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For all that OLD Havana has to offer-UNESCO World Heritage Site architecture, music on every corner, mint-condition classic cars, surprising art galleries, nearby pristine Caribbean beaches-food has always been the unfortunate, forgotten footnote and the chief complaint of even adventurous travellers. But with a massive tourism shift from the resort areas into the pulsating capital of Havana, the dining scene has had no choice but to catch up. With a little inside info, the chances of finding a really good meal, especially in Old Havana, are steadily improving.
Casual Dining Paladares, small restaurants located in the rooms, gardens, courtyards and rooftops of family homes, were the ingenious mid-1990s fix to the universally dreadful institutional meals on offer at the (state-run) hotels and restaurants. They are still the go-to choice for good, home-style Cuban dining. Menu choices are limited by law-thanks Fidel-so don’t expect much in the way of seafood feasts or ribeye steaks. But you will get to try classic
Cuban dishes like ropa vieja, stewed shredded pork in a tomato-y Creole sauce, and charbroiled chicken with rice and beans and a light salad. Some paladares push past the traditional dishes into Nuevo Latino Cuban cuisine, but this can be hit-and-miss, depending on the skill of the chef-usually the mother or grandmother in the family. Good local intel is always the way to go. Generally regarded as the best paladar in Havana, La Guarida is on the top floor of a gloriously rundown building in Old Havana (you may recognize the setting from the surprise hit movie Fresa y Chocolate) and serves what is being called Nuevo Cubano cuisine. Reservations are essential.
The Splurge With the government taxing paladares out of existence, restaurants, bars and cafés in Old Havana are finally picking up some of the slack. Expect to pay top dollar, even by Canadian fine-dining standards, but at least the chances of a good meal are on your side. Have a drink and a mixed seafood grill lunch or dinner while drinking in the historic colonial centre of Old Havana on the rooftop terrace at the garishly pastel-pink Hotel Ambos Mundos (153 Obispo, hotelambosmundos-cuba.com). The quartet plays standards and the barman will keep you in tropical drinks. Hemingway liked the place enough to call it one of his regular haunts. Another splurge with a view to die for is Restaurante El Patio (54 San Ignacio, 53-7-867-1034), overlooking Old Havana’s flamboyantly baroque
Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana.
The Drink In the evenings, the over-priced drinks at yet another Hemingway haunt, the bar-restaurant El Floridita (557 Obispo 53-7-867-1299, floridita
cuba.com), will be worth every penny as the place gets packed in and the live music starts. Sultry Latin-jazz singers and musicians crowd into a corner of the bar and the place comes alive with hints of the Havana of the ’20s and ’30s. It’s the alleged birthplace of the daiquiri, but the ambiance and the music are the reason to go. If El Floridita is standing room only, walk a few doors down to Café Paris (202 Obispo) for an ambiance-and-music fuelled tropical night.
Do stop into one of Old Havana’s perpetually busy bakeries for a mid-day snack. While they might not look inspiring on the outside, the baked goods are generally quite tasty, and cheap. With all the walking you’ll be doing, you can certainly justify a fresh doughnut or cream-filled pastry.
Don’t bother with Museo del Chocolate on the corner of Amargura and Mercaderes in Old Havana; it’s more of a café than a museum and not even a good one at that-the offerings are sure to disappoint a true chocophile. Give "must-visit" Bodeguita del Medio café (207 Empedrado) a miss as well. Sure, Hemingway drank mojitos there, but so have millions of tourists since.
Foodie Day Trip Despite the tropical climate and the ubiquitous organic urban farms, travellers in Cuba will soon become frustrated by the lack of fresh food on most menus. But the foodie oasis of El Romero (53-7-640-4375), Cuba’s best-known vegetarian restaurant, lies just outside Havana’s city limits. Chef Tito Nuñez, the well-travelled Slow Foodie and Cuba’s original crusading vegetarian chef, operates the exquisite restaurant in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Las Terrazas, 51 kilometres outside Havana city. (Go by cab and pack your swimsuit, walking shoes and camera.) It’s a must for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike for Nuñez’s revolutionary take on the future of fresh, local, sustainable Cuban cuisine.
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RECIPES
Potaje de Frijoles Blanco (Cuban White Bean and Pumpkin Stew)
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s
World Vegetarian
 1 lb (500 g) dried white kidney beans,
cannellini beans or Great Northern
beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
in enough water to cover the beans
(at least 12 cm).
12 oz (350 g) pumpkin or butternut
squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into
¾-inch dice (yields about 2 cups)
For the sofrito
5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely
chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
8 to 10 cachucha chiles, seeded and
finely chopped (or 3 tablespoons) 45 ml mild green pepper, seeded and
finely chopped*)
¼ cup finely chopped culantro
leaves**, or fresh cilantro
½ tsp ground cumin
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1 to 2 tsp salt, or to taste
Discard the water that the beans had been soaking in overnight and rinse beans in fresh water.
In a large pot, bring the beans, pumpkin, and 5 cups water to a boil. Partially cover the pot, leaving it slightly ajar, turn the heat down to low, and simmer gently for 40 to 80 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Older and larger beans will take longer to cook.
While the beans are cooking, prepare the sofrito. Put the oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Fry the onion and garlic, stirring, for one minute. Add chilies and the culantro (or fresh cilantro). Reduce heat to medium and stir for one minute. Stir in the cumin, then add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
When the beans are tender, add the salt and the sofrito to the beans and pumpkin. Stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer very gently for 10 to 15 minutes, or until all the flavours are blended.
CUBAN INGREDIENTS
*Cachucha chilies are small, green, squat chilies of the Scotch Bonnet family, but they are not the least bit hot. Instead, they have an intense floral and citrus perfume. They are likely only found at specialty grocers that carry Cuban foods. If you can’t find them, substitute mild green chilies like an Anaheim or a green pepper, and add a 6-inch portion of fresh lemongrass stalk, lightly mashed, and 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind. Remove the lemongrass stalk before serving.
**Culantro is a Latin American and Caribbean herb related to cilantro. It can be found in Latin American and Southeast Asian grocery stores. It’s a staple herb in Cuba but cilantro is a milder substitution.
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