Habana Yacht Club

[food4thought]

On the advice of local television reporter Vic Lee, I made reservations at the Habana Yacht Club located next to the San Carlos Airport several miles south of San Francisco International Airport. I have driven past this restaurant hundreds of times since it opened in November of 2003 but never noticed the sign on highway 101 so I never had the privilege of dining there. If there ever were a restaurant, I would proudly make part of my monthly dining experience, Habana Yacht Club would be it! Our dinner was a pleasant experience from beginning to end. The price for the entrees was perfect and the service was way beyond my expectations! Descent size portions and a management team who is constantly checking to make sure you are completely satisfied.

I asked the General Manager what make's Habana Yacht Club a great restaurant. His answer was " It's not to loud were you can't carry on a casual conversation...It's not to stuffy either in fact Habana Yacht Club is a place where you can laugh out loud and not feel uncomfortable doing so." There is more than ample parking, so you will not feel frustrated trying to find a parking space as you would in San Francisco and only a five-minute drive from San Francisco Airport, if you didn't already figure out that SFO Airport hotels are nowhere near San Francisco.

Habana Yacht Club in San Carlos is a must do, really! If you are a fan of Ernest Hemmingway then you have to check out the decor it almost feels like a Hemmingway shrine. Although we are forbidden to visit Cuba, the Yacht Club has brought Cuba to us with a twist of South America for added flair. My favorite was the sugar cane skewers. I just love this place, can’t wait to go back!

[tanabutler]

Official website for Habana Yacht Club

Owner Sam Duvall, a patron of Cuban artists for many years, is also the owner of Habana, located on Van Ness and Pacific in San Francisco. If the Yacht Club is anything like Habana, it's got to be great.

[Mayhaw Man]

Although we are forbidden to visit Cuba

[tanabutler]

It is the most idiotic policy in the world, isn't it?

But you can sneak in, if you fly from Central America.

[tanabutler]

Speaking of Cuba, I recently met a photographer who'd visited for several weeks. She told me something very interesting.

The restaurants are not good, because they're institutionalized and government-controlled. She compared the food to school cafeteria food. Good produce is scarce, as much of the arable land is being used to grow tobacco. So the only good food she had there was when she was invited into peoples' homes, and if they had their own gardens.

It really made me think.

I would love to visit. It's easier to go as a journalist than as a private citizen, but I have heard of people sneaking in via Central America.

[Squeat Mungry]

Speaking of Cuba, I recently met a photographer who'd visited for several weeks. She told me something very interesting.

The restaurants are not good, because they're institutionalized and government-controlled. She compared the food to school cafeteria food. Good produce is scarce, as much of the arable land is being used to grow tobacco. So the only good food she had there was when she was invited into peoples' homes, and if they had their own gardens.

It really made me think.

I would love to visit. It's easier to go as a journalist than as a private citizen, but I have heard of people sneaking in via Central America.

Tana, your friend is correct. The restaurants in Havana (with a few exceptions) by and large serve mediocre to terrible food. The way to go is to find a 'paladar', an 'unofficial' dining room in a private home. When I was there in 2001, some discrete questions asked of our hotel staff (I had been tipped off) led us to some really terrific cuban cuisine.

One memorable meal was in a home not too far from our hotel in old Havana: when we arrived we were greeted by wonderful aromas emanating from the kitchen. We were all nervous about the situation (this was our first 'paladar'), but were instantly put at ease by the matron of the house, who showed us her kitchen and the different dishes she had underway. She told us her daughter brought the vegetables from her own garden in another part of the city. Her charming family served us graciously throughout the meal.

We dined on terrific ropa vieja ('old rags' of shredded beef) with rice and beans, served in one of two converted dining rooms overlooking the promenade through bay windows ornamented with a most beautiful wrought iron balcony.

Havana is a beautiful city with charming people. Another fond memory is a most delicious coffee on the patio of the Hotel Nacional while watching the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.

Thanks for bringing back these memories. I am definitely going to check out Habana in the very near future.

Cheers,

Squeat

Edit: I CAN SO spell 'cuisine'!

Edited June 13, 2004 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[tanabutler]

Hey, maybe I'll join you at Habana. The mojitos are the best.

[Squeat Mungry]

Hey, maybe I'll join you at Habana. The mojitos are the best.

Cool! When were you thinking?

(By the way, when I was in Havana I had mojitos at the little bar La Bodeguita del Medio, where they were supposedly invented and daiquiris at La Floridita, where they were supposedly invented! Both bars also play up the fact that Hemingway hung out there, but not being a fan, I was more interested in the cocktails!)

[tanabutler]

Hey, maybe I'll join you at Habana. The mojitos are the best.

Cool! When were you thinking?

(By the way, when I was in Havana I had mojitos at the little bar La Bodeguita del Medio, where they were supposedly invented and daiquiris at La Floridita, where they were supposedly invented! Both bars also play up the fact that Hemingway hung out there, but not being a fan, I was more interested in the cocktails!)

Cool. We can both not be Hemingway fans together, okay? I was thinking of not reading For Whom the Bell Tolls again this summer. Do you want to not read it with me?

Not sure about when I'll be up for SF next. I was there again yesterday with my daughter. I'm about to post in the Ferry Plaza thread. (Surprise!)

[Squeat Mungry]

Cool. We can both not be Hemingway fans together, okay? I was thinking of not reading For Whom the Bell Tolls again this summer. Do you want to not read it with me?

Not sure about when I'll be up for SF next. I was there again yesterday with my daughter. I'm about to post in the Ferry Plaza thread. (Surprise!)

Right on. I annually don't read To Have and Have Not and The Old Man and the Sea, but I'm more than willing to add For Whom the Bell Tolls!

Just let me know when you think you might be able to get up here for Habana. But now that you've got me going, I'm not sure I can wait!

[tanabutler]

Don't wait. Have at it!

I had the good fortune to have happened to be there on opening night last year. It was a total fluke, but there I was. I met the chef, Joseph Kohn, and loved my meal. (Try the salmon with the green beans. They offer the same thing at the Habana Yacht Club.)