Idel Evelio Cruz Martín had to find a qualifier for his business, with caution not to repeat the experience of 2018, when the name of El Ángel was denied because it corresponded to another entity. How do you find, overnight, a denomination that meets your requirements and your expectations? He wondered.
After several hours, he complained to his wife: “I am the typical Cuban who spends work even to name a business.” She assured that she had just said it: “Typical, it will be the name that will be approved and it will honor your management, the peculiar way of running the restaurant.”
This is how Typico Id & Ed arose, distinguished between the gastronomy of the municipality of Morón and the first MSME of its kind in the province of Ciego de Ávila, with the category of bar-restaurant and a network of coffee shops in central areas of the Ciudad del Gallo, these last created in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is a family business, with services of restaurants, cafes, bars and grills for the retail sale of light foods, meals and beverages, recognized above all for the quality in the preparation of dishes from international and traditional Cuban cuisine, explained the owner of that private entity.
Although it does not enjoy a privileged position within the Moronense city, it is even located on an irregular and discolored street, it manages to position itself as a competitive entity, due to the quality of the gastronomic services, with Cruz Martín in charge, a graduate of the Provincial Training Center of the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) in 1997.
He, in addition to directing, transmits to a team of young people, graduates of the school itself, the experience accumulated by working as a gastronomic clerk, lounge and bar captain, and sub-waitress in hotel facilities of the Jardines del Rey tourist destination.
Leyanet Roque Portomeñe, one of the gastronomic clerks, assures that she found in Typico Id & Ed an excellent opportunity, with better conditions and a higher salary than the other places where she has worked.
His professional colleague, Arletys Tumbeiro Delgado, with experience working in coffee shops, points of sale and candy stores, stated that this is a high-ranking place, where gastronomic services are provided with the rigor that is taught in the academy, in a way which becomes another school for young people.
The team under the command of Idel Evelio is completed by a couple of cooks, a kitchen assistant, six other gastronomic assistants, two scrubbers and an equal number of security agents, all prepared for the work they perform and with a decisive role in the operation of installation.
In the new scenario, their knowledge represents a guarantee to comply with the hygienic-sanitary protocols, beyond elementary standards such as the provision of foot steps and disinfectant solutions, the use of the nasobuco, physical distancing and constant sanitation.
The provision to open the restaurant at half capacity, with 30 seats, is recognized and abided by, although 25 are enough because inflation has also been felt there, with high prices that accentuate the difference with previous periods, by reducing the influx of customers in the lunch and dinner times.
At the time of the interview, the marketing company Mercabal was the only option to make wholesale purchases, as there was a delay in the procedures to establish the facilitating bank account of the chains with entities that offer the opportunity to purchase products at reasonable prices.
Links with other actors in the economy could constitute the possibility of obtaining products such as lobster and shrimp, however, it is worrisome that most of the resources are sold in national currency, but with a component in freely convertible currency, which makes it more expensive. offers to the population.
Still, explains Cruz Martín, numerous state entities offer resistance to negotiate with the private sector, therefore, it is urgent to continue clearing the way, so that the changes in the management model are assimilated.
On the other hand, an example of links with favorable results, he experiences it with the Cubanacán Travel Agency in Jardines del Rey, whose clients frequently visit the restaurant to enjoy a tasty lunch, as the culmination of the tour of the City of Rooster.
It is not by chance that the workers’ wardrobe is red and black ― explains Cruz Martín―, it responds to the purpose of identifying and revealing the familiarity between the center and the Agency, also so that the client does not perceive a change of environment.
Alexsandr and Eugeniya Trisanov arrived up to Tipico Id & Ed, along with their friends Irina and Iurii Tsvetkov, Russian clients staying at the Tryp Cayo Coco hotel, who were surprised because they did not expect to find such a cozy place in a street that was not the first world.
15 years ago they wanted to come to Cuba, motivated by the beauty of its beaches, the tobacco, rum and the charisma of its inhabitants. In his country, it is said that Cuban food is very tasty, everyone wants to try it and many return just to taste it, said Alexsandr, the most talkative of the group.
In that restaurant they confirmed the Cuban hospitality, in addition to finding varied and quality offers to satisfy the most demanding tastes, even superior to those of the tourist establishment where they are staying.
Ibel Rodríguez Bello and her family assure that the atmosphere is pleasant there, they are always well served and the food has an exquisite flavor, that is why they returned that Sunday to celebrate a birthday.
Typical Id & Ed is also the space where Cuban culture and identity are discovered, not only in food and drinks, but also in the tricolor flag that hangs on a wall and the image of Compay Segundo, to mention just two of the elements that stand out to the view of visitors.
The daily work rewrites and gives greater symbolism to the name of that gastronomic facility, where entrepreneurship and the ability to overcome problems, typical Cuban qualities, constitute the best guarantees for progress.
