Where can you get homemade Cuban bread in Colorado?

By Gretchen Kurtz Thu., Oct. 11 2012 at 7:57 AM

Categories: Follow That Story

Mark Manger

Cuban toast at La Guarida Cubana.

Baking at altitude is no easy feat. Master the task and you could have your own blog -- or at least be the bestseller at your kid's next bake sale.

So it's little wonder that mile-high sandwich shops go to such lengths to find the right combination of flour, salt and yeast on which to stack their toppings. This is particularly true at Cuban restaurants, where sandwiches run a close second to the ever-popular café con leche in terms of sales.

See also:
- Review: At La Guarida Cubana, love is not lost in translation
- Slide Show: A family affair at La Guarida Cubana
- You don't have to go to Cuba for a good Cuban sandwich

For my review of La Guarida Cubana this week, I asked chef-owner Lissette Rosell if she bakes her own bread. Given how authentic the place is, and how good the Cuban sandwich, I very well thought she might. She doesn't, though, and she refused to give up her source.

Rosell isn't the only one keeping secrets. I checked around, and of the other big names, Buchi Cafe Cubano buys its Cuban bread from an outside, unnamed source and Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria in Boulder ships it in from Miami. "No one here can make it," I was told.

But Frijoles Colorado Cuban Café might take offense at that, since the Lakewood-based restaurant -- incidentally, our Best Cuban Restaurant 2012 -- does bake its own white, baguette-like bread.

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