Opening Night

I approximate that on some days food consumes up to 80% of my daily thoughts. I not so secretly harbor a dream of one day owning my own bed and breakfast with gardens and a bakery. This weekend, I was able to combine all of my daydreams in an incredible marathon of cooking. For Sarah’s birthday ten of us decided to spend the weekend celebrating at Casa Nemo’s- the guesthouse where Carlos just started helping. Though only two weeks into the job, we thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try out his new menu with an audience trustworthy for dependable feedback. As if putting together a gourmet menu isn’t hard enough, try it in a new country with the idea of local cooking and a staff that speaks little of your language and you speak even less of theirs. Despite all of this, Carlos put together a fantastic menu (which I will list soon) and two days before the unveiling had yet to try than more than one dish. To my gentle suggestions he insisted that he “knows what they taste like in his head.” And, of course, he was absolutely correct. He and I were in the kitchen almost the entire three days of the trip, with one night of sleep the first night and a few more the next two. In that time, we made bread, several cakes, and prepped for his great new menu. I chopped lots of things, helped assemble, and baked a few cakes, but the magic was all Carlos’. I knew he was amazing in a kitchen, but watching him in action, handling three hot pans and plate dishes simultaneously, I couldn’t help but be even more impressed. Since this was just the first run of the menu – which everyone loved- things are bound to get better and better. Carlos plans to keep evolving the menu to make it as local as possible and include innovations from both himself and the other cook Ibu Ida.
Even though it was an incredible amount of work, we had a really good time and even found some moments to celebrate along with our friends. The beach at Casa Nemo’s is truly beautiful and the few minutes we had in the ocean were incredibly refreshing. We even managed to have a small bonfire on Sarah’s birthday night. All in all, congratulations to Carlos for starting something truly wonderful.