![]() Staying at a state-run hotel in Havana often means paying robber-baron prices for boxy, charmless rooms. Order many plates of frituras (fritters) to dunk into the mouth-watering chunky house salsa of guavas and chiles. Sexier than Imperatori's pioneering O'Reilly 304across the street, EDF takes an equally irreverent approach to mixology with fantastically decorated rum drinks served in glass jars (previously containers for imported Spanish potatoes) and outré gin and tonics that resemble mini aquariums. Here, in the dim glow of Edison bulbs, artist José Carlos Imperatori presides over a posse of models, musicians, and visiting DJs. Or follow El Cocinero's owners to El del Frente in Old Havana. After, pick up the rum trail at one of the bars inside the adjacent Fábrica de Arte Cubano (one of the most exciting art spaces in the Americas, if you ask me). Settle into a faux-Panton chair (knocked off by local artisans) and order cheesy fried empanadillas and mini gratins of boniato and crab to ballast the icy cocktails. ![]() ![]() In 2014, when the owners borrowed money to open a place in an abandoned cooking oil factory, they didn't expect to be turning away thirsty revelers without reservations - or to host Michelle Obama. Come dusk, the young local cocktail farándula (clique) gathers on the roof terrace of übercool El Cocinero. You may miss fresh yogurt and wince at the outrageous prices of imported beef, but one fine thing we can promise: You'll never go thirsty in Havana - not with the oceans of mojitos and daiquiris, and the really good, really cheap, and really aged rum sold even at gas stations. ![]()
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