TRAVEL

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016 SECTION T EA ON2

OFFLINE ADVENTURESSpa in Mexico restricts Wi-Fi so visitors can reconnect with themselves, T8

TAMPA, FLA.—Roosters strut around Ybor City, congre-gating in the public parking lot, loitering in the park,cock-a-doodle-dooing like they own the joint.

They do, actually.These privileged chickens are descendants of the

backyard birds raised by the neighbourhood’s firstresidents — the melting pot of immigrants that start-ed arriving in the 1880s to work in cigar factories.

Ybor City is now a National Historic LandmarkDistrict and, somewhat oddly, a bird sanctuary.

Roosters and hens are officially protected. They’recharming, photogenic and “the only living creaturethat connects us to our past,” proclaims WallaceReyes, a cigar maker, historian and Cigar IndustryHistory Tours guide.

“They lay their eggs in the park. There’s a Floridastate park ranger that protects them. Even the catsdon’t mess with the chickens.”

Little Miami and New Orleans’ Latin Quarter knowhow to market themselves, but Ybor City (named forVicente Martinez Ybor, who bought swampland herein 1885 and started building cigar factories) is juststarting to tap into its tourist potential.

The neighbourhood, connected to downtown by aretro streetcar, was once the cigar capital of the world.

“Cigar City” is the birthplace of the Cuban sandwichand home to Florida’s oldest restaurant. It boasts amulticultural heritage (Cuban, Spanish, Sicilians/Italians, Jewish), still sells hand-rolled cigars andeven has a mafia tour.

> DEPARTURES FLORIDA

Tampa’s Ybor City neighbourhood draws on its Cuban, Spanish, Italian, Sicilian and Jewish roots to create a unique neighbourhood that was once the cigar capital of America.JENNIFER BAIN PHOTOS/TORONTO STAR

Tampa’s hidden city

Little-known Ybor Cityneighbourhoodcelebrates cigars,Cuban sandwichesand coffee

JENNIFER BAINTRAVEL EDITOR

YBOR continued on T4Wally Reyes, co-owner of Gonzales Habano Cigar Co., is also a historian and author.

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the Honey Cuban Obama Sandwich. Another Ybor City hot spot is Car-

mine’s, where Leon Boone has beenmaking sandwiches for 21years.

“I make about 100 a day, on Satur-day I make like 200 and the most Iever made is 600 in a day. I’ve madebillions and billions. I’m like McDo-nald’s.”

Boone doesn’t eat many of his cre-ations (occupational hazard), but he“makes ’em good.” Ask for yours “allthe way” and you’ll get mustard,mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.

“You’ve got to put love in there” isBoone’s final word on the subject.

Like Columbia, Carmine’s gets itsCuban bread from La Segunda Cen-tral Bakery, which has been aroundsince 1915. Come here for pastries,bread, Cuban toast and sandwichesand coffee.

Third-generation co-owner Antho-ny More takes me in the back to seehow Cuban bread is baked. It’sshaped like a baguette but uses aslightly different recipe.

His late grandfather moved to YborCity from Catalan after fighting inthe Spanish-American War in Cuba.“We think he learned some of this inCuba, especially the palm leaf part ofit,” says More.

Fronds from the palmetto tree aresplit, sanitized, dried and laid onhandmade baguettes that are flippedand baked. As the bread goes into theoven for a rapid rise, the fronds causea crease along the seam. Customerslike the inedible greenery left on.

Let’s eat first.The Cubano was invented here, not

in Miami like people think, and it’sthe city’s official sandwich.

Cigar workers needed somethingportable for lunch in the late 1800sand so the mixto (“the mixed”) wasborn. The combination of Cubanbread and pork with ham (for theSpaniards), Genoa salami (for theItalians) and Swiss cheese, kosherpickles and yellow mustard (for theGermans) is now called the Cubansandwich.

At the Columbia restaurant, An-drea Gonzmart Williams, one of thefifth-generation owners of the fami-ly-run business, takes me into thekitchen.

Columbia, which started in 1905and is the state’s oldest restaurant,makes its own sugar-glazed ham andmojo-marinated pork and gets Cu-ban bread from La Segunda CentralBakery twice a day.

“My father (Richard Gonzmart) is afirm believer that if you don’t layerthe meat in the proper order, it won’thit the palate properly,” says Wil-liams.

Ham goes first, then pork, then sa-lami. Salami “is the difference be-tween a Tampa Cuban and a MiamiCuban.” One big slice of Swiss goesnext and two pickles. Mustard getsslathered on the inside of the topbun.

Eat it cold if you must, like the fac-tory workers used to, but it’s infinite-ly better buttered on the outside andpressed until the cheese melts and itgets crisp.

“Mayo’s great but I’ve never had iton a Cuban, though. My father wouldkick my butt,” allows Williams, wholikes her sandwiches extra crispy andsliced on the diagonal.

You don’t have to look hard to findCubanos in this town, but localsswear by the perpetually packed Bro-cato’s Sandwich Shop, and U.S. Presi-dent Barack Obama visited the WestTampa Sandwich Shop and inspired

“It’s a pretty unique process andpretty much only in Tampa,” boastsMore.

The cigar industry may have gonebust, but at one point there wereabout 230 factories here employing12,000 cigar makers and producing700 million cigars a year.

Cigar culture is still a unique part ofYbor City (which is pronounced e-bore). Monica Barbie makes pursesfrom vintage cigar boxes, while hermom, Rose Barbie, sells framed orunframed vintage cigar labels andposters. Watch cigar makers at workin shops on the 7th Ave. commercialstrip where you can have a smokeand drink Cuban coffee.

Reyes, the tour guide, shows peopleYbor City Museum, a community inthe throes of revitalization and Nica-habana Cigars. His most unique pit-stop is Parque Amigos de Jose Marti,one of two Cuban-owned pieces ofland in America (the other is the em-bassy in Washington that reopenedlast summer).

People come to see a statue of thepoet, journalist and Cuban nationalhero who visited often in the 1890s toraise money and support from thecigar workers to help free Cuba fromSpanish rule.

The tiny park is fenced, locked atnight and under Cuban rule.

“There’s nothing quite like YborCity,” says Reyes with a proud smile.Jennifer Bain’s trip was sponsored by Visit Tampa Bay, which didn’t reviewor approve this story.

Ybor City (named for Vicente Martinez Ybor, who bought swampland here in 1885 and started building cigar factories) is connected to downtown Tampa by a retro streetcar.VISIT TAMPA BAY

La Segunda Central Bakery has been making authentic Cuban bread since1915. Third-generation owner Anthony More shows off how they usepalmetto fronds on the baguettes to create a seam.

JENNIFER BAIN PHOTOS/TORONTO STAR

At Carmine’srestaurant,Leon Boone hasbeen runningthe sandwichstation andmaking Cubansandwiches for 21 years.

An off-the-radar Latin QuarterYBOR from T1

á Ybor City: visittampabay.com/unlock-tampa-bay/districts/ybor-city/, yborcityonline.comá Cigar Industry History Tours,Ybor City: yborcitytours.comá Columbia restaurant (with localbranches in Ybor City, TampaInternational Airport, Tampa BayHistory Center): columbiarestau-rant.comá Brocato’s Sandwich Shop, Tampa:brocatossandwich.comá West Tampa Sandwich Shop,Tampa: westtampasandwich-shoprestaurant.comá Carmine’s restaurant, Ybor City:carminesybor.comá La Segunda Central Bakery, YborCity: lasegundabakery.comá Nicahabana Cigars, Ybor City:nicahabanacigar.comá Ybor City Museum:ybormuseum.orgá Parque Amigos de Jose Marti(Jose Marti Park) is at 1303 E. 8thAve. at the corner of N. 13th St.á For more, explore Visit TampaBay (visittampabay.com).á There are several hotels in YborCity, including Don Vicente deYbor Historic Inn, the Ritz Ybor,Hilton Garden Inn Tampa YborHistoric District and Hampton Inn& Suites Tampa/Ybor City/Down-town.

> WHEN YOU GO

T4⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016 ON ON2

>>TRAVEL

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