We had the good fortune of connecting with Beatriz Martinez-Sperry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Beatriz, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I received my degree in Business and was working in NYC when I decided to move back home to Miami, Florida and join my mother and help her with her Cafe that she had opened by herself two years prior. We ran this Cafe together for 15 years and I learned so much from her and this experience. When we moved to NC, I always had it in me to want to open a Cuban cafe in this area since there were not many and wanted to share my Cuban heritage and cuisine with others.
My cousins had also moved to this area and bought the buildings we are at now and would constantly beg me lol to open a Cuban cafe since they missed the Cuban food they so easily got in Miami.
So I did and it turned out to be a great adventure!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What makes me most proud of the business I have created is how it has touched so many people in different ways…Cubans that live locally that miss their Cuban cuisine and feel at home when they eat at our place and the taste of our food brings back memories of their mom’s or grandmother’s cooking, some even get emotional. Those customers that have never had Cuban cuisine but have gotten to taste it and know it through us and they ask questions about my family and our culture and this connects us all in such a special way.

My business is about family and making everyone that works with me and every customer that walks through our door feel special and part of my family. I feel I have the responsibility to represent my ancestors, my family, our culture in a way that all would be proud.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Our town of Black Mountain may be small but we have so many great restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, art stores, retail stores.
I honestly love them all… so I would not want to just choose a few.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mother, Isabel, who is my mentor and is 92 years old and lives with me here in NC.
My cousins, Liane & Maylin, who encouraged me to open the cafe and have always been my biggest fans of my food.
My husband and sisters who encourage me every day to keep going strong.
My staff and black mountain community that have accepted and loved us with so much support and encouragement.

Website: https://Www.cousincubancafe.com

Instagram: cousinscubancafe

Facebook: cousinscubancafe

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