Les Violins Supper Club
Notes:
Bought and remodeled by Lalito Castro, Manolo Godinez, and Gustavo Cachaldora in 1962, this restaurant hired in the 1960s many Cuban stars whose first job in exile was as singing waiter or waitress in this "let-it-all-hang-out Las Vegas-style review from Havana in the old days" (Sun Sentinel's Robert Tolf). Nestor Cabell remembers in this interview (42:38 - 43:50) the beginning of this Supper Club, the artists who worked there in the 60s, and the surprise of Anglo-Americans at the shows presented there. A 1964 New York Times article about the Latinization of Miami stated that "It is rated by Cubans themselves as one of the finer clubs here." You can see a video recovered by by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives here. It was bombed by a tear gas canister on May 26, 1968 by Cuban Power, an anti-Castro terrorist group also known as El Poder Cubano or Cuban Power, led by Dr. Orlando Bosch. "Bosch’s new group, Cuban Power, took responsibility for dozens of bombings and assassination attempts, which Bosch referred to as “justice actions.” By the mid-’60s, Bosch had been arrested half a dozen times in Miami for various bombings and attacks" (Louise Bardach, "Twilight of the Assassins." The Atlantic Nov 2006). Click here for articles published by The Miami Herald on this bombing and Cuban Power in 1968. Also see George Crile III, "Our Heritage- the Exile Cuban."
HBO Hispanic comedy show, Mambo Jambo, shot its pilot show here in 1992. It was bought as a long-term investment by retired orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Barry Silverman. ("Omni Area Enjoying Revival Spurred by Genting," mc2 realty market blog, Sept 14, 2011.)
Author: Lillian Manzor (Fall 2012)