At the intersection of Muralla and Habana streets, a unique crêperie is committed to introducing a new culinary culture among Cubans, offering fully organic products

By: Lisandra Andrés Cots

Carmen Monteagudo was called crazy when she planned to open a crêperie in the heart of Havana six years ago. Until then, her business consisted of a shop offering ornamental plants, designed on the basis of promoting a sustainable agro-ecological culture.

“Because of the position in which the store was located, we realized over time that sustaining it was not entirely feasible, and then the proposal to create a Café-Crêperie arose,” she recalls.

Thus a Café-Crêperie and a Servi-Bar, under the name Crêperie Oasis Nelva, have been annexed to the original plant store, which has become a unique space where good cuisine and 100% natural products predominate.

In Cuba, a country where culinary tastes usually follow traditional and Creole cuisine, introducing crêpes was not an easy task.

“For us it is very important to position ourselves among the preferences of the domestic market, although we have a lot of foreign customers because of the location of the place. My intention was to promote a new way of eating within the Cuban diet; not only traditional foods, rice, beans, pork; and based on these new gastronomic practices, also promote social responsibility with organic products,” Carmen explains.

As pioneers of this type of business in the country, both Carmen and her employees started out with very little knowledge about how to prepare crêpes.

“When we opened none of the workers knew what crêpes were or how they were made, so what we did was download many tutorials and for a month we were watching and creating our crêpes, and trying them with Cuban ingredients, and making them from what supplies we had.”

Captivating and completely natural flavors emerge from the Oasis Nelva kitchen. The love for the ecological is palpable, not only in the furniture and decor of the place, but also when ordering from the Menu made from handmade recycled paper.

Sandwiches, salads, and of course the unique offer of crêpes, delight the appetites of even the most demanding customers. The crêpes can be accompanied by various ingredients: chicken, pork, vegetables, chocolate, fruits, cheese; achieving exotic combinations that have positioned this business among the city’s favorites, according to TripAdvisor.

The constantly evolving cocktails offered do not disappoint either. Juices, coffees, green lemonades, herbal drinks, mix different flavors and ingredients, and add to the constant reinvention of taste proposed by Carmen.

“The supply market is becoming increasingly complicated, and access to products is unstable, so we have to innovate constantly whenever we need an ingredient. This challenge has meant that we never stop creating and experimenting with new flavors.”

It is perhaps this constant innovation that has made Oasis Nelva a space to which, once discovered, one has to return.

“The greatest publicity we have has been spontaneous and natural, the customers themselves have spread the word about the space. We have a very loyal clientele that returns and multiplies, especially among young people. We want new generations to discover variety in their diet, to recognize organic production as an element of quality of life,” Carmen notes.

In times of scarcity of raw materials, Oasis Nelva intends to continue opening from early in the morning and winning customers, especially Cubans, with the uniqueness of bringing an attractive and different gastronomic proposal to the table.

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