Page 183 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

private ownership, and hanging a commercial sign
is prohibited. More often than not, a chalk board
on the sidewalk is the only public notice.
The trio of young chefs who expertly manned
the brick oven had perfected their trade in Italy.
They slipped wooden pizza paddles in and out of
the brick oven at record speed to the sound of a
boombox vibrating with Cuban tunes. As we left,
satiated with chicken piccata and heaping bowls
of seafood fettucine, our waitress grabbed my
arm and insisted we take a spin on the pavement.
Music of a different era enlivened the Hotel Na-
cional de Cuba, a mafia hangout before the Cuban
revolution. A trio of musicians serenaded us as we
downed one mojito and then another beneath vin-
tage portraits of international celebrities. In
decades past, the edifice echoed with the foot-
steps of Winston Churchill, Ava Gardner, Frank
Sinatra, Jean Paul Sartre, Yuri Gagarin, Lucky Lu-
ciano, and other world-famous luminaries. It even
hosted a battle in 1933. The battle of The Hotel
Nacional de Cuba pitted the Cuban army against
non-commissioned officers who supported Bat-
tista. Ensconced in deep armchairs in one of the
oceanfront salons, we sipped mojitos and tapped
our feet to our private WWII musical interlude.
We had barely downed our last mojito when
Carlos introduced us to Yordanka, the driver of an
eye-popping ‘52 royal blue convertible Buick.
“There are very few women drivers in Havana,”
said the attractive brunette. “I studied to be an
accountant, but I can’t support my family on the
government’s $35 a month.” Like Carlos, she too
felt the pinch of the US embargo. “And so I drive a
classic car!” The government keeps a stable of
several hundred of these classic autos, and leases
them out to (mainly male) drivers for a hefty
monthly fee. She drove us, top down, through Ha-
vana’s leafier districts until we reached the enor-
mous Plaza de la Revolución. A large portrait of
Cuba’s revolutionary hero, Che Guevara, cast a
benign stare from nearby buildings onto tourists
examining the rows of vintage cars on the plaza.
Many cars advertised ”In Havana, you can rent
your fantasia”.
In addition to music and vintage cars, Cubans
are renowned for their agricultural expertise. The
island has long practiced ecological growing

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