Many Cubans and especially Havanans remember with special nostalgia the ancient splendor and magnificence of the Moscow restaurant, a place they once frequented in the company of family and friends.

Although time and laziness have been implacable with this colossus, its façade gives clear signs of what it once was, and could be again if the authorities took it seriously.

While the restoring step is noted in the central and populous Rampa Habanera, this building remains orphaned by the decisive gaze of the government. Nothing has been worth even the distant name with Soviet reminiscences so that the work of resurrection is undertaken there.

Only in the memory of many Cubans will those days of glory in which that construction set inside the Tsarist style shone with the sober attire of its service staff and the breadth of its menu.

At any time of the year it was possible to enjoy the exquisite dishes of Pelmeni, Shashlyk, Borsch and Uja, accompanied by a variety of soups and traditional Russian meats.

This was a pleasant place that undoubtedly left an emotional imprint on those who frequented it one day or simply contemplated it from the daily journey.

So many were the Cubans and visitors who passed through their halls to celebrate with family, friends or important anniversaries in their lives, that not even abandonment is enough to leave them without a resurrection in the limbo of oblivion.

While the palates (private restaurants) and self-employment flourish throughout Havana, and give new lights to the city with investments, initiatives and active participation in the community, very little has been done to restore life to this sleeping colossus.

The truth is that the building where the Moscow restaurant was located and some offices on P Street, between Humboldt and 23, in the very heart of Vedado, is for many years, home of vagabonds.

The building was never repaired again, since in the 80s a fire destroyed the frequented space, where one day he also set up the cabaret Montmartre, one of the most famous in Republican Cuba.

Its façade, which extends along P Street and a segment of Humboldt, shows the obvious sign of abandonment, for years it has been discolored and dirty.

The sidewalks are full of waste and what one day was the entrance to the restaurant, just in front of the building where several channels of Cuban TV are located has become an impromptu public bathroom.

The residents of this large local are part of the thousands of people that make up the capital’s floating population. The majority come from other provinces of the country, especially from eastern Cuba.

According to official statements, the provincial government has not had, in almost 30 years of closure, the financing to demolish or rebuild this space that depresses the sight of foreign passers-by and tourists, and that causes deep sorrows among those who once emigrated from the country and now they return.

A few meters from the colorful Rampa and its luxurious hotels, the old restaurant Moscow has become over the years in a palace of apathy.

EL ANTIGUO RESTAURANTE MOSCU DE LA HABANA, CUBA. PHOTOS.

Como ineludible metáfora de la caída de la propia Unión Soviética, así ha quedado el antiguo y famoso restaurante Moscú, sito en pleno corazón de la Rampa habanera. El edificio que previamente había sido la cuna del flamante cabaret Montmartre, icónico club nocturno de los años 40 y 50 en Cuba, que fue visitado por grandes estrellas del mundo del espectáculo como Edith Piaf, Cab Calloway o Nat King Cole, y en el que incluso Ava Gardner y Frank Sinatra degustaron una tarta nupcial de cortesía, mientras disfrutaban de su luna de miel en Cuba, en 1947.

Sin embargo, a partir de 1959, en consonancia con los nuevos tiempos que se impusieron en Cuba, se convirtió en el restaurante Moscú, especializado, por supuesto, en comida rusa.

Un incendio ocurrido en algún momento de los años 80 selló la suerte del edificio, y allí ha quedado, sometido durante décadas al abandono y a la desidia institucional.

Convertido en espontánea ciudadela, en baño público y en fuente de mosquitos, ratones y todo tipo de vectores, los vecinos de los alrededores se quejan del creciente deterioro y de la falta de acciones para que una esquina tan céntrica del Vedado, tenga mejor fortuna.

“Querían demolerlo para hacer un hotel, en esa bobería que siempre están”, destaca una vecina. Y remata otra: “¡Dicen ellos que van a hacer un hotel cinco estrellas!”.

Agencies/CiberCuba/ Internet Photos/ Arnoldo Varona/ TheCubanhistory.com
THE CUBAN HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD.