Friday, July 15, 2011

Cuban eatery celebrates hearty food and politics

Cuban eatery celebrates hearty food and politics
By Manuel Rueda
MIAMI | Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:27pm IST

(Reuters) - Miami's Versailles, an iconic meeting place of Cuban exiles
touted as "the most famous Cuban restaurant in the world," this week
celebrated 40 years of hearty meals and even heartier politics.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, Cuban exile politicians, former political
prisoners and clients of all generations packed the Little Havana eatery
to celebrate the birthday of a place that over the years has become a
symbol of opposition to Fidel Castro's communist rule in Cuba.

"This is where you come to take the pulse of our community," said
85-year-old owner Felipe Valls, addressing a crowd of 300 guests who
included three local mayors, a dozen TV crews and prominent members of
Miami's Cuban community.

Founded four decades ago, Versailles' low prices and home-style Cuban
cooking quickly turned it into a well known gathering point for
political exiles seeking company and someone to share their opinions with.

The restaurant, with its mirror-lined interior, still serves traditional
Cuban meals such as black bean soup, the shredded meat dish known as
"ropa vieja" (old clothes) and oven-roasted pork. It also serves "cafe
cubano", the black, sweet caffeine jolt many Cubans are addicted to.

It soon became a focal point of passionate Cuban exile sentiment, for
example during the community's failed campaign to keep child shipwreck
survivor Elian Gonzalez in the United States in the emotional 2000
custody battle between his feuding relatives.

When news broke that Fidel Castro was severely ill in 2006, media
organizations rushed their reporters and trucks to Versailles to gather
exile sentiment, anticipating a wild party if Castro died.

"We are always interested in what's happening in Cuba," said Calixto
Campos, 77, as he had lunch with two fellow exiles in the restaurant's
dining room. Chatting about events "on the island" is almost obligatory
at Versailles.

The editor of a Cuban opposition magazine, Campos left Cuba in the early
sixties after serving a two-year jail sentence for his political activities.

"Versailles is the Cuban exile that refuses to kneel down," said owner
Valls, who was a successful businessman in Cuba but left the island in
1961 as Castro revealed his Marxist leanings two years after his
nationalist Revolution. Valls opened the restaurant 10 years after
arriving in the United States.

LIKE BEING HOME

In a state that remains pivotal in U.S. elections and where the growing
Cuban exile community has developed a powerful voice, Versailles has
traditionally drawn local and national politicians eager to court the
Cuban American vote.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was a regular visitor and others who
have dropped by over the years include former President Bill Clinton and
Republican presidential hopefuls.

Current Florida Governor Scott was clearly aware of the restaurant's
political aura when he presented Valls with a celebratory plaque this week.

"I look forward to the day when we can have one of your coffees in a
free Cuba," he said.

Staff say Versailles' clientele reflects the shifting microcosm of the
Cuban-American community, mixing die-hard

anti-communists who are waiting to celebrate the end of Castro rule in
Cuba and younger exiles less interested in politics.

Eloisa Gil, a waitress for nine years, says 20- and 30-year-olds come
mostly in the late hours of the night.

"They come here after they go to nearby theaters, or after they come out
of clubs," she said.

Teresita Mayans, 78, who left the island in 1985 after spending six
months in prison, says younger Cuban arrivals in Miami are and more
interested in sending money to and visiting their families back home on
the island.

"They're not going to stand up and resist the regime like we did," she said.

Clients young and old packed the restaurant for the birthday bash, many
drawn by a special offer in which everything in the menu was reduced to
1971 prices.

"Masitas de Puerco" (fried pork chunks) went for $3.75, including a side
of rice, beans and plantains. "Picadillo a la Cubana" (seasoned ground
beef with rice) cost merely $1.95. After dinner, customers sipped on
20-cent espressos.

Jerry Sanchez, drove from Westin, Florida, with his wife Margaret and
their three teenage children, lining up for almost an hour and a half to
get a table.

Born and raised in California by Cuban parents, Sanchez, 47, recalled
his first visit to Versailles during a childhood trip with his father to
Florida.

"For the first time I could see my dad in his environment," said Sanchez.

"He was happy and he felt like he was home.

(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jerry Norton)"

http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/07/14/us-florida-exile-restaurant-idINTRE76D4QE20110714

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