All of us who have celebrated many an event at the Cardinal can breathe a sigh of relief: the Cardinal is taking after the phoenix.   Our man in Madison, Ricardo Gonzalez, will be taking back the helm at the Cardinal Bar.    The story is here at the Isthmus (emphasis added).   It is well worth a read.

Cancel the wake. “The Cardinal Bar will live,” says Ricardo Gonzalez. As of Tuesday morning, the erstwhile proprietor of the landmark Madison nightspot is once again at the helm – and expressing grand ambitions for returning the Cardinal to its glory days as a dance bar.

…“I’m happy to get back into it,” says Gonzalez, who does indeed look delighted. During a chance encounter on the Capitol Square, he appears rested, relaxed, recharged and perhaps 10 years younger than his age. “I’m in very good health, in good form,” he says.

“We’re gonna keep it closed for about two months and do some restoration and remodeling,” he says. He envisions a small kitchen to facilitate the serving of tapas, but insists it will not be a full-fledged restaurant. “Nothing like that,” he says. “The Cardinal will be a dance bar while I’m alive.” He hopes to reopen by September.

“This is the part that I love the most,” he says. “Putting it together, decorating, hiring a whole new staff.” It is the antidote to the emotions he felt at the news the current proprietors would be closing the Cardinal. “The RIP, all that stuff was really bothering me,” he notes.

Gonzalez expresses a modicum of trepidation regarding the bar’s daily operation. “The tough part is running it every day,” he allows. “We’ll just have to play that by ear. I’ll be general manager,” he adds, suggesting the role may afford him the latitude he needs to pursue his work with the Madison-Camagüey Sister City Association and with Cuban-American relations. “Everybody has expectations for what is going to happen there,” he says. “When the travel ban is lifted, we’ll be taking groups again.”