Their signature, impeccably-made mojitos and Cubano Viejo cocktails are flowing. The live music has returned every Saturday night at 7:30p.m., with La Trova's handsomely-groomed cantineros shimmying and stepping to the mambo from behind the bar. Cabrera and his team have picked up exactly where they left off. Cabrera also decided to release an online series called “Happy Hour” on his Instagram where he would make classic cocktails every day as a way to stay connected with the local community.Īs the Club de Cantinero’s 97th anniversary approaches in May, the world is finally beginning to show glimpses of pre-COVID normalcy-and J. Even as the pandemic temporarily thwarted the bar’s momentum, Cabrera says that his dedicated team gathered monthly to keep up on their training and work on new cocktails for service. “Since day one we've been united as a team,” says Cabrera, who has had the same team of cantineros since the bar opened. In 2020, Café La Trova was awarded the “Best American Bar Team” at the bar industry’s illustrious Spirited Awards-a testament to the team and concept Cabrera has built. “Being a cantinero in America is especially important because you are given the task of keeping the art of the cantinero alive.” “You are now someone who represents, and even introduces, people to this Cuban tradition,” A. “You have to find the right people to be behind the bar.” “My goal is to have a place that respects Cuban traditions,” Cabrera says. It’s a rare microcosm of Cuban cocktail culture in America (and offers some of the best mojitos in the country).Īt La Trova, Cabrera believes it’s important for his concept to have predominantly Cuban cantineros to retain the bar’s authenticity-a true homage to his home country. Here, Cuban-born cantinero Julio Cabrera pays homage to his home country by way of a full-service café with a ventanita window, live Cuban music, quintessential Cuban bar snacks like empanadas and croquetas, and a traditional cantinero bartending school led by Cabrera himself. To find them? Head to Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, where the cantinero’s legacy continues in the form of the award-winning Café La Trova-named after Trova, a style of guitar-led Cuban music that originated in Santiago de Cuba. There are just over 1,200 cantineros remaining, and about 100 of them work here in the U.S. Naturally, it’s a role held with great pride. Within Cuba, cantineros are known for their throwing of cocktails (a flashy technique originally from Spain, where cantineros toss a drink from one tin to another) their memorization of over 200 traditional recipes and for a commitment to the work as more of a lifestyle than a career. Cuba has one of the richest cocktail histories in the world, and at the center of it is the cantinero-a rigorously trained breed of Cuban bartender.
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