If I had a restaurant (this is a common fantasy, I know), I would christen it La Cuchara (the spoon). It would be a cozy, colorful, charming little place, with a one-page menu featuring some of my favorite dishes from all over the world, served in earthy, earthen Mexican pottery.
Why “the spoon”? Well, other than the fact that I love them, especially wooden spoons, and I used to collect them from everywhere I traveled, I would name my restaurant La Cuchara because spoons are universal. They’re one of the things that all of us human beings use.
According to food writer Bee Wilson, author of Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat (Basic Books, 2012), “the thing about spoons is that they belong to every human culture in the world. There are fork cultures, there are chopstick cultures, but everyone uses spoons. They go way, way back to the first ancient ancestors using shells latched onto sticks.”
Even in Mali, West Africa, where I lived for three years, and where most people prefer to eat with their fingers, the nomads in the northern regions carry wooden spoons in their pockets when they travel:
Last week, quite by accident, I came upon a restaurant here in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, that comes closer to my fantasy restaurant than any other I’ve ever known. This one, El Encanto (the charm or spell), in its new location on Relox, is situated just below the hanging baskets I wrote about last week (see my previous post). True to its name, it is charming. It cast a spell on me:
I could see my wooden spoon collection (that is, if I still had all of them) decorating the entryway wall where the dolls are now. I could see colorful fabric – from, for example, Mali, Morocco, as well as Mexico – overhead. I could see, in addition to such Mexican classics as enchiladas verde con pollo (chicken enchiladas with green sauce), a Moroccan lamb tagine with couscous, a West African beef and peanut stew with rice, and a French salade niçoise with grilled fresh tuna on the menu.
But this is just a fun dream, of course.
I like to play such games now and then, like private parlor games or creative writing prompts, using what-ifs:
- What if I had a restaurant? What would I call it and what would it be like? (See above)
- What if I were to change my first name? What name would it be? (Something French and sibilant, like Simone)
- What if I were to pursue a PhD? What field would I choose and why? (Cultural Anthropology – endlessly fascinating)
- What if I had to move to another country? Which country would it be and why? (Morocco – also endlessly fascinating).
At this point in life, though, these what-ifs become roads that will likely never be traveled, and that’s quite all right with me. I can visit my new favorite restaurant El Encanto and be charmed by it as often as I please, without the stress of being in that business. I can play home movies in my mind of my earlier world travels. I can read lots of books on the subject of cultural anthropology. I am grateful for my many blessings and thankful to be where I am now.
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Oh, Bonnie, I love your dream life. I’m so glad you discovered a gem that mirrors your fantasy restaurant! I imagine sitting there with you admiring what is and fantasizing what could be. ❤️
Well, you and Tony will just have to come here to visit me and we three can go to El Encanto and do that! (I’m holding my breath, darling…) — xoxoxox
Such a nice musing, Bonnie. It is good for all of us to slow down, and play the game of , “what if” and see where it takes us. Most of all, I think it is good to keep our curiosity alive. Those of us lucky enough to have traveled extensively in our earlier years have fed this curiosity and I know it sustains me to this day. I encourage the young people in my life to get out of your comfortable world, take some risks, and open your mind to the greater world around us. It is the best education and the gift that keeps on giving, throughout the years.
Thank you so much for this, dear Theresa. I so agree with you. Travel — especially when we’re young and receptive — is an essential part of one’s education. Provincialism, in my view, is a dangerous thing.
What a fun blog! I certainly agree about travelling the world while you are young (and not so young).
Thanks, Pat! Yes, you know from experience!
I love love love the questions! And I loved our lunch at El Encanto. Happy to be on the ground floor of a new culinary discovery. xoxoxo
Thank you, querida! Yes, it was FUN!
Forgot to mention….the veggie burger was excellent!
And my enchiladas verde con pollo was superb!
Great questions la Bonnie! Y qué bonito restaurante. I bet the food es muy sabrosa.
Gracias, querida! When you come to visit me here, we’ll have lunch at El Encanto for sure! — xx
Cool!
Thanks, Lyn!
This is precisely the magic of “El Encanto Restaurant”, to catch its visitors making their imagination fly, that its decoration and dishes inspire beautiful writings like yours.
“El Encanto Restaurant” seeks to make its visitors feel like home …
Thank you for visiting us and thank you for considering this place as magical. “El Encanto” is a special rinconcito from Mexico to the wold.
We greatly appreciate your writing about your pleasant experience here in “El Encanto”.
Sincerely, “El Encanto Restaurant”
I am overjoyed that you’ve seen and appreciate my blog post! Your restaurant deserves high praise for being the special rinconcito that it is. Thank you for this lovely comment. And all best wishes in your new location. — Bonnie
Dear Bon,
Playing “what if” is fun. I like that you got a response from El Encanto, and they think you are charming. Because you are!
Wasn’t that nice of them to write such a lovely note, Paul darling? When you come to visit me here, the first place we’ll go out to eat is El Encanto! — BB xx