If you've had enough chilling this winter and you could use a little heat, why not get down to La Rumba, Roppongi's latest Latin hangout? And you don't have to wait for the weekend. La Rumba offers dance classes most evenings till 9 p.m. -- an excellent way to warm up.
Jose Velasquez, the Mexican co-owner of La Rumba, has an impressive resume. Even before arriving in Roppongi he had worked at one of Tokyo's most authentic Latin bars -- Canandonga, a Colombian dive that thrived for several years on Shokuwan Street in Shinjuku before closing six years ago. Since then, he has worked in all the most happening Latin nightspots in Roppongi, most notably, Salsa Caribe and Salsa Sudada.
The space that La Rumba now occupies in the basement of the Mizofuchi Building was known as Virgin Cafe two years ago. In those days, one would more often than not hear disco blaring out of the bar's speakers, but then a Mexican friend of Jose's started DJing there on the weekends. So Jose and Mario (a Cuban, who would become his partner for La Rumba) started dropping by after work at Sudada.