By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Bloomberg.com. Thu, 07 Sep 2000, 11:38am EDT
Mexico City, Sept. 6 -- What may come to be known as Cuba's version of McDonald's and Burger King, sans the burgers, Havana's Bodeguita del Medio is opening its second restaurant Sept. 20 in Mexico City.
Ernest Hemingway's favorite Cuban watering hole has continued its recent expansion under the Gran Caribe SA hotel group, with its newest location in Mexico City set to join already opened Bodeguitas in Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City; Dubai, the United Arab Emirates; Milan; Paris; Guatemala
City; Canada and Japan.
According to Granma, Cuba's state newspaper, the new restaurant will be located on Insurgentes Sur Avenue in the heart of Mexico City, under a franchise contract signed three years ago with the Mexican company Operadora Maesta SA and the Cuban state consortium Gran Caribe.
The restaurant's first site in Mexico City opened in May 1998, in the city's Colonia Roma district.
The original restaurant in Havana was founded in 1942, at a time when the Cuban economy was booming thanks to the island's sugar sales during World War II.
Besides Cuban food and drinks, the restaurant will also offer a selection of Cuban cigar brands.
The original Bodeguita in Havana was where Hemingway went to further consummate his relationship with one of Cuba's famous cocktails, the mojito (moh-HEE-toh), made with rum, ice, soda, sugar and a green herb called "yerbabuena,'' better known outside Cuba as mint.
Hemingway's other famous Havana haunt was El Floridita, the bar where the novelist's other favorite libation, the daiquiri "natural,'' was perfected.
According to Robert Marro, president of Grupo FTB, the Gran Caribe subsidiary that operates and manages the Bodeguita del Medio franchises, the expansion coincides with increased global interest in Cuban music, art and culture.
"You can enjoy the same Cuban atmosphere prevalent in La Bodeguita del Medio in Old Havana which guarantees the success of the restaurant, wherever it's located,'' Marro said.
Designed to be a near replica of its Havana location, the Mexico City restaurant will give visitors a chance to be seated at a bar nearly identical to its Havana name-sake.
Besides mojitos, the Bodeguita del Medio serves traditional Cuban coffee and food, including its signature dish of rice, black beans and pork.
Havana's Bodeguita is located deep within the city's old quarter, Vieja, just off the Plaza de la Cathedral and is considered a "must'' stop for tourists on a visit to Havana.
For the classic mojito as prepared at Bodeguita del Medio, follow this simple recipe:
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (optional) 4 loose mint leaves and 1 spring of mint 2-3 ounces Cuban white rum or any white Caribbean rum 2 ounces club soda Dash of bitters
Combine the lime juice, sugar and mint leaves in a tall glass; muddle or stir well so mints leaves are just slightly crushed. Fill the glass with crushed ice; stir in the rum and top the glass of with club soda. Garnish with the mint sprig and add a dash or two of bitters.
A note on the addition of bitters to the mojito recipe: Alexander Medina, a former bartender at Havana's Hotel Nacional, now the head barman at Havana Club in Cozumel, Mexico, swears by the addition of bitters.
According to Medina, the bitters (preferably Angostura) adds a subtle dryness to the cocktail and cuts some of the sweetness of the sugar.
Medina said bitters isn't part of the original recipe for this cocktail and it may not be to everyone's liking, but a majority of the customers he served at the Hotel Nacional preferred the drink with the bitters.
He also suggests eliminating white rum in favor of rum with at least three years of age. He recommends Havana Club's "Anejo 3 Year.''
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