If you’ve indulged in ropa vieja or seafood paella served tableside at Asheville’s Cuban food destination, Hemingway’s Cuba, you may have wondered how these Cuban specialties made it to Asheville – and what the link is between the restaurant and the iconic hotel where it’s located, the Cambria (15 Page Ave.).
The vision behind the food belongs to the Fraga family: Antonio + Isabel and Alex Fraga. FIRC Group includes not only Hemingway’s and the Cambria, but also eatery Isa’s Bistro and the Haywood Park Hotel (1 Battery Park Ave.), as well as the Country Inn and Suites + the Westgate Shopping Center (both in Westgate).
So next time you’re TGIF-ing on the rooftop at Hemingway’s, here are six things to know about the Fragas – and the FIRC Group – and the mark they’ve made on Asheville.
1️⃣ Antonio “Tony” Fraga hails from Havana, but has spent most of his life in the U.S. – Florida and then Asheville, where the family moved over 12 years ago.
2️⃣ After Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of southern Florida in August of 1992, two of FIRC’s properties in Homestead were totally destroyed. Through FIRC’s commitment to rebuilding and supporting the community, the properties were able to reopen the next year.
3️⃣ The first property purchased + operated by the Fragas was Westgate Shopping Center in 1988. 29 years later, Cambria Hotel Downtown Asheville opened – in December 2017 – with 136 rooms and 8,000 square feet of special event + function space in the middle of downtown Asheville.
4️⃣ The Fragas’ first restaurant in Asheville was Isa’s Bistro, named after Isabel Fraga, wife + co-owner of the eatery with her husband Antonio. The menu highlights Western European cuisine and dishes feature local ingredients.
5️⃣ Hemingway’s Cuba opened in 2017, inspired by Antonio’s Cuban roots – notably, a recent family trip to Havana – the first time Tony had been back since 1960. The menu features Cuban classics with inventive twists, like tostones (translation: fried crispy plantains) served with gulf shrimp, pork + heirloom vegetables; roast pork sliders; and classic sandwiches like the medianoche + the cubano. We’ll take one of everything, please.
6️⃣ Another inspiration for Hemingway’s Cuba is El Floridita, a famous restaurant in Havana’s historic district that was a favorite of writer Ernest Hemingway, who loved – and wrote about – Cuban culture + food in books like The Old Man and the Sea. And the signature cocktail? Hemingway’s Daquiri, of course, served just the way “Papa” Hemingway liked it. Protip: Sip it on the rooftop terrace overlooking downtown Asheville – and raise your glass to the Fragas for making it all possible.
This content was created in partnership with FIRC Group, Inc.
