‘I feel closer to my roots’: Three Dallas Cuban-owned restaurants that remind fans of home Try these extraordinary Cubanos and other dishes. A dish of Ropa Vieja, shredded beef in a tomato sauce, with red, green peppers and onion, center, and a Cuban sandwich with sliced pork, ham and Swiss cheese, served with fries, from Caribbean Cuba restaurant in Carrollton(Ben Torres / Special Contributor) It’s not about achieving a badge of authenticity. It’s more of an emotional thing for Ernesto Vélez, owner of the Havana Cafe in Casa Linda, to source the right cheese, the right bread, to slow-simmer the pork in the cauldron of sofrito. Cooking with the right ingredients — not the ones you feel like you must cook with, but the ones that make you feel something — is one way Vélez keeps his heart and soul connected to his home of Holguín, Cuba.