Clandestine dining on rise as Venezuelan chefs bypass frustrations

http://news.yahoo.com/clandestine-dining-rise-venezuelan-chefs-bypass-frustrations-122250227--business.html

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As with living-room restaurants that flourished in Havana in the 1990s after the fall of its Soviet benefactor, Caracas is seeing a rise in clandestine dining as inventive restaurateurs seek ways to survive economic crisis, corruption and crime.

Chefs and owners complain that operating a normal restaurant profitably has become increasingly problematic as state controls limit price increases despite roaring inflation and bribery is the only way to get permits in a timely fashion.

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"No one knows where we are until we tell them. This is an illegal restaurant," acknowledged Ana, the 24-year-old head chef at Ciboulette Prive, or 'Private Chive' in English, set in her cousin's back garden in a wealthy Caracas neighborhood. She asked that her surname not be published for fear of reprisal.

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It charges 3,000 bolivars per person. That's around $7 at the black market exchange rate or $475 at Venezuela's strongest official exchange.