*****MORE NEW FOOD PORN!***** 10 pics from today's photo shoot at my other Mexican Restaurant.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

The difference between this restaurant and the other one I've posted recently is that this is more of a "rustic" place, while the other is more upscale.

The lady who does the majority of the cooking, Mathilda, is a real sweetheart. She and I have been communicating with our minimal English / minimal Spanish skills. As I was preparing to leave today she typed the following into her cell phone and held it up to me: "I can take one more photo?" She had prepared a bowl of menudo and wanted me to capture it. I smiled and said "yes."

As I was packing up to leave I smiled and said "Mi nombre es Mike" and shook her hand. She smiled, nodded her head, said "Mike," and then said "Mathilda." I smiled and said "Mathilda," did a similar nod and smile, and that was the end of the photoshoot. She cooked everything you see here. HARD working lady, KNOWS her stuff, and is a joy to be around.

The place is 100% authentic Mexican. NO animal products are used in ANY of the vegetarian dishes (rice is cooked in water, not chicken stock...I asked). NO lard is used at the restaurant at all (they use olive oil). The salsa is made fresh daily ON SITE (some Yelp reviews inaccurately accuse them of serving salsa from a can).

:-)

OK, now for the photos:

See anything here that you like?



:-)

Cocktel de Camaron (Shrimp Cocktail)



Nachos



Veggie Burrito (rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, green bell pepper, onions, black olives)



Veggie Burrito (detail)



Daily Lunch Special: Pork Ribs, Refried Beans, Rice



Menudo:



Gorditas...probably this restaurant's single most popular item in their Yelp! reviews



Chicken Mole



:toast:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Amerigo Vespucci!

Wow, it all looks terrific! The close-up pics are especially mouth-watering!

Is this the place where the owner forgot you?

And then the broken refrigerator?

I wish them (and you, of course!) well!

:toast:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. Yep, same place, CP.

Things have smoothed over quite a bit since then.

:-)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Oh, good.

:hi:

[struggle4progress]

4. mmm! nachos. veggie burrito

why the fugg did i ever move to nc

:banghead:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. DON'T DO THIS TO ME RIGHT BEFORE DINNER TIME!!!

Now I'm going to have to go out for Mexican food. I was going to just stay home and have a ham sandwich or something, but after those photos...

[7wo7rees]

6. Not the same effect that the last one gave. It was upscale. This...

...is homier. I like it.
The mole looks scrumptious.

More FOOD PORN please. Get six new contracts by month-end. That's my birthday. If timing smiles on us, you'll find a BBQ shack and I can PIG OUT on your shots!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. I'm absolutely going after more restaurants, and aggressively...

...and yeah, the mole looked amazing.

I had to do a lot more "coaching" regarding plating and presentation at this restaurant. I'd previously taken photos of the gorditas and nachos...the food looked delicious, the presentation was flawed. So I printed those photos this morning, reviewed them with the owner, and the results speak for themselves.

This is absolutely home cooking. Mathilda is the main chef and she has an assistant at peak times, but it is like going to someone's home and having a meal.

I will do my best to get 6 new contracts by your birthday. It's OK if I get more than that, right?

:-)

[BiggJawn]

7. You're good. So's Mathilda.

Man, that looks yummy, even with a dose of Byetta twisting my guts at the moment...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. One of the things I will be communicating on their Website...

...is that everything is home-made. They got a few unfair comments on Yelp about the salsa "probably coming from a can"...no, actually, it's made fresh in the restaurant every day. When I did the first photo shoot a couple of days ago, I ended up eating the gordita, and it just tasted home-cooked.

So I intend to be a very vocal "evangelist" for this place...the food is great, the portions are generous, and the prices are competitive.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. I forgot the tilapia...and I got to eat this one for lunch!

:-)

[emilyg]

11. I want it all.

[Skittles]

12. man....oh man

I've got a sudden hankering for some MEXICAN FOOD! Good thing I live in Texas. :D

[pacalo]

13. Mathilda makes her rice just the way I like it (on the dry side)!

Of course, I'm taking the talapia, plus the ribs (light on the sauce), & the nachos.

Both you & Mathilda did a GREAT job!


And, as usual, set aside a sampling platter for this guy with a heart of gold (& holding the velour pillow sent to him by alphafemale)...

[IcyPeas]

14. these pictures are no good...

without one of these:


Seriously, the pictures are great.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. Unlike the other place, this one is alcohol-free...

...the closest they come is non-alcoholic bottled "sangria" (visible in the top pic).

:-)

[Systematic Chaos]

15. That veggie burrito looks wonderful.

I'd love to take one of those, smother it in some kind of really tasty medium-hot salsa and pretend I'm in heaven.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. You could do that!

When they bring the food to the table, they bring two squirt bottles from the fridge...one with the medium red salsa, the other with the green tomatillo salsa (not sure about the heat...I think that might be the "hot" one).

Both are made fresh at the restaurant daily.

:toast:

[lunatica]

16. slurp!

Excuse me for drooling all over your photographs.