By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles.
Bloomberg.com. Mon, 05 Feb 2001, 2:06pm
EST
Havana, Feb. 2 -- Building on a successful global product that includes
native cuisine, rum-based cocktails, hand-rolled cigars and a historical link
with American author Ernest Hemingway, Cuba has plans to aggressively expand its
Bodeguita del Medio bar and restaurant franchises this year.
What may come to be known as Cuba's version of McDonalds and Burger King,
sans the burgers, Havana's Bodeguita del Medio has opened its newest Bodeguita
franchise in Warsaw with additional franchises planned for Guadalajara, Mexico,
Caracas, Toronto, Lisbon, Barcelona, Qatar, Geneva, Rome, Moscow and Asuncion,
Paraguay, according to Granma, Cuba's state newspaper.
The Warsaw Bodeguita opened to rave reviews from the Polish Press, including
Gazeta Wyborcza, one of the country's largest daily newspapers which said, "After
years of more or less hidden contempt, ridicule and fear over one of the world's
last Communist countries, Warsaw is crazy for Cuba. Together with the music
(Buena Vista Social Club), we remember the rum and cigars.''
Warsaw's Bodeguita opened this month in a basement off the city's Zbawiciela
Square. It's the first Cuban restaurant to open in Poland, according to the
Polish newspaper.
The original Bodeguita, located in Havana Vieja (old), was where Hemingway
went to consummate his relationship with the Mojito (moh-HEE-toh), one Cuba's
national cocktails, made with rum, ice, soda, sugar and a special 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 Roberto Marro Duque de Estrada, president of F.T.B.-Filial de
Gran Caribe, the company that negotiates both Bodeguita del Medio and El
Floridita franchises for Cuba, the expansion of these restaurants just happens
to coincide with increased global interest in Cuba music, art and culture.
"This franchise project, which began four years ago, has demonstrated
that Cuba is able to participate successfully in world gastronomy's most
demanding markets,'' Marro said. "This is evident from the results achieved
in Mexico, Milan, Paris, the Canary Islands, Dubai and the other Bodeguitas.''
Marron said Cuba's franchise package includes the right to use the Bodeguita
trademark, five specialized Cuban restaurant workers with expertise in cocktail
and bar service, local training in Cuban customs, a supply of Cuban furniture,
Cuban decorations, Havana Club rum, a selection of Cuba's top cigars, including
Cohiba, Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta, and other Cuban products.
"In exchange for this, the franchise holder pays 'an up- front fee'
(undisclosed) and a monthly royalty equivalent to five percent of their sales,''
Marron said.
The restaurant's first franchise 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.
"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.
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 an visit to Havana.
Last year the Paris Bodeguita was voted France's "Best Foreign Theme
Restaurant'' out of more than 12,000 restaurants participating in the
competition.
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 ounce Cuban white rum
(or any white Caribbean rum) 2 ounces club soda Dash of bitters
Combine the limejuice, 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 the 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) add a subtle dryness
to the cocktail and cut some of the sweetness of the sugar.
Medina said bitters isn't part of the original recipe for this cocktail and
may not be to everyone's liking, but a majority of the customers he served at
the Hotel Nacional prefer the drink with the bitters.
He also suggests the substitute of rum with at least three years of age.
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