The story of the The Elena Ruz Sandwich. Elena Ruz Valdez-Fauli was a young Havana socialite from a very prominent family in the late 1920’s who used to frequent the El Carmelo Restaurant with her school friends. Ruz was a socialite who loved to dance the night away in Havana’s bustling club scene in the 1920s and 30s. All this dancing stoked an appetite. While all her friends were requesting medianoche sandwiches Elena would request a sandwich made especialy for her with lightly toasted medianoche bread, spread generously with cream cheese and strawberry jam, then filled with roasted turkey slices. She would have to explain her combination each time she ordered it, so after a while she requested the sandwich be put on the menu so she wouldn’t have to explain each time. The management complied and eventually also placed a neon sign at the window announcing the ‘Elena Ruz Sandwich’ for 25 cents. That was quite expensive at the time considering that a regular Medianoche Sandwich or even the larger Cuban Sandwich were offered for 5 and 10 cents respectively. Many years later, during an interview with the Miami Herald she explained ” I loved it, but my mother was horrified. She thought it was disgraceful to have my name in lights as if I were advertising myself.” In time Elena married Eduardo Ulacia and had 5 children. From Cuba the family exiled themselves first in Miami and some years later lived for a while in Spain. On the morning of November 28th, 2011 at the age of 102 years old, Elena Ruz Valdez-Fauli de Ulacia died in San Jose, Costa Rica where she had moved to be near her daughter Margarita Ulacia Ruz.
Who was Elena Ruth
