Havana's historic quarter begins small-biz rentals
Havana's historic quarter begins small-biz rentals
PETER ORSI | July 16, 2012 11:58 AM EST |
HAVANA At first blush, Mama Ines seems to be just the latest in a long line of private restaurants that have opened in Havana as part of President Raul Castro's fledgling free-market reforms.
But a tiny sign on the facade, easily overlooked, tells the tale: "Tenant of the Office of the Historian."
The government's Havana historian, Eusebio Leal, has long overseen the capital's colonial core with unusually wide latitude to call his own shots. Now he's out in front of other state agencies again this time by leasing government-owned buildings as retail space to Mama Ines and a handful of other private small businesses: here a beauty salon, there a massage parlor, down the street a nursery specializing in bonsai.
Until now, most independent restaurateurs have been operating out of their own homes, restricting their access to good locations and forcing them to cannibalize their living space.
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