Dial Cafe, a waterfall of surprises

A visit to the Dial Cafe gallery cafeteria in the town of San Pablo de Yao, in the mountainous municipality of Buey Arriba, in the eastern Granma province, is like a random trip to past times, which rejoices the soul and amazes the eyes.

The facility occupies a large part of the house of the couple formed by the young Eidys Santiesteban Barzaga and Yamisleidis Soto Armas, to whom the necessary isolation during the COVID-19, led them to think about what to do to spend their time.

Among dissimilar ideas, they chose to set up a business in the doorway of their house to sell coffee as their star product.

There, the much-loved infusion is made from the powder of high quality beans, such as those harvested in the nearby hills of the Sierra Maestra, which are crushed in a wooden pestle and then filtered in hot water through a strainer (cotton cloth bag).

The gastronomic offerings include, among other products, natural juices of sweet and sour oranges, grapefruit, lemons, soursop, pineapple and other fruits, as well as industrial soft drinks, homemade sweets and wheat flour.

The first approval of the initiative was given by the locals themselves with their attendance at the restaurant, their congratulations to the enterprising couple, and their recommendation to offer, in addition, Creole food.

For Eidys and Yamisleidis, satisfying this last request required using the kitchen and utensils from their home.

Thus, together with the service and the cordial attention, the visitor listens to the history of the place and each of the objects it holds, while traditional Cuban music is played on a modern audio system or on "revived" record players and vitrolas.

Before working as a freelancer, Santiesteban Barzaga was a sound engineer for Television Serrana, the only audiovisual project of its kind in Cuba and based in the same community.

From then on he always had the intention that Dial Cafe would also function as a center for the promotion of culture.

The premises of Buey Arriba thus became witnesses of the search for old objects, such as radio-receivers, charcoal irons, sabers, coffee pots, a violin, nautical rose...

Known his hobby outside the limits of the mountainous locality, from different parts of the country they sent him record players and vitrolas, that he put to work and now they reproduce vinyl discs, among them one whose recording dates from the year 1902, he explained.

The greatest awards we have received are the acceptance of Dial Cafe by our neighbors, and possibilities such as hosting, in June 2023, the participants of the Ambigú Bayamés, a gastronomic and cultural event dedicated to the culinary heritage of the Bayamo region, Yamisleidis Soto Armas stressed.
She said that another singular moment came with the visit of poet Alex Pausides Aguilar, president of the Havana International Poetry Festival, who promoted the creation of the first rural classroom of the World School of that literary genre in Dial Cafe.

More recently, on March 23, it was a great recognition to be able to receive participants in the provincial section of the 32nd International Book Fair in Granma, he added exclusively to the Cuban News Agency.

It is undoubtedly a welcoming facility and the hosts are exceptional people, including their daughter Amanda, 14, a poet and author of a beautiful letter to Palestinian children.

Writer Froilan Gonzalez, who conducted historical research in San Pablo de Yao and other sites in the Sierra Maestra, said he was moved and happy, while Puerto Rican singer Pepe Sanchez described "Dial Café" as a unique and unforgettable experience.