When I was a child and someone told me not to do something and I couldn’t understand why, eventually I would end up finding a way to do it. This is precisely what CODEPINK’s leader Medea Benjamin is doing. She is defying all these incomprehensible Trump’s adiministration restrictions, and she’s visiting Cuba legally with a large group of 50 people.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. ProximityCuba, an agency specialized on cultural and academic exchange between Cuba and the U.S. along with the Institute for Friendship with the People (ICAP) and AMISTUR have put together an itinerary full of activities that falls under the OFAC’s General License “Support for the Cuban people” category. This category states that Americans visiting Cuba must exchange with entrepreneurs and support the private businesses such as paladares (private restaurants).
This is where Cubapaladar comes in, and this week our team will be following the group’s footsteps to know what they think about the private restaurants they will be visiting. In each place they will receive a voting ballot with 4 indicators: food, service, concept and social/environmental responsibility. These indicators will be rated from 1 to 5 stars.
The places that will be rated by the visitors are: Atelier, Mediterráneo Havana, El Jardín de los Milagros, Melen Club, Ajiaco Café, La Moneda Cubana and La Calesa Real. It’s very interesting how diverse this group of paladares is in terms of location, concept and style. You will have to wait until the last article of this series to know the voting results, but we are going to let you know what happens on each visit so you can come to your own conclusions.
Last Saturday CODEPINK’s group enjoyed its first dinner in Cuba at Atelier restaurant. Atelier was chosen not only for its good cuisine but also because of the prestige this paladar acquired after the visit of Obama’s family in 2016. Niurys Higuera Martinez, owner of Atelier, naturalist and pacifist, hosted the visitors and kindly agreed to dedicate some minutes of her time to Cubapaladar. “We are doing very nice things. We are working with chef Lucio and he is very creative and intense when it comes to flavours […]. We are involved in a new project of executive lunches, and of course Chistmas and New Year’s Eve special menus to celebrate 2020 and leave behind a difficult year”, she commented when we asked her about Atelier’s present. About the influence of Obama’s family visit and how Trump’s restrictions affected Cuba she said: “Obama’s family visit to Atelier has influence still, but we don’t use it for publicity. However it is true that the people who visit us find this event very interesting […]. Everything that’s happening with Trump is cruel and it’s affecting not only businesses like ours that are mainly focus on tourism but everyone in Cuba. Private sector is devastated, lots of businesses are now closed and even Atelier receives today way less clients compared to the past years”. Niurys also told us that the menu they offer for CODEPINK shows Atelier’s cuisine and Cuban cuisine as well, and that they work with the same amount of love no matter how many clients they have to attend.
During dinner we were able to talk briefly with Sharon Wrobel, director of ProximityCuba’s board, passionate foodie and an expert in Cuba. She gave us her opinion about the importance of CODEPINK ‘s visit to our country especially when the relations between U.S and Cuba are in crisis. She also commented on the culinary experience the group will be living during the week. “Having a group so prestigious and so big will definitely bring attention. The American people will see that they can still travel to Cuba legally and safely and they will witness how Trump’s policy towards Cuba has affected the Cuban people […]. Five years ago we were optimistic and at Proximity we were even worried about the tsunami of visitors from the U.S. Now under Trump the tsunami has become a drought. This CODEPINK group is a reminder that there are still people supporting Cuba in the U.S. and because of that we can still have faith…things will get better […]. The visits to all these paladares will definitely be an enriching experience for the group. Some places have more like an experimental cuisine but always keeping something of the traditional Cuban food. In my first visit to Cuba with students we used to say that “we were not here for the food,” however a year ago, we at Proximity had a very succesful culinary tour. It is incredible how things have changed and now the food is a very important part of every program”.
We wanted to talk a bit with a member of CODEPINK to know their expectations with the program in Cuba and of course what they were eager to eat in this visit. We had the immense pleasure of talking with Ann Wright, a retired U.S Army colonel who resigned her governmental job because she was against the war at Iraq. She is a very prestigious activist and pacifist who has traveled the world fighting against injustice. “We are here looking for ideas on what can we do to show Americans what’s happening in Cuba and push Trump’s administration. Unfortunately I’m not too optimistic about 2020 elections but we will keep fighting […]. I’m excited to taste the food of the places we will be visiting and meeting their owners. On my previous trips to Cuba I’ve visited several paladares and they are generally beautiful places with amazing food. I don’t eat much meat but I can’t be in Cuba and not eat some ropa vieja. I will definitely eat a lot of fish because it is incredible here. Of course I will enjoy an exotic mojito from time to time”.
A pleasent evening at Atelier opened a busy program for this CODEPINK group. Cubapaladar will be letting you know what happens along the week when they visit the rest of the paladares on the list. What we know for sure is that food also builds bridges, and if the food is good is even better.
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