaurant's name, realigns the stars when it comes to desserts. Venezuelan chocolate truffle cake with hazelnut praline, almond tuilles (thin, crisp wafers) and quatro leches cake (one-up on the traditional tres leches) look as elegant as European pastry but are undeniably Latin-inspired. Even if you start with dessert, don't stop there. La Duni adds a new dimension to the panoply of Latin flavors available in this area: Cuban sandwiches with ham and roast pork, small masa discs from Venezuela called arepas, exquisite roast chicken in a champagne-orange sauce and sparkling fresh ades and cocktails with hand-crushed lemons and limes.