You Ask: What's the Story Behind the New Timbao Tropical Restaurant?

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Some of us at Albany Patch were wondering about the  and had more questions than answers.

We just knew it had replaced , which for the past 15 years served up tasty traditional Mexican cuisine. And we knew that —an Albany institution featuring live salsa music, dancing and salsa lessons—was still going as strong as ever next door. Did the restaurant change owners? Why did Timbao replace the café? And what was the meaning—and story—behind Timbao?

tracked down Cindy Deetz, the executive chef and manager of Timbao, for answers. Deetz said Juan Romo, owner of Club Montero’s and Montero’s Café, had simply wanted to redesign the restaurant.

“He wanted to change the whole menu,” she said. “He wanted to offer something different in 2011. He wanted something that would stand out.”

While mainstays like beef enchiladas, flautas, burritos and molé are still offered, the emphasis is now on more Caribbean, Latin American and tropical dishes—or what Deetz describes as “Latin fusion.”

As examples, Deetz pointed out several tropical tapas dishes, including the popular Bajan-style chicken skewers (from Barbados, she said), Jamaican “stamp and go” fritters, Peruvian Causa Limena and the Anticuchos with Ocopa, grilled skewers of beef heart with an Andean black mint and peanut sauce. Even the drink menu shows a Caribbean flair—offering a Trinidad Sour and Antilles Rum.

“It’s an eclectic menu,” said Deetz, who emphasized that all the items are made in the traditional way. “We wanted to do more than just Caribbean jerk chicken.”

Deetz has been a chef for 30 years, most notably at Italian restaurant on University Avenue in Berkeley, where she was the owner and chef. In March, she was hired by Romo to revamp Montero’s Café from top to bottom—and inside and out.

In addition to the menus (which are attached here as PDFs), she also designed the blue and white exterior and red signage. She said the menu change took effect in late May, and that Timbao is planning a grand opening “sometime in late July.”

Deetz has a passion and an unerring eye for detail—down to each selection on her menus as well as the paper napkins at every table at Timbao.

“It’s intended to have a casual feel,” she said. “When I think of the Caribbean, I think of a place that is casual but where the cuisine is going to be fantastic. We want this to be a place where you can bring a date or where families can go and be welcome.”

The new name—Timbao—is Brazilian for “congo drum” or the “groove” of a song “that makes you want to dance,” she said. “We thought it fit in with Club Montero’s next door.”

And dancing, Caribbean style, is making its way to Timbao. The restaurant is offering a Dominican bachata class from 5 to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

“It’s been really fun, really fun,” Deetz said of the entire Timbao makeover.  “It’s been fun working with Juan (Romo), whom I’ve known for 15 years, and fun to merge ideas. I’m very passionate about the whole thing.”

What do you think about the new Timbao Tropical Restaurant and Bar? Tell us in the comments below.

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a call at 510-459-8325 or shoot her an e-mail at emilier@patch.com.