Stories behind our Meals
by Margaret Fleming
In Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night one of the characters asks, "Does not our life consist of the four elements?" and his companion answers, "I rather think it consists of eating and drinking." A superb realist. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner punctuate our days, and there's always a potential story in any meal, whether we eat at someone's home, visit familiar restaurants or happen upon a new one, as we did last Saturday morning.
Friday evening we stopped in at the home/restaurant of Maria Roldán, Mesón Española. We had to deliver something to her, and we wanted to see her new granddaughter, Sofia, who is only a month old. I asked if I could hold the baby, and her mother Inma gave her to me. I love holding a baby. I suppose it's maternal instinct, since it seems to be shared by most females, of whatever age. Some males enjoy holding babies that are not their own, but I've known very few that actually ask to do so. Girls and women almost always do. When I hold a baby I feel a current of contentment flowing from the baby to me that's very satisfying.
So while I held the baby, cooed at her, talked to her, and rocked her back and forth, Maria insisted we sit down and have some coffee or soda. Then she brought out another of her Spanish specialties, Empanada Gallega, and gave us each a piece to try. It looked beautiful--it was baked in a square pan with a pastry crust, and on top it was crisscrossed with decorative pastry strips. Inside was a tuna filling. Maria says the empanada can also be made with chicken, pork, or any meat.
While we were eating, Maria took the baby and started cooing and making all the same grandmotherly sounds I had been doing. John, who doesn't really like kids until they get to be 2 or 3 years old, looked faintly disgusted. "Do you think we can go, now that you've had your baby-fix?" he said to me. How could a man understand?
The next morning we were driving around Puerto Peñasco. When you get up as early as we do--5:30 or 6:00--and the restaurants don't open till 7:00, you have time to kill before breakfast. We use the time to drive around and see what's new in town: what buildings are going up, what new businesses are open, what improvements are being made. It's surprising how often we run into good stories that way. And it happened again.
We turned off Calle 13 on the street between Keno's and Sand and Sea Rentals and went out to the harbor, where we noticed a new building just beside Santiago's Fishing. The sign on it said Balboa's Restaurant. "That's gone up since I was here last," I said to John. And being the nosy reporters that we are, we got out and walked over to see what we could find out. John went over to a man who was working there and asked if he was the owner. "No," he said, "but he's around in back." We went back and met Juan Antonio Sanabria, the owner, who was putting some finishing touches on the place. We told him we were reporters for El Futuro and asked him when the restaurant would be open. He said the next day, but invited us to come back at 6:00 that evening for the Grand Opening with family and friends and local dignitaries. We thought it would make a good story, so we said we would.
Juan Antonio, called Tony, told us he had been a fisherman all his life. He pointed out his three large shrimp boats in the harbor below. Now, he said, he was ready for a new kind of adventure and had decided to open a restaurant. He told us that fresh fish and seafood would be the specialties at Balboa's. Who can get seafood fresher than the man who catches it?
Tony designed the restaurant himself, and he has put in some innovative touches. The patio has a floor of huge concrete paving blocks with anchors, steering wheels, and other nautical motifs cut out of the middle and filled with gravel. A small bar is tucked under the deck in back of the restaurant, and stairs at the side lead down to it. The restaurant is built right on the edge of the land that overlooks the harbor, and there's a magnificent view from windows on three sides. For 180 degrees you can see the boats in the harbor and their reflections making a ring around the still water in the middle.
We told Tony we would be back at six to take some notes and some pictures at the Grand Opening. By this time it was after 7:00 and we could get breakfast. Being in the neighborhood, we decided to go to JR's Barbecue. John had bacon and eggs with hash browns and toast. I had sausage and biscuits with gravy, a real country-style breakfast. I hadn't had such a thing for long time, and it was delicious. The biscuits were high and light, the sausage was spicy, and the gravy was smooth and flavorful. A serving of hash browns and a slice of cantaloupe made it a very satisfying meal.
Another great place to have breakfast, where we ate Sunday morning, is Aladino's restaurant in the Paraiso del Desierto Hotel. It's always possible there to have an excellent meal at a very reasonable price. The restaurant has recently been redecorated to emphasize the Arabian theme. The floors are marble tile, and huge round columns painted white with green trim mark sections of the room, which are further delineated by sculpted plaster ceiling beams. A beautiful six-petaled recess in the ceiling, like an inverted scalloped bowl, surrounds the central ceiling fan and light fixture. It's delineated by curved molding painted green. A very impressive effect. The chairs are padded and upholstered in a pale green and peach fabric. They are very comfortable and add to the pleasant ambience of the restaurant.
We were served by Marcos, whose face is familiar since he's been working here for 4 years. His full name is Marcos Ochoa Ruiz, and he's an excellent server, fast, efficient, and attentive. Of course the meal was delicious, as always.
For lunch we ate at Comida Express.This is a small, but very busy, restaurant on Calle Sonora, just down the street from the El Futuro Print Shop. Not many Americans know about this place, but it is a favorite with Mexicans. The prices are very reasonable. As soon as we entered, savory smells greeted us. Every day the restaurant has two special dinners as well as sandwiches. John had chicken with rice and beans, and I had a spicy beef stew with potatoes. We both had a bowl of soup, which was something like minestrone. For a beverage we ordered Sangria, a delicious soft drink that I love. I wish we could get it in the U.S. On other occasions, we've had the Mexican answer to McDonald's Big Boy--the Torta Cubana. It's a sandwich made with three kinds of meat: machaca, a spicy shredded beef; a thin slice of grilled steak; and a thin slice of ham, topped with cheese, lettuce and tomato. The bun, which tastes home-made, is grilled lightly before the filling is added. One of the attendants spends hours every day making these sandwiches, one after the other. She's very serious, never smiles, just devotes herself to her work. Another, who might be her sister (this is a family business), delivers the tortas to customers and waits on tables. The tortas come with French fries--the real kind made from fresh potatoes, not the cardboard-tasting frozen strips that often pretend to be French fries in the U.S. A meal to die for.
In another room off to the side, there's a freezer full of different varieties of ice cream--just like Baskin-Robbins back in the U.S. I would have had some of my favorite flavor, but I had eaten too much of the other food. Next time maybe.
At 6:00 that night we were back at Balboa's restaurant. A crowd was standing around outside waiting for the grand opening ceremonies. John took lots of pictures of the people there. His practice is to take a great many shots so that perhaps one or two will turn out to be good. Tony introduced us to his friend Roberto Escalante and his cousin George Sanabria. George, who is a trouble-shooter for an electrical company in California, told us he had not been planning to come because he was so busy, but at 4:30 that morning he had awakened and said to his wife, "I'm going to go to Tony's party." So he had driven all day, and here he was to help celebrate.We also met Tony's daughter Reyna, who is the manager of the new restaurant. She is a very attractive young woman who looked gorgeous in a black evening dress, with her hair pulled back into a cascade of curls. Later we observed her to be also capable and efficient; we could see that the restaurant was in good hands. Off to one side stood a group of servers wearing black skirts and white blouses. They too later proved to be efficient and capable.
Then the mayor, Sr. Guillermo Flores, appeared. A large blue satin ribbon with a gigantic bow had been tied across the entrance, and when the time came, Reyna's 6-year-old daughter Yojana, looking very pretty and festive in a light brown dress trimmed with fringe around the neck and sleeves, cut the ribbon.
Everyone went inside and sat down. There must have been over 100 people present. Drinks were served, and a musician began playing keyboards and singing. Although he looked as if he could have been an American, he sang and played Mexican songs with genuine feeling. We learned that he was David Rivera, a close friend of the Sanabria family, and he is an American citizen from El Centro, California. His professional name is David y Sus Teclados (David and his Keyboards), and he plays for weddings, quinceañeras, parties, whatever people want. But he sings only in Spanish. Music is a hobby with him. By profession he's a diesel mechanic.
David told us that he is a self-taught musician, who doesn't read music. When he was in the armed forces in Germany 15 or 20 years ago, he decided he wanted to learn to play the guitar. But then he got a keyboard and began trying out tunes, one at a time. Then he sold his keyboard and bought a bigger one. He kept trying and practicing until he was good enough to invest in a professional set of keyboards with microphone and amplifiers. He said he took only one music lesson in his life--from an old lady who wanted to teach him from the beginning how to read music. After an hour they were both completely frustrated, and David never took another lesson. But however he learned, he's outstanding now, and his music set a festive tone for the evening.
After everyone was relaxed and happy, drinking and enjoying the music, Roberto Escalante got up and made a short speech, wishing his friend Antonio well in his new enterprise. Then he introduced the mayor, apparently an old friend of the family. Sr. Flores made a few remarks that I didn't understand completely, but that were an obvious example of ceremonial discourse. Then the servers brought in baskets of chips and dishes of giant shrimp garnished with vegetables surrounding a bowl of tasty sauce in the middle. It looked beautiful and tasted delicious.
As we ate and talked, it was easy to sense the festive mood of the company. The entire Sanabria family for several generations must have been represented. There was an elderly woman sitting at the head table, who might have been a great-grandmother. And there were a number of young children, who sat for a while, got up to go outside or to play quietly with each other, and came back to their tables. Tony and his wife, Lily Castro, were gracious hosts, going around talking to their guests, welcoming everyone. All their friends obviously were happy about their new enterprise and communicated their enthusiasm. Even John and I, who had met Tony only that morning, felt part of the celebration rather than just observers and reporters.
John suddenly said to me, "You know how I feel being here right now? The same way you feel when you hold a baby. You love seeing its potential and wondering what kind of adult it will grow up to be. I see here a new business being born, and I wonder how it will go, what will happen, how it will grow to be part of the community. For me that's very exciting."
We came away feeling highly privileged to have been a part of Balboa Restaurant's christening ceremony. Tony and Lily have taken on a challenge, and they seem to be doing it right. They have an excellent location, good people, a delicious product, and many friends. We wish them great success in their new business.
