The day before the events of July 26th, 1953, Camagüey city was a discreet witness of the passage by road of 80 of the assailants to the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks. Another group traveled by rail, including Raúl Castro.

In these days when we remember the heroic deed of the Moncada, sometimes the passing of the revolutionaries in the city seems to fade in time. For these reasons we rescued these traces that led me to Los Venaditos pizza shop, where a curious note remains in the memory of its workers and is little known by the population.

The menu

Fidel, along with three colleagues, made a small stopover to have lunch at Manolo’s old inn, today Los Venaditos, the chef Jesús Figueredo, personally served them the table with the most Creole that the house had to offer: fried pork dough, rice and beans and cassava with mojo, accompanied by Hatuey beer.

A photo kept the moment a secret and only saw the light years later, when the commander was already in the news from the Sierra Maestra. The image occupies a place of honor in the current restaurant and the theme makes its workers proud, which every July 25th offers a special dish that they named the Commander’s menu, to commemorate that secret visit to the land of El Mayor, a plate of bronze at the entrance of the room attests to this.

According to Ramiro

After talking to the young workers of the pizza shop and especially with the shift manager, Miguel Cossío, the fighter Ramiro Hernández Serrano, a resident of the place, arrived very on time, who at 84 years of age is a regular visitor and a fervent follower of our history, so he dedicated his life to compiling data on Fidel’s brief visit to the “Fondita de Manolo” and shared the details with us.

It seems like Manolo was a sympathizer of the nascent revolution, although he stayed on the sidelines, many think that he knew who he was waiting that day for lunch, but he was careful with the information, he died in the early years of the 60s, so there are no close descendants or more information than that of the chef Jesus.

He prepared those delicious dishes and lived until recently, to tell with pride about the visit, which is remembered by the neighbors, pioneers and combatants of the Garrido neighborhood in a political-cultural gala every July 25th. This year due to the pandemic, this tradition will be postponed.

A reminder

The stop of the revolutionaries in Camagüey, even for a prudent lunch at Manolo’s inn, counted with the contribution of many countrymen, who, exposing their lives, started revolts on the outskirts of the territory, to divert the attention of the dictator’s soldiers and to allow the passage of the revolutionaries towards the East.

Years later, this action would be remembered as our tribute to carry out this heroic deed, which left the revolutionary thinking of the Cuban youth radicalized.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García