Leave plenty of room in your suitcase for new Cuban fashion: Devon Ruiz, winner of last year’s ‘best emerging talent’ at Torino Fashion Week and creator of Devi Devi, eye-catching avant-garde work opens Calore, The Fashion Gallery showcasing Cuban designs with fellow fashion brand Innātus in Old Havana in September. New Primitiva by Capicúa is a cotton clothing range using the first factory-printed fabric in Cuba since the fall of the Soviet Union. Artist Nerea Vera is restoring a gorgeous el Vedado mansion, relaunching a prestigious early 20th-century lifestyle magazine as an art project, promoting Cuban creatives, and joining forces with fashion house Dador to create Social 1916 x Dador, a one-of-a-kind collection of dresses in 1920s style for a catwalk show in December. Models strut the catwalk, too, at La Carpintería, a new space for fashion, emerging musicians (curated by Cuban music AMPM Magazine), and parties opened by design whizzes Clandestina.
Searching for music? Get a brilliant fix on Cuban musical history with DJ Jigüe via his consummate Vinyl Master experience on Airbnb. For alluring audiences, top-notch cocktails, and total Cubanía, tune in to live sounds at spaces like Las Noches de Fangio, La Casa de la Bombilla Verde, Bar Melodrama, Malecón 663, La Guarida, Yarini, and Fábrica de Arte Cubano.
Where to eat in Havana
Chef Alberto González Ceballos, a Cuban returnee, has turned Salchipizza, his bijou Centro Habana bakery, into a new reservation-only, 10-seat restaurant with a menu centered on revitalizing Afro-Cuban cuisine. Through the prism of his Black ancestors’ footprints, there’s a twist on the señorita‚ a cream-filled layered puff pastry; and can’t-miss pork—three cuts (rib, neck, and leg), layered in slow-cooked pumpkin with guava salsa and West African melegueta pepper.
Otramanera is one of the city’s best restaurants; so good that Cuban actress Ana de Armas dined here twice in a row on a recent visit to the city. And for something more approachable from the same team, restauranteur Alvaro Díez Fernández also recently opened one of the most popular new spots in the city this year—alongside renowned percussionist Oliver Valdés: a damn-fine burger joint (a first for Havana) called Perro Swing. The spot will further branch out with vegan burgers and live rooftop music, and chef Raulito Bazuk of Grados (who mentored at three-Michelin-starred Atrio in Spain) continues to shake things up with his inventive cuisine, creative cocktails, live music, expanded food tours, and heaps of character.
Nestor Kim/Elvira, mi amor
Where to stay
Smart, design-forward private stays continue to revolutionize accommodation in the city: The Cuban–Italian owners of elegant Paseo 206 opened Estancia Bohemia earlier this year. Its nine luxury suites with Italian flourishes revitalized an 18th-century palace on Old Havana’s liveliest square, Plaza Vieja.
Cuban-Mexican run Elvira, mi Amor, is a contemporary-art-adorned Old Havana hideaway with just 11 bedrooms (after welcoming three more this summer). Sister property Jane, mi Amor, is a new four-room palace reached by a curved marble staircase.
Forthcoming hotel Mangos, with seven rooms and a fabulous pool in artsy neighborhood el Vedado, is due to welcome guests in early 2025—it will be the third boho bolthole by the Cuban-British hoteliers of Gardens.
For something more serene: The folks behind Havana’s boutique Estampa Collection will soon open a 20-room agriturismo (or farm house) with pool centered around three restored villas on the green outskirts of Havana.
Tribe Caribe Cayo Hueso is an 11-bedroomed Centro beauty rich in musical history that opened in late 2022 seeking to connect guests to the barrio via curated tours. A neighborhood lowdown that’s led by a young history professor on a bicycle taxi blasting tunes, it’s a truly insightful experience that utilizes studio/gallery Black Box, by famed Venezuelan-American record and film producer Andrés Levin, to harnesses the artistic talent of Cuban youth.
