Why is Cuban pork so delectable? To find out, I follow a trail of rose petals up a candle-lit marble staircase to Paladar Los Mercaderes in Old Havana. The restaurant’s owner, Yamil Alvarez Torres, lets me in on the secret of perfect pork and talks about mouth-watering Cuban cuisine, his customers’ favorite dishes, and the Cuban farm-to-table tradition.

I also learn about the development of private restaurants in Cuba—and hear first-hand the effects recent U.S. government regulations are having on the Cuban people. (If you want to travel to Cuba, that’s legal and easy for Americans to do in groups, although individual travelers now have a bit of red tape to contend with.)