Eating and Loving – Cuba

Before we get into the meat and lack of potatoes of the matter, there are a few things I need to share about this particular blog as a foundation for everything I witnessed and the fraction of which I will share here today.

Most followers know that I am of Cuban descent. I sometimes get asked if I’m Italian or Greek or Mexican, but no. My dad was Cuban. Born in Cuba. My mom was Puerto Rican. Born in Puerto Rico.  Me? Card carrying American, thank you very much. Born in Hollywood, California. 19 hundred and 68.

I tell people who ask that I am Cuban because I was raised primarily in Miami with the Cuban side of my family.

All of that said, it’s important to mention what growing up in Miami was like in a city full of exiles who never passed on an opportunity to brag about their homeland.  If there is anything I know, it’s that Cubans are proud.  Cubans are bombastic. A Cuban will rarely pass on hyperbole, especially for the sake of being colorful and gregarious.

You should also know that there are very likely members of my family that do not approve of my visit to Cuba.  They would not, under any circumstances, support anything to do with a government that was part of what happened to their homeland between 1958 and 1961 and beyond. I will spare you the history lesson. You can look that part of it up if you so choose.

How big of a deal is a visit to Cuba for a member of my age group? One of my best friends visited with her son back in November. She lives in Miami.  She told her family she was taking her son to Jamaica for the weekend. Not a peep about their actual plans.  The blow back would be absurd. Yes, it’s a big deal.

I had been in Havana for roughly 2 hours before it got interesting. My family chose to take a load off  their feet for a couple of hours upon arrival. I was too curious. I went for a walk. The neighborhood we chose to stay in is called Vedado. A very nice neighborhood just outside of what is referred to as Central Havana. Tree lined streets, art galleries, some museums and privately owned eateries.

It’s also the neighborhood where you will find Havana’s Hotel Nacionál. A beautiful waterfront hotel built in 1930. Modeled after “The Breakers” in Palm Beach, Florida, it is a peek into what was Cuban luxury once upon a time. That’s where I had my first beer and cigar. It’s also the place where you will pay the highest price for beer or wine by the glass that I witnessed.  A beer is $3.50. A glass of house wine-red and white-will set you back a whopping $6.00.

Hours later we found ourselves venturing out into the city.  Closer and closer to the heart of Havana.  And all I could think back to was my gal pal in Miami telling me what her thoughts were about her visit.

“I doesn’t take long at all to see that they weren’t lying.” she said referencing our parents, before I arrived.

I have no trouble saying that at one point in its history, Havana was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Top 5 easy from my seat. Paris, Florence and the rest have been adequately maintained since 1900. Havana has not. For all of its architectural detail and beauty, there’s trash. There’s rubble. There is misery and poverty. The city remains stunning at every turn. You just have to prepare yourself for poverty-right in your face-at every turn as well.

Old Havana is everything you expect it to be.  Old, tiny, historic cobblestone streets. St Augustine on steroids. One big difference. Good luck finding someone fluent in English. You will find gorgeous historic hotels like Hotel La Florida and Hotel Raquel. The latter of which has a wonderful rooftop bar looking out on old Havana and the cruise ship terminal a few blocks away.  Old Havana is also the area where we had our absolutely best meal. At Doña Eutimia.  One of Havana’s oldest privately run restaurants. It came highly recommended in Cuba as well. It did not disappoint. Simply superb.

Finding a Cuban who is somewhat fluent in English is much MUCH harder than, say, in a European nation. I’ve traveled to Europe several times and it’s typically easy to find someone who can speak to you in English. Not so much in Cuba. Now, to be fair, I speak fluent Spanish. So I didn’t have a need. But my family doesn’t speak Spanish and there was more than one time that they were in a language-barrier jam with someone.  It happened.

We had a list of restaurants we were told to visit. Our meals weren’t structured. We knew what we wanted to try if we could.  Night number one we hit the jackpot at La Guarida.

The walk to this spot in central Havana can best be described as equal parts fascinating and painful.  You could  easily walk past an open hole in a wall and see someone sitting in a room listening to the radio or staring out the window. Or you can walk up on a velvet rope meant to keep you at the door of one of Havana’s hot spots.

La Guarida is what is known as a “Paladar” a privately owned and operated restaurant. No, not all restaurants are state run. This restaurant is well known and has come highly recommended by a dozen different sources or more. I had read that the entrance is an unmarked stairwell. I was told we should go see it even if we didn’t eat there.  Well, we did and we did. At their rooftop bar. At sunset. Looking out over the city and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. It was a perfect evening with phenomenal food on our first night in town. We were infatuated. If you can get a reservation here, do it.

Our other culinary highlight was a Cuban diner by the name of “El Biky” 

El Biky is a very popular locals spot. I was told by a waiter that on weekends they have lines out front.  We were there on a Wednesday night at 10pm and waited outside for 10 minutes before being allowed in. It’s easy to see why it is so popular. It’s incredibly inexpensive and delicious. I had a sautéed pork, rice and beans dish and if I recall correctly I paid $4.00.  Yes. Cuba is that affordable.

We also had a great lunch at El Chanchullero. Overlooking Parque Cristo in the heart of Old Havana. Actually about a half block from the spot of the apartment my family lived in before they left Cuba around the time of the revolution. It was also a block up from where we spotted Susan Sarandon coming out of El Dandy. Another highly recommended bar.

The majority of our time was spent wandering every corner of this beautiful city. If we were thirsty? We stopped for a beer or a spot of rum. If we were hungry, we sat at a cafe and nibbled on some apps. Usually fried bananas or something similarly Cuban. Which is something I cannot stress enough.

If you are spending multiple days in Cuba, please be prepared to eat Cuban food every day. Of course, in Cuba it isn’t Cuban food. It’s just food. Beef was very hard to find during our trip.  You might find a pizza here or there, but you aren’t going to find burgers and fries.

I was actually told potatoes are impossible to find. One man told me “the only way to have french fries is if someone knocks off a truck and gets some potatoes. Then you find out that a restaurant is having a french fry party after hours on the weekend.”

Bread was also very hard to find. The one time I saw a Cuban “Sandwish” on a sit down menu, I tried it. Knowing full-well that they are not a Cuban thing. They are believed to have been invented in Key West. Which would explain how bad it was with its frozen processed baguette and ‘Vegetables” as she described. Which wound up being lettuce and tomato.

The best way I can describe Cuba is ‘fascinatingly heartbreaking.’  The poverty is gut-wrenching at times.

When you purchase a plane ticket to that country, you are asked what your purpose in Havana is. One of your options to check is “Helping Cuban people.”   It’s impossible not to feel some joy in doing so.

The majority of these people (much like in America) don’t get tangled up in politics. Not everything you do is governed by the teachings of the revolution. A revolution, by the way, that you are reminded of on the regular. Everywhere.

On our final night in Havana, I witnessed a young man buying a pack of cigarettes.  He was a nickel short. He yelled to his buddies across the street that he needed a nickel.  They ignored him.  He told the clerk at the shop he’d go get the nickel and come right back.  She knew he wouldn’t. We’ve seen scenes like that 100 times in this country.

When I walked up to buy some cookies, I tossed a nickel on the counter and told the young lady I’d cover for him if he didn’t come back. The smile on her face and the thank you I got tell you all you need to know about this country. In a country where policemen earn $26 per MONTH, you know those nickels are hard to come by.

95% of the food we ate was delicious and inexpensive.  The most expensive dish we had all week was $22.  Grilled lobster tail and creamy-risotto like-rice and beans.  Our most expensive meal for 4 of the entire week, including multiple glasses of wine (it was a good night), a cocktail and food for an army totaled exactly $100.72.

Havana overwhelmed me. At times I was moved to tears. I laughed with the locals and was heart broken by their fate. The juxtaposition of five-star hotels to buildings that resembled war-torn Syria or Beirut is tough to swallow sometimes. Not only am I glad I went, but I truthfully cannot wait to return.  I spent a good while fantasizing what it would be like to shoot an episode of our TV show there.  I just may do that.

Spend a day, spend a week. Keep your expectations as to some of what you might see in order, and Eat It and Like It.

If you are planning a visit and have any questions, feel free to shoot me a note at info@eatitandlikeit.com  I’d be glad to point you in the right direction.

See you on TV

Jesse