Photos by Joyelle West

There is just something about a Cubano sandwich. Fatty pork and ham, melty cheese, cut with sharp yellow mustard and vinegary pickles—it’s a sandwich that, when made with care, you can taste the difference.

And Alexys Hernández makes his Cubanos with great care.

With Florida roots and Cuban heritage, he is the man behind Ensueño Cubano, a pop-up he created to showcase the Cuban food he grew up eating and that we don’t seem to have enough of in and around Boston. He has been popping up regularly (like other greats before him; see Rabottini’s Pizza and Vinal Bakery) at Bagelsaurus, doling out incredible Cubanos on some of the city’s best bagels.

While the Cubano is typically the pop-up’s headliner, Hernández has also been serving up pastelitos—Cuban pastries with sweet or savory fillings enclosed in his exceptionally buttery, flaky pastry—in a variety of flavors. He often makes the classic combination of guava and cream cheese, but occasionally he is testing out seasonal and local flavors as well. And if you’re lucky, you can catch a day where he is putting the entire contents of a Cubano sandwich into that perfect pastry package.

Hernández’s parents came to Florida in the ’60s from Cuba, and he was born in West Palm Beach. About three years ago he made the move north to Cambridge, where his brother steered him to get a job at Bagelsaurus. It didn’t take long before he was dreaming of ways to bring the food of his childhood to his new home.

“This food scene is kind of what you dream about,” he said of the Boston area. “Everyone’s trying to help each other and support each other.” This was especially true at the beginning of the pandemic as he started cooking his Cuban comfort foods (including the delicious roast pork that stars in his sandwiches) and bringing them to share with his co-workers. Their encouragement and fingerlicking gave Hernández the boost to share his food with the broader community.

At the early Ensueño Cubano pop-ups in 2021 Hernández was serving Cubanos on his homemade Cuban bread. Then in 2022 the pop-ups became more regular, a mainstay on Tuesdays at Bagelsaurus, with the sandwiches primarily served on Bagelsaurus bagels. But Hernández is eager to “do more stuff on the Cuban bread,” and to expand his menu generally. “I’m constantly working on recipes,” he says, which is how his irresistible pastelitos became a secondary staple of the pop-ups.

He is experimenting with Cuban picadillo, a dish of ground beef with spices and olives; exploring more flavors for pastelitos; and perfecting his favorite dish— fritas: small beef patties seasoned with chorizo flavoring, topped with grilled and raw onions, “special sauce” and crispy shoestring potatoes—that Hernández “dreams of setting up outside markets to just get those burgers going.”

Hernández is excited that people are embracing the food. “Cuban food is my comfort soul food … it’s what’s close to my heart. It’s my connection to Cuba.” A connection he is eagerly sharing and hoping can grow as he thinks about what is next for Ensueño Cubano. “I love the idea of a food cart … that’s how some of this food started in Cuba.”

Follow what’s cooking at EnsueñoCubano on Instagram: @ensueno_cubano.

This story appeared in the Fall 2022 issue.