Culinary Cuba

Arrive in Havana, where your driver will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your accommodation. Your introduction to Cuba begins around sunset with a hands-on cocktail class led by a local food-scene expert, learning the techniques behind some of the island’s classic drinks. Continue with dinner inside the VIP area of Fábrica de Arte Cubano before exploring this celebrated cultural venue privately. Spread across three floors, its galleries, live performances and DJ spaces offer an energetic first glimpse into contemporary Havana, accompanied by a classic mojito.

Taste your way through historic Old Havana on a guided culinary walk, sampling street food and local specialities while visiting open-air markets and traditional bodegas. Pause for lunch at an authentic paladar before seeing another side of the capital from a vintage American convertible. Later, step onto the dance floor for a private salsa lesson with a resident instructor. The evening becomes more personal with dinner in the home of a Cuban chef, hearing first-hand how creativity, resourcefulness and limited access to ingredients shape the realities of producing ambitious cuisine in Cuba.

Trace Cuban cuisine back to its source with a farm-to-table experience beginning at the farm that supplies produce to a local paladar. Follow the ingredients from field to kitchen before enjoying a tasting menu built around locally grown products. Continue into one of Havana’s neighbourhoods for a more intimate cultural encounter, visiting private homes and businesses and meeting residents away from the city’s most familiar visitor routes. Later, join a professional sommelier for a guided Cuban rum tasting, followed by dinner at a restaurant headed by one of the country’s renowned chefs and an evening of salsa dancing at a favourite local venue.

Explore Havana beyond its dining scene, beginning at Ernest Hemingway’s former home, preserved much as it was during the two decades he lived there. Return to the capital to meet local chefs over drinks and lunch, gaining insight into the practical realities of operating an independent paladar in Cuba. The afternoon introduces two of Havana’s cultural landmarks: the elegant Gran Teatro de La Habana and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, home to an important collection of Cuban art. As evening arrives, embark on a tapas-and-cocktails crawl through innovative restaurants before a farewell dinner and a final live-music performance.

Enjoy a final morning in Havana before your departure. Depending on your flight schedule, there is the option to visit the landmark Hotel Nacional de Cuba, opened in 1930 and distinguished by its blend of Art Deco and neoclassical architecture. Take in one last glimpse of the Cuban capital before transferring onwards for your departure, concluding five days shaped by Havana’s restaurants, chefs, markets, music and evolving culinary culture.