Perry’s Inverness Park Grocery is your basic West Marin gourmet deli. Which is to say that there’s nothing basic about it. For every grocery staple, there’s another that’s hooked into the magic market of West Marin. One fridge is loaded with Mary’s Chicken, and around every bend there’s another locally sourced product—Shorty’s Produce included.

Last week the deli opened an eat-in room adjacent to the main store. The gist: family-style benches and a wooden counter along the window upon which to rest your weary hams.

Enjoy the views. There’s big ol’ Elephant Mountain yonder-ways and sheep bumbling in a field across the street. When you’re at Perry’s, you are deep at the edge of the fringe of the center of pure wilderness.

Order at the deli and enjoy your snack in the fresh-painted room, whose walls are filled with prints from photographer Daniel Dietrich. Chef Ed Vigil’s fresh on the scene here, and he’s cranked up a choice selection of new salads, specials and sammies.

I ordered an $11 Cubano off the deli chalkboard. It’s a dense, pressed sandwich and appears to be a new addition, since it’s not on the printed menu. The verdict? That is one good and meaty Cuban policy, and the sandwich is pretty good too.

I also tried Perry’s $6.75 breakfast burrito: bacon, potatoes, melted cheese, eggs, green chilies, your mama. Total rib-sticker.

I munched that burrito with a big coffee and tuned in to the locals and their chit-chat: the tides, the weather, alien sightings on Inverness Ridge.

There’s a sign in the new room that says, simply, “Gather.” And so we gather, wearing muddy boots, drinking coffee, expecting rain and appreciating solid fare in a sweet new spot.

Perry’s Inverness Park Grocery,
12301 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Inverness
Park. 415.663.1491.

To the extent most people outside of Florida are familiar with Cuban cuisine, it’s the Cuban sandwich.

A Cuban sandwich is made with pork and/or ham, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard, pickles and Cuban bread. The bread is a key ingredient. Cuban bread is a flat, French-like loaf that’s cut square and pressed on a griddle to make it hot and crispy and delicious.

The genesis of the sandwich is murky, but the popular story is that it began as lunch fare among cigar factory and sugar mill workers in 19th- and early 20th-century Cuba. Before the Cuban revolution and the embargo and travel restrictions that followed, Cubans traveled to Florida frequently, and they brought their sandwich with them. The Cuban sandwich flourished in Tampa’s Ybor City.

Now that President Obama has moved to normalize relations with Cuba, the day may soon come when Americans can travel to Cuba with ease. Will the Americanized Cuban sandwich repatriate back to Cuba? For now, the closest you can get to Cuba in the North Bay is Windsor’s five-week-old Rumba Cuban Café.

The restaurant is owned by the Tormo family. They moved from Florida seven years ago, and brought their love of Cuban food with them. Cuban-born Reina Torma does the cooking. She was born in Cuba as was Elizabeth Tormo, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Isaac.

The Cuban sandwich ($11.95) is the best seller, and for good reason. I told myself there was no way I could finish the hulking pressed sandwich, but a few minutes later, it was gone. The bread is shipped in from Miami and finished in the oven at Rumba. It’s wonderfully crisp and crumbly. The best part is the tender pulled-pork shoulder pressed between the slices of bread. It’s great with a side of mojo sauce (lemon juice and garlic) for dipping, garlic breath be damned.

There are other sandwiches on the menu, like the Little Havana (roast pork, Swiss cheese and garlicky aioli, $10.95) and the Frita/Cuban burger (seasoned ground beef and chorizo served on a sweet roll, $5.50). But the Cuban sandwich is really what you want.

There’s also a list of daily specials that reads like the greatest hits of Cuban cuisine—lechon asado (roast pork, $15), picadillo (spiced ground beef with olives, $11), chicken fricassee ($11) and shrimp creole (e$16.95). I tried the Monday special, picadillo. It’s a simple but satisfying dish. Add in soupy black beans, white rice and fried plantains, and you’ve got a classic Cuban meal. It’s Caribbean soul food.

Inside, Rumba is light and bright. There are half a dozen or so tables, and a bar with chairs made out of wine barrels. An old, black rotary phone on the wall emits a muffled ringtone that sounds as old as Fidel. Rumba and son cubano tunes play from the speakers, and Caribbean-inspired art hangs on the wall alongside a large framed map of Cuba. No images of Che here.

Cafe con leche ($.95) is another well-known Cuban specialty, and it’s great at Rumba. Sweet and creamy, it’s made with Café Bustelo espresso ground coffee from Miami. Beer isn’t yet available.

I’ll get to Cuba someday, but I’ll be visiting Rumba Café a lot sooner—and more frequently.

Rumba Cuban Cafe, 8759 Old Redwood Highway, Windsor. 707.687.5632.