Versailles the book

Anyone who has been to Miami knows Versailles Restaurant, the brightly lit Cuban palace with accented wall-to-wall mirrors, green borders and sparkling chandeliers. It's where where the aroma of Cuban coffee mixes with the succulent scent of fresh garlic butter bread.

Now there's a new book that celebrates the family and the history of this Cuban restaurant. I wrote a story about the book, The Versailles Restaurant Cookbook which features some of the eatery's more popular recipes.

Besides the food, the restaurant is a great place to people-watch because of the cross-section of residents and tourists that gather there every day. The restaurant is usually abuzz with activity from the chatter of overly dressed older Hispanic ladies who have just come from one of the funeral homes down the street to the tables of sun-burned tourists and young couples in beach shorts, tank tops and flip flops.