A CUBAN-THEMED restaurant in Upper Norwood is combining passions for food and travel to boost business.
The Casa Cuba coffee shop and cocktail bar in Church Road is owned and run by 37-year-old Miguel Gibson-Galguera and his wife, Sandra.
It offers a mix of cocktails made with Cuban rum, authentic light meals including the classic sandwich made with roast pork, ham, cheese and pickles and, of course, fresh coffee made with beans from Mr Gibson-Galguera's home country.
Casa Cuba was opened last October and has already established itself. Its success has, however, grown out of Mr Gibson-Galguera's original idea to open the venue as an addition to his already thriving tour operator businesses Live Holidays and Cuba Direct which are based in the same building.
He explained the companies offer holiday packages to Cuba, Vietnam, South East and South America and while much of the business is conducted by phone and online, he is determined to keep a personal touch going. That is where he saw Casa Cuba making its initial mark.
Mr Gibson-Galguera said: "By using the face-to-face approach we can talk to people over a coffee and help them arrange the best possible package to meet what they want. The facts show that there is an 80 to 90 per chance of people making a booking if you have this initial face-to-face meeting."
He also intends to use Casa Cuba as a venue for workshops, explaining in more detail the history and attractions of holiday destinations. Now the separate popularity of Casa Cuba is pushing him towards expansion.
He said: "I have bought some premises upstairs and the idea is to move the tour operating side of the business to the first floor.
"We would then be looking at opening a more formal restaurant serving Cuban dishes and nouveau cuisine downstairs."
Mr Gibson-Galguera came to Nottingham from Cuba 13 years ago and after taking a degree in English moved to the Upper Norwood area six years later where his business ideas took root.
He said: "I am very excited about the future."
