The Upper Valley has an unexpected new dining jewel. In just a few months, Little Havana restaurant has quickly become a Hanover hot spot, transporting diners 1,500 miles to old world Cuba, with its food, music, and a warm welcome. Owners include Maylena Chaviano Cubillet, Yuniesky Miyar, Mariela Cubillet, and Ernesto M. Cubillet.

Authentic Home Cooking

Little Havana has managed to succeed in a short time with a menu selection that stays true to Cuban culture. Proud cooking traditions have remained pure. Mariella Cubillet, Maylena’s mother and restaurant chef, knows only one way to cook Cuban: the way she did for her family back home. One customer said, “I feel whenI’m tasting this food, I am savoring your mom’s care. Your mom’s soul is in this food.” You can’t create better branding than that.

“We want our customers to feel like they’re coming to a Havana house, that they’re going now into a friend’s family kitchen. That’s the feeling. And we hope that they can feel that there is a lot of care with everything that comes, even if it’s hard to explain everything that goes behind what you are eating,” Maylena says of her mother’s meals. “It’s not a Michelin Star restaurant. We want the feeling of home cooking.” In the modest kitchen, Mariella knows what works. After all, in a past life she was a chemical engineer. Aside from mother and daughter, the other two Little Havana owners include her brother Ernesto Medina Cubillet and family friend Yuniesky Miyar.

The Dream Expands

Maylena says the wonderful staff is now an extension of the family: Yuniesky, Maylena, Ernesto, Ruth, Daniel, Mariela, Joana, Diana, and Yessy.

 

The new restaurant continues to evolve, initially beginning with an intimate space downstairs. The outdoor stone patio will also serve as a dining spot for warmer weather. Upstairs, the second floor will bring more Cuban celebrations. Not only is there space for food service, but the room is adorned with Greek columns and a stage for dancing, Maylena’s first love, that she began at age four. Original plans began with a coffee shop upstairs. Then, Maylena’s dream expanded. A lot.

“My plan was never to buy the restaurant. The goal was to come here, but I remember arriving at our house and I told my family, ‘Oh my gosh, I think I found the family business for us’ without really imagining that it was going to be the restaurant. I always thought it was going to be this place, but life works in the way that it works and sometimes what is presented to you is even better than what you thought it was going to be.”

Before there is dancing, there are customers to feed. Even though Chef Mariella has no formal restaurant experience, she knows how to feed a crowd. The only restaurant-like cooking experience that she has is basically cooking for her children. And she adds, “Well, now it’s just that I have more children to cook for.”

Community Support

In Little Havana’s first few months, customers were largely curious locals. Maylena gratefully reports that from the start they were always full and haven’t felt a slow day. She was fearful first-timers may not return, which doesn’t appear to be the case. Looks like Mom’s meals are a hit, Maylena explains.

“We have one family [who] came the first week, the second week, the third week. They have been coming every week since we opened, and they’re not the only ones. So, we are seeing more and more repeaters, and it really makes us happy to see them coming.”

In some ways, the charm is in the smallness and honesty of a family business. The food is reliably true and tasty. The four owners selected the menu items by committee. “We wanted to have a one-page menu, even if we like something else so much,” says Maylena. “All our menu names are in Spanish. We didn’t want a big, overwhelming, several-page menu.” She explains that Little Havana is working in a small kitchen space, which holds just one fridge.

“We need to work with what we have and that’s the reality. It is a beautiful restaurant, and I love the kitchen there, but it is small. So, we need to work with that. So far, we couldn’t be happier, honestly. It has been great, and I can see the genuine support from the community.” t

Little Havana

15 Lebanon Street

Hanover, NH

(838) 383-1000

For the menu, Google Little Havana. Under the address and phone number on the right side of the page, click on canva.com.