Christmas has brought a gift in advance, for those who can afford it, like everything today, in the frustrated revolutionary utopia. Bueníssimo Soderia Gourmet, the new ice cream-sweet shop that succeeds the old BimBom in the Havana neighborhood of El Vedado, opened its doors this Wednesday, two months after starting its sales with a cart in front of the establishment, on Infanta and 23, then under construction .
“They have made it very nice, very nice,” said Rachel, a client attracted by the Christmas atmosphere and the dedicated workers, dressed in reindeer hats and Santa Claus himself, who came to the door to finish pushing the curious people away. . “It’s already open, you can come in now,” they urged, kindly, from the street.
Decorated in black and white, the establishment featured glass refrigerators with rotating cakes and desserts, all brightly lit and well air-conditioned. “You can see that they use a lot of quality ingredients,” Rachel said. “Everything is very good to the eye, and to the palate too!” She exclaimed, highlighting how delicious the ice cream was. Her bill: 955 pesos for a glass with three balls – served in an oval shape and a little syrup – and a vanilla muffin.
Attractiveness and novelty played a role in its debut for the Bueníssimo Soderia Gourmet, which has adopted as its motto: This is Bueníssimo, which appears on its façade. Inside you could see quite a few customers, although there were quite a few who were scared when they saw the price range. The scoop of ice cream, which in October was sold in a cone on the street for 195 pesos, now goes up to 220 pesos inside the establishment and is the cheapest. Most of the sweets, some tiny in size, cost more than 200 pesos and others cost 700, like the heavenly tocinillo.
“Well, nowadays everything is like this, through the roof,” commented a customer who was waiting his turn to order. “I can imagine the investment those people have made there… They have made it very nice, honestly, they can’t charge cheaper than that, I guess,” he said with resignation. The experience, he explained later, was worth it, because the quality is greater than its closest competitor in distance and audience, Monte Freddo.
The ice creams, exposed to 14 intervene, they are somewhat cheaper there, 400 pesos for two scoops of ice cream, but they are below in terms of originality and taste. “The desserts here are different, I haven’t seen them anywhere else. The ice cream is Italian-type and with flavors that are not tropical.” The stracciatella or amaretto alternate with the traditional chocolate and strawberry, either in a cone or in a glass.
“Look, I’m sick,” Mario, a customer on a medical diet after a recent illness, explained to the saleswoman. “I can’t eat anything that has cream, custard, any of that stuff. The sweet has to be as simple as possible, without additives, without any filling,” she explained. “The employee was quite friendly and she recommended everything to me,” she told 14 intervene after finishing his sweets, a small treat after several days hospitalized.
Accustomed to the scarcity of state stores and the apathy of the employees of these businesses, Havana residents were grateful for the new establishment, called to revive under private management an environment that took off in the 90s, when young people and the LGBTI community They began to frequent this area between the Malecón and 23rd Street, making it a meeting point in the capital.
The BimBom, which occupied the premises until the pandemic and the Ordering Task put an end to the city’s leisure, has found a successor that is tailored to the new size of Havana: for the new rich and tourists.
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