In Cuba paladares are small, privately owned restaurants in peoples' homes that offer authentic, home-cooked meals at affordable prices. This explains Paladar's unique "room-within-a-room" design using ornate steel-grill partitions, a stylish illusion meant to make guests feel as if they're dining in different parts of a house. Currently one of L.A.'s most "in" restaurants, this Hollywood newcomer is all about Nuevo Cubano -- from the unique plaster-and-tobacco-leaf wallpaper to Chef Joe Herreros' Afro-Cuban-American menu: grilled pork chop with mango/quince chutney and boniato sweet potato mash, boiled Yucca salad with spiced onion and a citrus mojo vinaigrette, oxtail soup, grilled octopus served over a plantain and cranberry bean salsa. Some of Herreros' arrangements work better than others, but the overall experience is worth the pesos (a sure bet is the roasted jerk chicken, marinated and served with roasted garlic mash). All entrees come with traditional sides such as plantains, yucca mash, and rice and beans. Tip: After dinner, head to the small bar in the back and warm your chichis with a few Key lime mojitos.