Those who walk on 23rd Street in the Havana neighbourhood of Vedado, must have felt sorry for the solitude of the “illustrious nobleman from La Mancha”, who, spear in hand, naked, rides on his faithful Rocinante, in the park that bears his name: Don Quixote.
You cannot think of the errant knight without remembering his squire, the chubby and good-natured Sancho Panza. It seems like the artist couldn’t fully understand one of the most beautiful examples of friendship in the entire world literature, and left him out.
But, just a few weeks ago, Sancho arrived in Havana, and in the form of a luxurious restaurant now shares the fate of his master, to delight us with the best Spanish food.
In the 1950s, a Spanish immigrant moved to Havana from Santiago de Cuba. He began as a furniture maker, but as business grew he decided to diversify. One after the other, he opened several restaurants where the cuisine from his homeland enchanted the taste buds of the eastern city’s inhabitants.
Alfredo Sarabia will always be remembered in the history of Cuban cuisine and drinks. Maybe just a few have heard of him, but if you mention the names of the bars and restaurants he opened they will definitely build a statue to pay him tribute: Wakamba, La Zorra y el Cuervo, Tikoa Club, Los Carmelos, Castillo de Jagua, are the best known.
Following family tradition, his daughter Ana Gretel, started making furniture using bamboo. At one time, she was considered among the best Cuban female sculptors. Now she resorted to another of her father’s inspirations and built an establishment whose name aims at recovering the Hispanic tradition which runs through her veins: Sancho Panza.
In an interview granted to OnCuba, Ana Gretel assures us that she looks for exclusivity in her food. Typical Spanish dishes are on the menu, among which you can find tapas and paellas. “There are too many places that sell Cuban food”, she says.
She decorated the walls with soccer balls from the Spanish League and scarves with the traditional colors of its teams. A painting portraying Sancho and Don Quixote adds more color to an already very warm place. It also has a bar made of precious Cuban woods where you can enjoy excellent cocktails.
“I plan to recover my investment in some five years,” the owner says and adds she thinks taxes are not high. She hired eleven workers, whom she insists have all their working papers in order and keep them up to date if they want to keep their jobs.
Maître d´ Alexis San Miguel moves from table to table checking with his customers to see if they are satisfied. “We have been working for 18 days and everything is going smoothly” though competition in Vedado is tough, he is confident they will succeed.
“Our price-quality ratio is perfect” Ana Gretel says. “We have pizzas, high quality Spanish cuisine, and cold dishes. We give our clients all possible choices so they feel pleased and will return.”
American journalist Walter Lippmann doesn’t agree with her. “In Cuba you always expect more food for those prices,” but Cuban photographer Roberto Morejon told us that “prices looked reasonable to me, considering the location and the atmosphere”.
Sancho seems to invite us to look like him. Seeing the garbanzos on display, sitting along cream cheese, we can actually imagine ourselves as chubby as he is. And while we leave the place, full and satisfied, we can’t help but congratulate the knight in the park, who just recovered, probably through eternity, his faithful companion.
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