Yambo in Little Havana


2011_0710_1524 a video by seannarae on Flickr.

We had just come from a hot sticky sangria-soaked day on Miami’s South Beach. All we wanted was some authentic Cuban food. Yelp kept sending us to places that I dont think would have been wise to introduce to an unseasoned body. We were all set to give up and drive back to Boca when we came across YAMBO. It was *so* over the top, we had to stop.

Not a word of english was spoken to us. There was no menu; nothing printed or posted (in any language). The lady behind the glass simply held things up for us to choose. We ended up eating what may well have been one of the top 3 meals we had all trip. Not sure precisely what part of the cow we ate, but it felt tri-tippy. The rice & beans were just a touch salty & sweet (aka: perfect). There must have been 4 lbs of food. The Nicaraguan beer was called Toña, and was like a sweet Corona.

All for $8.

gods shown from behind so much cumulous

 

this video was shot as it all happened: on our way to a vinyard resort in the hunter valley, north of sydney australia.

we’d taken our damn sweet time noodling up roads of varying thickness, thru little towns and farmlands of staggering breadth.

but here we were, on an earthen road having long since left the smooth of tarmac.  winding our way through a hinterland that our maps continued to confirm was the correct way.

i look at these shots now, seven plus years on, and i wonder how i kept myself calm amidst the convergence of so much beauty.

this was our honeymoon… the sky was doing… this fracking THING with the clouds & sunrays… and then thomas newman (sisters) comes on and its just all too much for me to bear. seven years on.

thanks bruce!

 

bruce, out of frame camera left, kept buying these blue suger shots for the entire bar all night long.  while it wasnt packed, there were a cool bakers dozen in there.  and he bought about 7 to 10 rounds.  nice guy.  big guy.  someone mentioned me might have played pro ball.

and while the video doesnt go there…
funniest. bartender. ever.

jump to a set of photographs from this weekend