Le Diner en Blanc: Havana's White Night

by Jorge Coromina (for Excelencias Gourmet)

The emblematic Hotel Nacional de Cuba, recently recognized at the World Travel Awards as the best hotel in Cuba and one of the best in the Caribbean, was once again decked out for a big-time occasion, this time around to host Le Diner en Blanc, a unique culinary event that got its break in Havana on Saturday April 6, 2019.

As tradition dictates, the organizers managed to keep the venue for the grand picnic stricttly under wraps. This event, in which all guests should dress in white, has generated massive turnouts in the five continents.

From the very first edition held 30 years ago in Paris, the concept is all about making people spend time together without differences, a reason why there's no such thing as a VIP section on the premises.

Once the location for the event is known, the organizers dispatch buses for the guests to make it to the venue of choice. The white dinner in Havana was no exception.

"I know Cuba well. I was here for the first time in 1968, because at that time my brother was consul of France to Cuba. Later, I continued visiting the island nation several times with the intention of starting a hotel operation in Playas del Este in Havana," said Mr. Francois Pasquier, the chief organizer and founder of Le Diner en Blanc, in a statement to the press.

Mr. Pasquier was accompanied by his wife and his son Aymeric Pasquier, who has tasked for years with organizing the concept and the international editions of Le Diner en Blanc all over the world.

Only last year, the Le Diner en Blanc franchise held dinners like the one in Havana in some 80 cities of 35 countries on all continents. By 2019, the event will take place in approximately 90 cities.

"We are here to mark this first edition in Cuba and we hope that other Cuban cities will embrace this concept," said Mr. Aymeric Pasquier in exclusive remarks for Excelencias Gourmet.

The possibility of holding more editions in Cuba of Le Diner en Blanc is an idea that keeps the Pasquier family excited. As an international franchise, the organizers grant licenses to other cities to celebrate the event. As Mr. Aymeric Pasquier revealed to Excelencias, teams from two Cuban cities (Santiago de Cuba and Holguin) have already approached Le Diner en Blanc with the request to take the concept to these two burgs in eastern Cuba.

This Le Diner en Blanc in the Cuban capital unfolded as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of the founding of San Cristobal de La Habana. And this same year, coincidentally, Mr. Francois Pasquier will turn 75 years old. According to his son, 2019 will be his last year of participation in the event, a kind of retirement with an inheritance that he will passed on entirely to his children.

The meeting in the Cuban capital featured a broad participation of representatives from Caribbean nations, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Barbados, and nearly fifty American visitors who were also in attendance.

At the end of the night, when everyone embraced, celebrated and danced to the music, we went back to Aymeric Pasquier, who was smiling as he watched the culmination of the dinner with a glass of champagne in his hands.

"It has been a tremendous success and my father is extremely happy. There will be more white nights like this one coming to Cuba, you can rest assured," he said.