Cuba has a rich cuisine that has evolved out of the island’s multi-layered, émigré history and new restaurants are opening all the time. Cuba Private Travel has more than 15 years of experience so whether you simply want not to miss out on reservations at the best new restaurants, or want to get deeper under the skin of the food culture, we can help.

Amerindians (Taino, Guanahatabey, and Siboney), Spanish colonials, especially from Galicia and the Canary Islands, French slave owners from Haiti, Chinese, Jewish, Arab and American migrants have all combined to leave a culinary mark on Cuba.

Havana’s many paladares (private restaurants) offer the full breadth of the Cuban foodie experience, from the raw, domestic earthiness of classic Creole cooking to the finest sirloin with a shrimp and celery mousse. In the know locals seek out their favourite Café Cubano aficionados who brew their intense coffee with five stacked tablespoons of sugar added to one cup of water to create a sooty dark, smoky-sweet pick me up.

Havana’s paladar – private restaurant – scene, is developing fast. Private restaurants were legalized in Cuba during the 1990s but prohibitive taxes and regulations, along with ignorance about entrepreneurism and a dearth of ingredients, meant that most were uninspired front-room affairs. However since Raúl Castro sanctioned small businesses, chefs are now returning from overseas with capital to fund homegrown projects as the number of covers permitted at a private restaurant has gone from 12 to between 50 or 100.

Cuba Private Travel can bring you to meet meet up with these entrepreneurial restaurateurs and the small organic farmers who supply them, both in the city and further afield to understand the changes taking place. In all likelihood they will have a feast of freshly prepared ingredients waiting for you as well. The trick is knowing who to ask! Whilst Havana’s newfound culinary sophistication hasn’t filtered far beyond the city limits, if you want to explore the rich, Creole cuisine of the wider island we know where to go, and if there’s a restaurateur shaking up the scene we can get you a table. Exciting openings are lighting up Trinidad, an iconic colonial town in a fertile swathe of mountain and sea on the south coast.