Paola’s Gourmet Specialties & Coffee Shop In Hamden Offers Surprising Fare

Snuggled up next to Hamden fave Ibiza Tapas on busy Dixwell Avenue just south of the Wilbur Cross Parkway is Paola’s Gourmet Specialties & Coffee Shop.

The two eateries share the pretty patio in front of the building, with its iron railings, flowering planters, polished granite flooring and tiled tabletops.

Building owner Victor Hart and his wife Ayda named Paola’s Gourmet after their young daughter. The gourmet café exhibits a multiculturalism born of the personalities behind it. Victor (rear) was born of Chilean and American parents,

Ayda’s (right) heritage is Colombian,

and their terrific, little-known, chef Lucy Fernandez (left) is of Puerto Rican descent.

Lucy looks like somebody’s daughter but cooks like somebody’s grandmother.

Most recently, Lucy was the chef of La Hacienda, a mostly Mexican restaurant at the corner of Water Street and Olive Street in New Haven. She also cooked at a Bennigan’s and a Red Lobster. Check out the specials boards and menu, where you can find mash-ups like a French dip panino or piña coolata French toast (remember, you can click on photos to enlarge).

Let me show you Paola’s interior so you can see how clean, sunny and welcoming it is.

There’s always a smiling, fresh-faced gal behind the counter,

unless, that is, she’s coming out from behind the counter to bring you your food.

So now that you’ve seen the place and met some of the staff, let’s take a look at some of the food, beginning with breakfast. Start the day with a wonderful hazelnut chocolate latte.

The breakfast burrito is as filling as it is popular. It’s loaded with egg, smoked turkey, Cheddar cheese, red and green pepper, onion and chipotle sauce.

Also very popular is the aforementioned French toast with pineapple, coconut and sliced almond.

Protein shakes and smoothies are planned for summer.

Soups and salads are also terrific. How about a steaming hot bowl of cilantro, black bean and rice soup

or a delicious bowl of chicken tortilla soup?

Salads are also an area of strength at Paola’s. Witness this piquant Southwest salad

and this delightfully refreshing goat cheese salad with strawberry-peach dressing.

Let’s follow soups and salads with some starter-sized treats. Some of these may not be on the menu (because Lucy asks me to try things when I stop in), but they’ll certainly illustrate the kitchen’s imagination and range. So this is octopus fried rice,

this is a macaroni and cheese ball,

this is a yucca “meatball,”

this is a relleno with chicken breast and Cheddar,

this is an alcappuria (a plantain and banana fritter with ground beef),

and this is a tostada with red beans.

A chicken enchilada with salsa verde was a tasty find,

as was a canoa (canoe) featuring two sweet plantains holding a ground beef mixture topped with melted Cheddar.

But my favorite little treat was sweet plantain wrapped around a highly seasoned filling of ground turkey,

which was then breaded and fried, so it wound up looking like this.

The result? Absolutely scrumptious, with a wonderful salty-sweet thing going on.

Now let’s take a look at some main course items. These are the kinds of items that most lunchtime customers seem to come in for, and I have no trouble seeing why. This is a tomato, Mozzarella and basil panino with yucca fries, plus some chipotle mayonnaise dip for the fries.

This is a steak burrito filled with Monterey Jack, sour cream, refried beans, rice, cilantro, onion, lettuce and tomato and accompanied by freshly prepared salsa verde (with tomatillo) and salsa roja.

A steak and cheese wrap was incredibly tasty as well.

A Honduran taco filled with stewed chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cilantro and a secret sweet sauce was new culinary territory as well as scrumptious.

I also loved a quesadilla with ground beef, mild Cheddar, cilantro, red onion, lettuce and crema paired with a killer salsa.

Rice and beans were ideal sides.

But my favorite item might have been the roast beef panini au jus, the added crunch improving a classic sandwich preparation.

The desserts I tried were a lot of fun as well. One was a tres leches cake with mango ice cream, cashews and pineapple topped with a slice of guava,

one was a peach cobbler with cashews,

one was a caramel cinnamon obsession with fried tortilla strips, pecans and vanilla bean ice cream,

and one an elaborate combination of fruit, ice cream and nuts in a tortilla shell called a tropical dream.

Lucy has that desire to experience as many kinds of food as possible that should characterize all chefs. So I’ll close with a picture of my wife and Lucy taken while we’re enjoying a really nice meal at Ibiza Tapas next door.

Paola’s Gourmet Specialties & Coffee Shop, 1830 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden; 203-691-8106