A Cuban Chef Starts Over in Louisville, Kentucky
May 30, 2023
When Marcos Lorenzo immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 2000, he found himself wanting to share the music and food of Cuba with his neighbors in Louisville, Kentucky. A civil engineer by training, Lorenzo found a passion for food and hospitality and serves up both at the four Cuban restaurants he’s now opened.
On a mission to make guests feel like they’ve been transported to Cuba, he makes sure there is plenty of live music to create the "happy atmosphere that is contagious" and reflects the memories he has of growing up in Cuba.
Lidia travels to Louisville, Kentucky, where she visits Havana Rumba, one of the Cuban restaurants of Marcos Lorenzo. She shares a meal with his family and friends, including Jorge Castellano, who later serenades Lidia with a classic Cuban bolero.
A Cuban Chef in Louisville, Kentucky
Jorge Castellanos teaches English as a Bilingual Associate Instructor at an elementary school in Louisville, KY. He looks into the eyes of every refugee child and sees himself, remembering when he took his first steps onto U.S. soil in 2012, a grown man feeling like a child. That memory, perhaps the happiest and most meaningful of his life, he has intimately shared with his Refugee Studies students at nearby Bellarmine University.
When Castellanos left Cuba, he had already earned two master’s degrees, taught school for 20 years, served as Principal for three years, and was Superintendent of Schools for another three years in the city of Holguín. Upon arrival in the United States, Jorge knew he would have to begin his career all over again, so he started out by working in a factory. With determination, he eventually made his way back to teaching and celebrated his eventual citizenship with his students and the friends he made at Havana Rumba, the first Cuban restaurant in Louisville.
