this just in…Dishualded aka Dishwater,is quitting…various factors added up…not a big surprise…and Laurel Baker of Reillys? going to work at Ocelot Wednesday night?
‘Action’ Jackson, good pal/roadtrip buddy, is playing his unique brand of roadhouse music at Travel Menu, Fri-6:30, Reilly’s La Esquina, Sun-3pm and Cafe No Se, Mon 9:30 or so…drop in or by…
‘funny how certain holidays in the US come/go without any sense of personal involvement…had I been ‘up there’ by now, the bbq would be underway, maybe the talk of school starting, the renewal of a football season or the trading stories of what our children are doing. Here, in Antigua, there’s little, if any of that, to remind us of the changing of the seasons, yet again.
About all we have here is the monthly go-around of closing restaurants, newly opened places of hopes and dreams and yet again, another tale of ‘WTF’ were they thinking….the Cargo Room is gone, space taken over by a friend of Jim O’s….the new guy supposedly has a degree from the Cordon Bleu(pronounced blew)in cooking,,,as i recall, Lex had this dinky 4 burner gas range which might not encourage fancy cooking….Lex? pulling shifts at Ricardo’s Tabacos y Vinos on 5th ave norte…Marbel, working at Reilly’s La Esquina and I heard that the previous incarnation at Dos Mil is about to expire..for a number of reasons, of course..
Travel Menu now doing burgers…heard that they’re good. What was Caffe Opera on 6th Ave norte is now some kinda spanish paella place….opening night was dismal and their signage is, like Punto Zero, made of vinyl banners…not conducive to a sense of permanence or optimism.
the 2nd edition/local print run of ‘A Year of Driving Dangerously’ is ‘under way…Frener says 2-3 days, except he didn’t say ‘which’ 2-3 days…I’ll know more on Wednesday night about this…yeah, the first run sold out, Sophos, the big book store in the City wants some ($$) and the beat goes on..more little ‘hole in the wall’ coffee shops opening around town…hoping against hope, that somehow they will be different..Monica’s jungle Party expanded, into a deli/small restaurant…great idea! capture those hostile…no, hostel people before they leave the premises and take even more of their money…how much long can Pan y Fantasis keep the doors open? that $$ deli on 3rd calle, that was Deliciosa…count the freezers/refrigerators/electricity-sucking devices and multiply by a few thousand quetzales per month and then count the foot traffic…um, damn little..and there’s a new frenchy kinda restaurant in Fusions’ mall…Fleur de Luis? no, Lis! in what was Rafa’s Bistro(and they’re sucking for biz also…this is a tough town, baby…four or five restaurants have a lock, four or five bars lo mismo and if you think you can buck that, go right ahead….buck away, buckaroo!
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