The history of the most famous restaurants in Cuba

Ernest Hemingway began the story: he wrote in English in one of the walls of La Bodeguita del Medio: “My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita”. Since then, everyone who visits The Old Havana brand a must-visit these two iconic locations.

Two miracles arise between music and alcohol: the mojito and the daiquiri. The first, composed of rum, sugar (or sugar syrup), lime, mint or mint and mineralised water; and the second, a unique mix of flavors: ounce and a half of rum, a teaspoon of sugar, the juice of half a lime green cuban and five drops of maraschino served in a cup with a wide mouth previously frozen with crushed ice.

Pirate immigrants

The development of the first mojito is documented at the end of the SIXTEENTH century, attributing the achievement to the famous pirate Sir Richard Drake, subordinate to the Captain, Sir. Francis Drake (corsair of the English crown). The first version of this drink was wearing brandy, sugar, lime, mint, and other herbs. By then, the sailors suffered from scurvy, vitamin C deficiency, so that was an alternative to combat the low consumption of fresh fruit in the sea.

In the decade of the 60s, Don Facundo Bacardi created the renowned Bacardi Rum from the molasses obtained from sugar cane in the region of Eastern Cuba, where they had their factories. The production of rum was much more refined so that replaced the brandy and baptized the drink as Draquecito.

The daiquiri, for its part, is a cocktail santiago. The recipe was passed on by a friend of Constantino Ribalaigua, insightful immigrant Catalan that comes to Cuba to seek their fortunes in 1914 and after four years as a bartender happened to be the owner of the Floridita. It is known among cubans as the king of the cocktail makers, having spread throughout the world the refreshing daiquiri. With him were guarded all the secrets of the bar, the secret of the Floridita.

The Floridita and La B del M

If you arrive at the busy corner of Obispo and O’reilly, in the neighborhood of Monserrate, in the heart of Old Havana, you can visit the Floridita, while La Bodeguita del Medio find it on calle Empedrado, very close to the Plaza of the Cathedral.

La Bodeguita del Medio is a quirky bar-a restaurant with a lot of tradition, you all are curious to enjoy the story that lurks between those walls, with more than two million signatures of celebrities such as Ernest Hemingway, Mario Benedetti, Pablo Neruda, Errol Flynn, Agustín Lara, Brigitte Bardot, Ignacio Villa (Ball of Snow) and Salvador Allende.

El Floridita, a still life. Retains its style decoration Regency from the 50’s. It stands out for its sobriety in the ornamentation and a unique work of marquetry and taste. Many say that it opened on July 6, 1817; others claim that it was the 10 of July. What is true is that since then became the place of passage to cool the thirst in Havana Vieja.

Both places were immortalized by Ernest Hemingway, which was installed in the Hotel Ambos Mundos, a few blocks from the Floridita and frequented almost daily. His hobby was of such magnitude that, when moving to Finca Vigía, in the outskirts of Havana, I traveled to the capital to visit them. The famous american writer discover an universal way, the culture and traditions that are saved as two jewels in the cuban capital.