Havana-Based Private Restaurants Get their Big Break at 2014 FITCuba

Three private restaurants from Havana have become pioneers of the sector in Cuba to participate this week in the island’s International Tourism Show, since this is the first time around it includes autonomous businesses as part of the official policy to develop non-governmental tourism offers.

2014 FITCuba opened spaces for some of the so-called Cuban "bistros" to exhibit their offers and interact with tour operators, an opportunity that was only possible for state-owned restaurants.

"La Guarida" and "La Casa", private restaurants with nearly 20 years of history, and "Café Laurent", inaugurated in 2011 as a result of the new reforms promoted in 2010 by the government of Raúl Castro in an effort to broaden the private sector, have been the first businesses to follow the initiative of the Tourism Ministry (Mintur is the Spanish acronym).

"We got surprised; we weren’t ready to participate in the Fair. We were invited, there wasn’t much time, but we said: “we’d love to”. It’s an interesting opportunity and a great sign", Enrique Núñez said, owner of "La Guarida", the premise that two decades ago was of one of the stages to shoot the famous movie "Strawberry & Chocolate (Fresa y Chocolate)".

Described as one of the most emblematic and visited restaurants in Havana and "mecca" of Cuban "bistros", "La Guarida" took two days to improvise its booth at the fairground, in the colonial fortress San Carlos de la Cabaña, with only three tables and a reduced menu showing typical dishes of the house.

Núñez thinks that they have “earned” the right to be in FITCuba by means of the "seriousness and effort" of many years of work.
"We are also working to improve the gastronomic image of the country, Cuba’s image. This is a barrier-breaking moment, since we have always walked in parallel lines", he said.

Alejandro Robaina, owner of "La Casa", a family-run restaurant based in his own house since 1995, pointed out that the invitation to attend FITCuba is linked to the possibility to pen contracts with tour operators and particular premises, opened by the government in 2013.

This year, "La Casa" signed contracts with such important agencies as Havanatur, Cubanacan and Cubatur, which has allowed them to agree offers and menus to receive groups of international tourists.

"All foreign tour operators work the Cuban market through Cuban agencies, they are not on their own, so being in the Show is an opportunity for the representatives to directly see us, try our products and services, and they already know us when it comes to organizing their programs", Robaina asserted.

According to this entrepreneur, those contracts or the presence of private businesses in the Show "normalize and formalize" a profitable work relationship for everybody.

From the authority’s point of view, the quality and diversity that have flooded the Cuban market thanks to the opening of private businesses seems to be beyond any doubt and stands as an irreversible process.

Upon opening the Show, the Tourism Minister, Manuel Marrero, emphasized that the Caribbean country will continue "working to develop the non-governmental tourism sector".

On the other hand, Mintur’s market director, María del Carmen Orellana, stressed that the work of the autonomous sector "complements" the state-run offer and, in the specific case of restaurants, "they have gotten more refined" and "they are becoming popular around the world".

According to official data, the reforms to encourage non-governmental businesses have brought about the opening of at least 2,242 private restaurants throughout the country, as well as over 7,200 rooms in private houses.

With such an "explosion" of premises, the competence gets strong and many of them have had to close their doors or reinvent their formats, but gastronomy seems to be one of the safest bets for Cuban “private workers” to date.

For the owners of "Café Laurent", inaugurated three years ago with an environment that recalls the 1950 decade, having gotten this far and being in FITCuba have meant a significant step.

"Having the possibility to bring a small-format 'Café Laurent' to the Show, with the presence of most of our client suppliers, has been truly amazing", the premise’s PR executive, Daylin Hernández, expressed.