La Salsa Gastrobar: Tapas & Wine in Matanzas

The word gastrobar refers to either a bar or a restaurant that brings haute cuisine closer to the grassroots by dishing out signature tapas at affordable prices.

What’s haute cuisine? It’s actually an avant-garde cuisine that relies on cooking techniques not within everybody’s reach, and on plates cooked up by the chefs. And what are signature tapas? They are miniature creations of complex recipes in state-of-the-art cooking, and even using out-of-the-counter ingredients in a more elaborate fashion.

The idea of opening an establishment of this kind at the La Salsa Cultural Center, run by Artex’s office in Matanzas, is owed to the locale’s modern construction and its superb comfort, bearing in mind that gastrobars always have something special to offer. The chefs’ professional attitudes in coming up with exquisite treats also play a major role.

Then, the nitty-gritty of a gastrobar is nothing less than a bar-restaurant that serves haute-cuisine treats in smaller helpings.

At the La Salsa Gastrobar, patrons can scroll down on a tablet touchpad to make their picks from the e-menu and even watch how their dishes are cooked. There’s a nice assortment of premium wines and liquors to meet the most demanding preferences, let alone delicious cocktails mixed by veteran bartenders.

La Salsa Gastrobar –perched on the 1Km marker of the Via Blanca Road, Peñas Altas, Matanzas- is no doubt a new kind of offer in Cuba born out of an initiative thought out before by boldface Spanish chefs with Michelin stars under their belts, such as Paco Roncero, Carles Abellán, Ferrá Adriá and others.